Chapter Five

"So... Where is the station nine and three-quarters?"

Harry asked from next to me. We were pushing our baggage in front of us, walking down the row of stations.

"Probably between nine and ten, though, that would be nine and a half."

I retorted, looking at the numbers. Thirteen, twelve, eleven, and there was ten. Putting a hand on Harry's back, I pushed him forward, towards station number ten. As we got closer, I noticed station nice right next to it and felt the mana coming off the pillar.

As soon as we entered a certain distance, I felt something falling over me like a very thin blanket. Humming in thought, I looked at one of the normal people, Muggles, pass through the opening at a sedate pace, only to speed up and hurry away from the wall she was close to.

So there was a ward in place, interesting.

"That's a wall, Ares..."

I smacked my sassy brother over the head. I know that, dumbass.

Walking closer to the brick wall and leaving the baggage behind, I placed a hand on the rugged surface, only for it to pass right through the obstacle like it wasn't even there.

Pulling my arm out, I motioned Harry to the wall, but he looked apprehensive. Rolling my eyes, I walked back to my baggage, grabbed the handle, and pushed it, not even batting an eye as I walked through the brick structure.

Coming out on the other side, I blinked at the sudden change of scenery. That wasn't a teleportation ward then? I thought it would feel like it did when we teleported with McGonagall.

It was probably like the bag that had extended storage space, but instead of expanding it, it shortened the distance between two places...

I need to get me some of that.

I pushed the cart forward, just in time for Harry to come through, looking around in amazement.

He was easily impressed.

Rolling my eyes, I looked around to see parents seeing their children off, waiting for Harry to walk up next to me.

I could see in my peripheral vision as my brother looked at one of the families with longing but I could do nothing about that. To him, I was the same age as him, and I couldn't technically age faster.

I raised him since we were little, but I doubt he knows that.

Reaching over, I ruffled his hair, getting a huff of irritation and glare in return. Smiling slightly I motioned over to the compartment of the train where kids were storing their own luggage.

Maybe he could make friends, I still didn't know how long I would live, If nothing happened, the Gamer's body should keep me alive forever... I didn't want to burden the kid with that.

___

"Where should we sit?"

Harry asked me as we walked down the train's compartments, looking for an empty place to occupy.

"I dunno, places are already taken... Oh, this one is free."

I pointed at one of the rooms that no one was in and opened the door. Harry walked in, sitting down on the seat and observing the plain room for anything magical... There was nothing magical here.

I hummed and looked at my little brother for a moment, amusing myself with how his face went from excited to disappointed in a few seconds.

Humming for a moment, I looked down the hall, noticing one boy with red hair looking around the compartments himself. This could be useful for Harry, maybe he could make a friend.

Hopefully, it would be a good friend, I didn't want the little bugger slacking off, we were still going to a school, after all.

"Hey, Harry, I'll go for a little walk, wait for me here okay?"

I asked, sliding the door close slightly.

"... Okay?"

He answered questioningly, he probably wasn't sure what brought this on, but he might thank me later.

Nodding, I closed the door and walked off, absently putting my hand in my pocket, into the inventory, and taking out a letter I received from the Gringotts.

So... Heir Potter, huh? I needed to be seventeen years old to inherit anything from my family or be emancipated.

Rolling my eyes, I wanted to scoff at the intricacies of politics. Emancipated, be considered an adult, whatever.

I would be an adult in my... sixth year? probably seventh considering the date of my birthday.

Down the list were the services the bank provided but that was beside the point. How does one get emancipated anyway?

Sighing I went into the next section of the train, looking around absently. Nothing, again. This was really boring for a magical school.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and tried to feel for mana, The front compartment was giving off a lot, but that was about it. The other compartments were giving off a small amount, considering the passengers were all kids.

Sighing in irritation, I turned to the window and leaned on the wall, putting my head on my hands, and watching as the trees passed by.

"Excuse me."

I blinked and looked back, staring at the busy-haired girl that was looking at me with all the grace of a kitten.

"Have you seen a toad around here? A boy named Neville lost his pet."

Neville? The Longbottom Heir?

"No, but have you tried calling it back?"

I asked with a tilt of my head to indicate curiosity, despite being completely uninterested in the debacle.

"Calling it back?"

The girl questioned back, frowning in thought. Sighing, I took out my wand.

"Do you know what the frog looks like? Did he describe it to you at all?"

The girl blinked and looked at my wand for a second before answering.

"It's a toad, named Trevor and is brown in color..."

Do you know how little that narrows it down, kid?

"Accio, Toad."

I waved the wand in a correct pattern and waited.

"What did you do?"

I shrugged.

"I called the Toad, should be here any second no- there it is."

I said with a bland voice as a brown toad floated towards me at a moderate pace. A second later, the little thing was in my hands. Turning to the girl, I handed her the slimy thing.

"Here."

She looked at the Toad for a second before taking it off my hands.

"Um, thanks. I'm Hermione, by the way, Hermione Granger."

I nodded, flicking my wrist and letting the wand disappear into the holster that was strapped there.

"Ares."

The girl nodded and turned away, walking down the compartment and heading into the next one. Staring at the squirt for a moment, I mentally shrugged and turned to stare out the window again...

(Status.)

_

Character Name: Ares Potter

Level: 14

Experience Points (XP): 0%

Health Points: 220/220

Mana Points: 300/300

Gold: 103 Gold

Stats:

Strength: 10

Endurance: 10

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 12

Stat points:39

Skill Points: 13

_

Narrowing my eyes, I sighed as I put ten points in intelligence, bringing it up to 22 and my mana pool to four hundred, along with ten stat points in agility, ten in endurance, and remaining nice in strength.

My health stood at 320... I shall put ten in more points when I get the chance.

Humming slightly, I looked over at my spells and decided that I would let them be for now and opened my skills menu.

Gamer's mind and body were already at max, so those were out, the next best thing I could level up was Mana control, and I had just enough to max it out.

Better not think too much about it, otherwise, I would probably decide to not add anything for the rest of the ride.

Thirteen clicks later, Mana control was fully leveled up.

my connection with mana skyrocketed, along with my awareness of it. I squinted my eyes, almost wincing at the headache that came over me. Taking a deep breath as it disappeared, I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

That was painful. I felt like my head was briefly under a hydraulic press, and I didn't even know what that felt like.

"Are you alright?"

I looked to the side, spotting an older girl with pink hair... Seriously? She was wearing the same robes as me, but obviously larger, and had to crouch down to stay at my eye level.

"Yeah, why?"

She looked at me weirdly for a moment before glancing down at my nose.

I rose an eyebrow and touched a finger right below my nose, feeling the sticky liquid cling to my fingers.

"Huh... So I am."

I muttered, schooling my features and keeping an eye on my HP. It wasn't full, but it still showed 100%.

"Are you sure you're fine? Does this happen often?"

She frowned, her hair turning purple and I just stared at it, blinking once. She seemed to understand what I was staring at but she ignored it and snapped her fingers in front of my face to get my attention.

"Yes, I'm fine, it happens sometimes, but it's not common."

She looked me over for a moment before holding up a napkin that I didn't see her take out from anywhere. Or she just kept it in the sleeves of her robe, which was weird if I was being honest.

"There, you better sit down in one of the compartments, there is an old lady that is selling sweets, you should get chocolate, otherwise, you should be fine in a little while."

I was ushered into the compartment nearest to me. She opened the door, shoved me inside, closed the door behind me, and walked off.

What the hell?

I looked at the door for a moment, before turning around to the blank stare of the only other occupant of the compartment...

Well, this was awkward.

We both stayed quiet for quite a while, just staring at each other and I took this chance to give her a quick once-over.

She was not wearing robes, but a white button-up shirt and a knee-length skirt. Her blonde hair was held back by a hair band and her green eyes were looking at me like I was something very strange.

Probably because of how I was shoved inside the compartment by the older student. Hell, I didn't even get her name.

"My apologies, I shall show myself out."

I bent slightly at the waist, and grabbed the door, trying to open it... It was locked. Frowning, I looked at the lock, which was not the cause. Casting an unlocking spell, I frowned when it didn't work.

[Spell rank insufficient.]

Fucking... Ugh!

"I can't open it..."

That that woman lock me inside so I would "Rest"? Bitch, I don't remember the last time I slept for something other than a practical reason.

"Hmm?"

I felt the girl behind me stand up and walk closer as I stepped aside from the locked piece of wood. She tried to open the door, even cast her own "Alohamora" on it, only to find it was still locked.

"The upperclassman must have cast a locking spell on it... Why though?"

Well, this somehow got awkward-er.

Placing a palm on the door, I send my mana into it, noticing that, unlike the normal Locking spell, this one was concentrated on the whole door, instead of only on the lock.

The thing was focusing on keeping the door in place as a whole instead of the lock and preventing any spells not powerful enough to unlock it. But it was fading, rather quickly.

Humming, I manipulated my mana to circle around the defense barrier of the spell, and with a thought, Destroyed it. Fortunately, this had the positive side effect of breaking the spell that was on the door, and with a simple hand movement, slid the door open.

[Spell created: Disturb. 5 Skill points awarded.]

I blinked... I could get skill points by creating skills. Zeus's saggy balls, why didn't I try this before?!