8 HP 1

With the unbearable boredom I've been experiencing in the library, and with my excitement to be able to learn magic, at a new time high, I step on the magical staircase and appear near the magical pedestal.

"Hey Index!" I greet the levitating golden book.

{Greetings, Andrew.} Answers the book.

"So, I've been thinking." I start off. "Using the Background System can I enter a world at a specific time and location?"

{It's possible, but those options require you to have the Time and Location Manipulation Systems from the Background System.}

"Damn, I was hoping the base version would allow me to alter my location or time, even if just a bit. What about fictional worlds that have multiple books? Can I enter at, let's say the start of the second book?"

{The short answer is no. Would you like me to give you the long one?}

I sigh and shake my head. "Nah, it's okay." There went my plan on infiltrating Hogwarts in the second year.

With my original plan out of the window, I quickly start formulating a new one. Pacing up and down, while rubbing my chin, I remember a specific detail about the original story. Quirrell was supposed to be the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts before he went on his spiritual journey, where he got possessed. I rapidly turn to the book and ask.

"Hey Index, is there a variation of the Harry Potter world, where the Muggle Studies professor retired just as the story started?"

Understanding my request, the book flips through itself a few times, searching for specific worlds.

{There are about 913 Quintillion variations of that world with that specific detail. The professor quits his job, goes to retirement, or dies, just before Harry's first year starts.}

"Perfect, use the same filter and find the one that has the same plot as the original one."

The book flips through itself again and a moment later stops. The golden text, displaying the discovered world shows up before me, and the book announces.

{The plot is the same, but the old Muggle Studies professor stayed for an extra few years and now he's planning to retire.}

[Harry Potter]

World Tier: 1 (High)

World Language: English

World Systems: None

Doomed: As humanity's technology advances, the world around the wizarding community changes at a rapid pace. If nothing changes the secret about magic will be out in the next two decades. While not the end of the world for mundane people, wizards will be hunted down for experimentation purposes. Concertation camps for the remaining wizards will be created, and the current knowledge about the magical arts will be lost in time.

"Holy shit, it's the Nazis all over again." I curse. "Could you give me the world book?" Without answering me, he just does so, and an aged-looking black book, reminiscent of an old diary appears before me. The first page and the following five greet me with all the possible optional quests.

Optional Quests:

[Shade Lurking | Description: Destroy the Horcrux's 0/7. Might change over time. | Reward: 2,500 WP]

[Defeat the troll | Description: Stop the troll incident from taking any unnecessary lives. | Reward: 150 WP]

[Basilisk in the Toilet | Description: The basilisk raised to defend Hogwarts, has gone loco. Kill it before the end of the first year. | Reward: 750 WP]

[The Prisoner| Description: Sirius Black was unlawfully prosecuted, help him get out of jail. | Reward: 350 WP]

[The Jailor | Description: The undead guarding Azkaban, feed on emotions just because they want to feel them again. Return their tortured souls to the circle of life. | Reward: 1,000 WP]

[Master of Magic | Description: Achieve grand feats of magic in the wizarding world. | Reward: 750 WP]

[Master of Death | Description: Collect all Deadly Hallows and return them to their owner 0/3 | Reward: 5,000 WP]

[Prevention is the Best Medicine | Description: Prevent the Triwizard tournament from happening. | Reward: 650 WP]

[Mystery? | Description: Destroy the magical rooms in the Department of Mysteries 0/6. | Reward: 1,750 WP]

[Remove an Obstacle | Description: Albus, too many names, Dumbledore is one of the many reasons why the British wizarding world is stagnating. Remove him from the chessboard. | Reward: 2,000 WP]

[Hidden Dark Lord | Description: One of the Dark Lords has been hidden under the radar for more than 600 years. Kill Nicolas Flamel. | Reward: 600 WP]

[Philosophy | Description: Most of the world calls the Black Death a plague, but in truth, it was something more sinister. The philosopher's stone was created from millions of innocent souls, destroy it, and set them free. | Reward: 550 WP]

[Blood What? | Description: Change people's minds on blood supremacy. | Reward: 1,000 WP]

[You Reap What You Sow | Description: Dursley family has been tormenting a child for over a decade. No one has done anything to prevent it. Bring them to justice with whatever means necessary. | Reward: 500 WP]

[No One Will Save You Now | Description: The savior of the wizarding world, regarded as one of the strongest wizards of all time, by surviving a curse as a baby, is nothing but a broken human. Save him from his suffering. | Reward: 450 WP]

"Huh, this world has quite a few quests," I mumble. Giving them a good look I calculate that about 17,000 WP could be earned. "I don't think I can change the way the wizarding world thinks, but the other quests are doable. However, killing Harry and his 'family' might leave a bad taste in my mouth." I say, mainly to myself. "But still 950 WP is 950 WP." I shrug and place my hand on the book. "See you later Index." I wave at the book and will myself into the world.

{World "Harry Potter" selected.}

{[Background System] activated}

{Please state your changes.}

"I lived and finished my magical studies in Japan, but recently moved to the UK. As the current professor of Muggle Studies wants to retire, I will replace him. Dumbledore has already interviewed me for the position and I got the job." I state.

{Changes accepted.}

{Implementing... Done.}

{Placing spatial and temporal coordinates near the start of the story.}

{Transporting user in. 3...2...1...}

{Good Luck!}

My vision twirls, and shifts, and after a blinding light I find myself on a dark street, only lit up by the bright full moon and the worthless streetlamps. Giving a quick glance at the system map, I find myself in London. More precisely right on Privet Drive, hopefully, a few houses away from Harry's home.

"Shit, I didn't ask the most important part. I hope the story doesn't 'Start' when Harry was delivered to the Dursleys. Whatever, I'll just check it out." I put on my hoodie and look for a number on the nearest house.

"Sixty-eight." I sigh, as I was a long way from the number four.

After a fifteen-minute of an uneventful walk down the dark street, I finally located the Dursley residence. The place was a mundane-looking suburban house made out of yellow bricks. It had four windows facing the street and a garage right next to the front door. The place wasn't large, but adequate for a family of their size. All of the lights were off, similar to the rest of the street.

'It must be pretty late, there was not a single soul on the streets.' I think and move toward the front door.

Turning the doorknob, I find the front door unlocked. I wasn't expecting that to succeed, so I stay frozen in place and blink in surprise. I couldn't help but wonder to myself, did these idiots really have so much trust in humanity, or are they just so forgetful?

Well after tonight, they won't be able to answer that. After a sigh, I open the door wide, praying it doesn't creak, but my prayers went unanswered. As the front door swings open a loud creak was heard and the snoring upstairs suddenly stops.

'Shit.' I curse to myself. Then using [Muted Steps] I move to the living room, on the right side of the hallway, hiding a breath away from Harry's cupboard. I lay my back straight against the wall and calm my breath. The creaking of the floorboard upstairs, and the hurried and loud footsteps, make me realize who was the one coming downstairs.

The fat man notices the open front door and curses, turning on all of the lights in the hallway, he shuts the front door, and instead of investigating the house, he moves toward the cupboard. Multiple curses at the kid escape his mouth while he's fumbling with the locks bolting the cupboard door shut.

I had no words to describe, how stupid the fat man was. Instead of looking around for something suspicious, he suspected the locked-in eleven-year-old... Or wait, did something similar happen before? Did Harry accidentally cast magic before, his wish to leave this awful place unlocking the front door? He still doesn't have the trace, so the Ministry of Magic couldn't track him.

I don't waste my chance, while the fatty is turned away from me, my knife appears in my hand, pulled out straight from my inventory, and I [Sneak] up to him with [Muted Steps]. Just before he successfully unlocks the second to last lock, my knife goes right through the back of his neck. He swiftly turns around, eyes wide, surprise plastered on his face, he opens his mouth to shout, but no sound leaves it. Like a puppet cut off its strings, he drops to the ground, hitting it with all of his weight. Gurgling noises keep escaping his mouth, while shouts and hurried steps could be heard from upstairs.

Just as a foot appears on the staircase, I throw my bloody knife as hard as I can, cutting deep into the right leg of the woman, and embedding it right into the staircase wall. Petunia startled by the attack and the sudden spike in pain, yelps, and stumbles down the staircase, cracking her skull on one of the steps. Two kill notifications appear on my screen, as even the fatty next to my legs succumbs to the blood loss.

"M-m-mom?" A stuttering question resounds in the quiet house, as a fist starts to bang against the cupboard door. "MOM!" A scream later the little boy rushes down the staircase right to the side of his already dead mother. He doesn't look around, just drops to his knees next to her and starts tugging at her shirt, while crying and shouting at his mother over and over again.

'Well fuck. I wanted to prevent this.' I can't help but inwardly curse at my own stupidity. Not only am I out of weapons, but at any moment the kid might look to the side and notice me. I give a glance at my surroundings and my eyebrows perk up as I notice a heavy-looking lamp an arm's reach away. I lift it up and throw it at the kid as hard as I can, only for it to be tugged back by the cord still plunged into the outlet and fall down to the ground shattering into pieces.

The noise pulls the attention of the kid and we lock eyes. We awkwardly stare at each other for a moment, with the banging on the cupboard door playing as background music. I greet the kid with a wave of my hand and his face morphs in horror, he lets out a girly scream and attempts to run up the stairs, only to slip on the pool of blood and fall heavily on the ground, hitting the back of his head hard on the floor.

[Quest: [You Reap What You Sow] Completed 500 WP (x2) Received]

"What. The. Fuck." I just stare blankly at the quest completion notification and wonder if I accidentally entered a gag world. A sigh escapes my lips and I can't help but shake my head, I move to the body of the kid and check his vitals. My arm touches the side of his neck, checking for a pulse, but find none.

I look at the two bodies of mother and child laying right next to each other, and I notice that I don't feel anything. Not a single spec of guilt for taking away their lives, nothing at all. On the contrary, digging deep down into my mind, all I could feel was excitement and calmness. Was I being influenced again? I had no idea, but I didn't even care, the feelings I was experiencing were liberating, and felt like shackles binding me were lifted from my being.

A smile appears on my face, and a louder-than-normal bang was heard from the cupboard, followed by a low grunt. I move upstairs, dodging the blood splattered all over the floor, and pull out my knife from the wall.

Still using [Muted Steps] I walk up the cupboard door blocked by the body of the fat idiot. I touch his shoulder and deposited him inside of inventory. Not wanting to fiddle with the locks, I place my hand over the door and the whole thing disappears into my inventory.

Against my body, slams the body of an eleven-year-old. Like deer caught in headlights, he wonders what just happened, and who the fuck is he hugging. He shakily looks up at me and I smile at him.

"Hi Harry," A comforting smile appears on my face as I look directly into his eyes, then add. "and bye Harry" My left arm wraps around his thin frame, and the knife I was holding in my right, enters the base of his head. Killing him, instantly. His body drops to the floor, and his scar shines with an ominous red glow. Not a second later it bursts open splattering blood all over the place, while a black gaseous substance wails as it extracts itself from it. An ear-splitting scream later, the black fog dissipates, leaving me with two new notifications.

[Quest: [No One Will Save You Now] Completed 450 WP (x2) Received]

[Quest Update: [Shade Lurking] 1/7 Completed]

I cut off some of Harry's hair and place it inside my inventory, right next to my bloody knife. The four slots in my inventory were already full, so I pull out the fat idiot and drop him to the ground.

I could already hear sirens closing in, and through the window, I could spot the lights of the neighbor's house on. Leaving through the front door wasn't the smartest decision, so I move to the back of the house, right through the kitchen, and will the backdoor into my inventory. The moment I leave the house, I drop both doors sitting in my inventory to the side, and start running toward the backyard fence. With one jump and a pull-up, later I find myself in the neighboring street.

Then I beat it, I ran as if my life depended on it. My movement speed was boosted by my agility, I moved at speeds, even cars weren't allowed in town, and I didn't stop. I didn't stop, till I was way out of the suburban area.

An hour later, my clothes were soaked from all the sweat, but I couldn't care less. I spotted a red Motel sign not so far away. The place looked like crap, and even the "EL" from the Motel sign wasn't working, but I had no other choice. I enter the establishment and find a fat black-haired woman, sleeping at the reception table, right next to a bell.

[Muted Steps] activate and sneak next to her, then slam my hand on the bell. Woken up by the sudden ringing right next to her ear, she yelps and jumps off the chair, with surprising nimbleness for her shape. She shakes her head trying to get rid of the ringing and gives me a glare.

"What the fuck do you want."

"A room for the night." She gives me an annoyed glance and looks at the clock on the wall.

4 AM, she snorts and says. "Couldn't you have woken me up another way?" She grumbles and turns away looking at the wall behind her, and picking off a key from it. "32 Pounds for a night. 3 more if you want breakfast."

I reach into my pocket and convert one UC to fifty-five Pounds. 'Not a bad conversion rate.' I hand her thirty-two and say. "I won't be needing the breakfast."

"Good choice, it's horrible anyway." She snorts. "Room 316, staircase to your left and two floors up. Checkout at eleven. Have a nice stay. Now fuck off." I wave her goodbye and head upstairs.

The room was, as you would expect from a rundown place like this one, horrendous. The bathroom looked and smelled horrible, so the door was instantly closed, while the sheets on the bed looked clean I wasn't going to risk it. I sat down on the convenient armchair and checked my notifications.

[Skill: [Sneak] has reached Level 16]

[Skill: [Muted Steps] has reached Level 18]

[Human x2 slain 200 XP Received]

[Human Wizard x1 slain 300 XP Received]

[Global Level has reached Level 46]

"Huh, the accident wasn't counted as a kill." I mumble to myself and remove Harry's hair from my inventory. I focus on the Race System and will it, to do its magic. The hair melts away, and a system notification pulls my attention.

[Race: [Human Wizard] gained.]

[Human Wizard]

+1 M. Res per Global Level

- 25% increase in the learning speed of skills.

- Gain the ability [Mana Manipulation], unlocking the generation and allowing the manipulation of mana.

As soon as I equip it, I need to grit my teeth, as a burning sensation appeared right in my chest. I pull off my shirt and see a blue glow shining right through my ribcage, right where my heart is supposed to be. The creepy glow starts to spread and the pain intensifies. Blue glowing channels start to spread out through my body, and as they do the pain becomes unbearable, but just before I lose consciousness system notifications greet me.

[Skill: [Mana Manipulation] unlocked.]

[Tier of your being has increased to 1.]

[Class: [Mage] unlocked.]

[Class: [Wizard] unlocked.]

My vision was going darker, and my consciousness was fading, but all I could feel was excitement. Not a lot more and I'll be flinging spells left and right.

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