Prologue

Another class began and Alex lay his head on his crossed arms. Students all watched the teacher droning on monotonously, heads leaned on their hand. 

A student at the back of the class, obscured to the teacher by the mass of heads in front, continued to stare at the painfully slow clock above their head. He sighed at the repetitiveness of everything as his blue eyes began to droop: he tried to escape from it all.

Darker, darker, the world blurred and the teacher's voice in the background gradually softened until everything was black.

***

"Wake up you prick!"

Alex jolted as saliva from the table smeared his cheek. The previously filled classroom was empty except for a muscular figure with a disgusting grin looking down at him.

"Hello Alex. Had a nice sleep?" he sneered, the awful grin still plastered on his face.

"Great thanks, James," Alex retorted sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I'll just be going now."

Alex quickly grabbed his bag and got up, but before he could leave, James slammed his palm on the table.

"Sorry, but I do mind," a vicious snarl was fired back at him.

Seemingly unshaken, Alex ignored the threat and continued to get up.

"Oh, you think you're something do you? You think I won't kick the shit out of you?"

James responded with a push that sent Alex staggering into the chairs behind, forced to grasp a table to steady himself. The chairs noisily echoed as they skidded across the floor.

 Resolutely, Alex lifted himself up and walked casually towards the door, not sparing James a glance as he muttered loudly enough for James to hear.

"Piss off,"

"Little…" James gritted his teeth as he glared at the unfazed Alex. "Do you think you're tough or something?"

All Alex did was walk faster.

"Come here!"

Alex broke into a run as he rushed for the door, but James had the same idea. He bolted towards him, hand outstretched, and gripped his shirt collar.

"Come on, just leave it." Alex sighed with a pained expression, as if he knew it was a waste of breath even trying to reason.

James clutched Alex's collar pulling him so close that his hot breath could be felt on Alex's face. A pause followed, where James glared at Alex with fiery eyes; Alex glared back with an indignant expression. Stunned, James faltered for a moment before launching a sharp fist into the gut of Alex, forcing him to the ground as he clutched his stomach.

"Huh? You think you're hard, do you?"

He repeated kicked the doubled over Alex, his foot smashing into his side, stomach and the fingers that guarded his body. Stifling his cries of pain, Alex grunted, rolling around in an attempt to dodge the constant blows. Unfortunately, most dodges failed but the rolling guarded his vulnerable stomach, as his back took the brunt of the attacks.

Eventually, James tired of the assault and stopped.

"Think you're tough now?" his panting echoed around the abandoned classroom. "You're a freak. Now go back to your little corner and cry."

James turned around to leave but stopped for a moment. He reared his head to look back at Alex, who was lying like a corpse in pitiful heap on the floor. He clicked his tongue and spat at him; then he walked away.

Tears trickled down Alex's cheeks as the footsteps had disappeared. He bit his tongue to stop them but they were unstoppable like a flood, his eyes like a burst dam.

It had always been like this, the bullying, the solitude, the emptiness he felt.  Ever since his parents had been killed 5 years ago, he had shut himself off from the world, cordoned himself in a bubble where he felt he couldn't be hurt. The only pleasure he had in his life was from books, movies and TV. Right now, all he wanted to do was embed himself in another book or show; he wanted to hide away and force the pain deeper inside of him.

'Just let me go, there's nothing here for me in the real world anyway.'

At that moment, the ground began to rumble. Gradually, the shaking increased and the ceiling seemed as though it would cave in.

Blue sparks formed around Alex before he could even process what was going on; the sparks danced around him and his vision became blurry, circles with strange symbols surrounding him. His body felt as though it wasn't there, weightless, unaffected by gravity or anything around him.

A flash of bright white enveloped everything and everything was silent except from a mechanical voice in his head.

[Congratulations player, you have been chosen by the system]

[The journey of a lifetime starts here]

[First destination: The Harry Potter Universe]