28 Chapter 28
"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron suddenly whispered to him, breaking him out of his thoughts. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll!"
Harry frowned at the unexpected disturbance. Moreover, he had no idea what the boy was on about.
His mind was so focused on this new development that he simply missed what was happening in front of him. All he could see was a shabby hat suddenly singing a song and names being called in alphabetical order to sort out the children.
'Now is not the time to be distracted.' He reminded himself, letting go of the Gamer's mind. He will properly research this new development in the comfort of his room.
So he forced himself into the present, impatient to be done with the day.
"Black, Andrea!"
The girl stood up on shaky legs, glancing at us nervously.
"Go on. It'll be alright." Rose said comfortingly.
She gave a jerky nod and walked towards the 4 legged stool, where Lupin buried half of her face under the sorting hat.
She sat there for a few minutes before the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!"
One of the middle tables cheered for her as she walked over to them with slumped shoulders, disappointment, and conflict clear on her face as she glanced at Ravenclaw.
"Bones, Susan!"
It didn't take as long this time, and in under a minute the hat yelled out, "Hufflepuff!"
The rightmost table cheered this time, greeting their new member with enthusiasm.
The sorting went on. There were around 40 to 50 students in the first year, which was quite a bit lower than any other class.
It wasn't unexpected though, his parents had already told him why it might happen. Apparently, this batch of children had suffered the most from the previous wizarding war, which had wiped out many wizarding families.
Harry kept an absent ear to the sorting as Granger Hermione went to Gryffindor, much to the annoyance of Ron.
The only bit of amusement came when Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called.
The clumsy boy fell down on his way to the stool, much to the amusement of the crowd, before taking his place on the stool nervously. The hat spent quite a bit of time on Neville, and when it did finally shout, "Gryffindor!", Neville ran off still wearing it, having to jog back shamefacedly amidst the thunderous laughter that ensued.
The ferret boy whose nose he bloodied was instantly sorted in Slytherin.
There weren't many people left now, and after another half-a-dozen names, his turn finally came.
"Potter, Harry!" Lupin called out. He could see his mother perk up suddenly, as did the rest of the school.
Whispers of "Potter, did he say?" and "The Harry Potter?" quickly broke out amongst the students. His sister and Ron wished him luck and he walked to the front quickly, his impatience no doubt showing in his gait.
He hoped he got a house with the strongest dungeon though. While he has been keeping up with his daily quests regularly, having finally achieved Lvl 39 a couple of weeks ago, it was much too slow if he wanted to surpass these wizards.
"Good luck, Harry," Remus said with a smile as he reached the man, before putting the hat over his eyes.
[Gamer's Mind: Activated]
Harry raised a brow as the Gamer's mind washed over his mind again. Though this time he had nothing to do with it, making him just a little...paranoid.
'Did the upgrade somehow game the system more power over me?'
He did not like the thought of that. While he trusted his system completely, he valued his freedom even more.
"Hmm, interesting." A low voice purred above his head and he realized the hat was talking. "No, really. It's very interesting to just sit on your head doing nothing. Now would you mind letting me enter your mind?"
Harry frowned. "No. Why would I do that?"
"Did you not pay attention to the ceremony? How else would I sort you? Now open up."
"No."
"You realize I can't really share your info-"
"No."
The hat groaned on top of his head, shaking like a spasming patient.
"Children these days..." It muttered loudly this time. "No patience at all. So be it then. I could've helped you out upon the path of greatness, but see if I care now. Off you go with your parents into-"
In the most half-hearted and disinterested way possible, it finished, "-Gryffindor."
The crowd, on the other hand, had an exact opposite reaction, breaking out in thunderous applause as soon as the words left its mouth. The middle table cheered so loud that he was sure the noise must've echoed through the entire castle.
People tried to shake his hand and congratulate him as soon as he joined the table, with chants of 'We got potter!' being repeated loudly. But his mind was on something else. A new ring of a system notification.
[Objective updated]-
· Find and clear the Gryffindor Dungeon
Rewards:
10 Levels
Common Stat Crystal
10 levels...10 levels altogether. It was almost one-fourth of his total levels.
He was aware of the small smile that spread on his face as he shook everyone's hands, not letting himself be annoyed by the physical contact.
No, this wasn't a moment to be annoyed. This was the moment of celebration.
He was going to get powerful. And he was going to get powerful fast.
A glance at the teacher's table showed his mother clapping loudly with a grin, while even the headmistress had a smile.
Though the hall quietened again as the next name was called. "Potter, Rosalia!"
Harry gave his midget twin a reassuring nod as she took her seat on the stool. Then the hat was on, and they waited. They waited. And waited...for almost 10 more minutes. Whispers of confusion and bewilderment broke out everywhere, and he could see Lily looking anxious.
Finally, the hat's mouth opened and it bellowed, "Slytherin!"
Again, the whispers broke out.
"Potter in Slytherin..."
"The-Girl-Who-Lived is a snake?..."
"Impossible!"
Rosalia got up on wobbly legs, removing the hat with shaking hands. Her face was frozen with uncertainty. Remus gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze but she didn't seem aware. She numbly glanced towards him, and he gave her an assuring nod.
He wasn't overly surprise by her sorting. If the hat peeked around inside her head, it most likely knew everything about her. Including her deceptions. Made sense for it sort her in Slytherin.
His only disappointment was that she wouldn't be by his side any longer, slowing down his efforts in taming her.
She soon joined the leftmost table in stark silence, incomparable with the congrats he'd received for his own sorting.
The next few firsties were sorted quickly, and Ron's turn came soon. But compared to the bombshell that Rosalia's sorting had brought, no one paid any attention to them. The boy joined Harry in Gryffindor to a quiet applause from his brothers and a few scattered students.
The Sorting soon came to an end after that, and the headmistress stood up from her seat.
"Attention students." She started, her stern and severe voice instantly grabbing everyone's attention. "Before you start today's feast, I would like to introduce all of you to the new addition to our teaching staff. Please welcome, Professor Snape, an ex-student who was until recently working as the senior secretary to the minister."
The man just gave an unenthusiastic wave of his hand before ignoring them all.
McGonagall continued, unbothered. "He will be your new Defense Against Dark Arts' teacher, replacing professor Walberg who has unfortunately been declared lost somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure you will all give your new teacher the most...warmest of welcomes. Now for further announcements, Quidditch tryouts will start the next week, whilst the Dueling tryouts shall take place on the first of October. Anyone interested must submit their names to the respective teachers. Also, the Forbidden forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden. So is the third floor now. Anyone found wandering around these areas will be severely punished. And with that, let the feast begin."
As soon as she sat back down, the empty plates and goblet were suddenly filled up with heaps and loads of food. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, trays full of peppermint humbugs.
It was everything Harry could've asked for, and he dove in upon the food with controlled relish.
People tried to make small talks with him but he was too busy peeking over at the Slytherin table to care.
His sister looked...fine, actually. More than fine. She was sitting with two other girls in their year, laughing along in merriment, her earlier nervousness completely forgotten.
In fact, their little group looked to be the only ones who were enjoying themselves in the entire Slytherin house. The rest looked like constipated patients, trying to look elegant while shoving food down their throats.
He quickly observed the two girls beside her, taking their names for elimination if something happens to her.
Daphne Greengrass
Age: 11
Level: 10
Reputation: Neutral
Affection: 56
Tracy Davis
Age: 11
Level: 9
Reputation: Friendly
Affection: 62
He was also coming to realize that his sister was the most powerful 11-year-old beside him. Rare were anyone who crossed lvl 10 while that girl was sitting at lvl 13. He had to wonder where her insecurity about not being powerful enough came from. Certainly not him, considering it came way before he entered her life...
'Whatever.' He had more important things to be concerned about. Namely, the new quest he'd just received. How was he going to find this Gryffindor dungeon?
He didn't have the chance to ponder much before McGonagall dismissed them for the night.
Their plates and goblets disappeared as suddenly as the food had appeared, and the ending of dinner signaled the time for sleep.
He took one last glance at his twin, noting the slightly forced joy on her face, and followed after the prefect, Percy Weasley.
The Hogwarts castle was... complicated. Even with his sharp memory and Gamer's mind, he doubted he'd be able to memorize the dozens of unique doors that needed to be tickled or politely asked to be opened.
Nor did he believe he could completely remember the hidden tapestries which were actually doors, or obvious doors which were actually just solid walls. The worst surprise came when they were climbing a series of moving stairs.
Moving stairs. Yup, just the thing he needed to complicate the matters. 142 sets of staircases, each with hidden traps and random moving schedules.
It was inconvenient. And yet, Harry couldn't deny the novelty that brewed in his heart.
This was magic. This was the thing he wanted to learn. This was the reason he was attending Hogwarts. Just imagining a mundane school in comparison was enough to give him depression.
Now that he knew Hogwarts existed, no school could ever hope to match its majesty.
They came to an abrupt halt in the middle of a hallway, staring at the bundle of walking sticks floating in midair ahead of them. And just as the prefect took a step toward them, the sticks started hailing down at him.
"Peeves." The boy whispered to the first years, a hand shielding his face from being hit. "He's a poltergeist."
Then he turned back, squared up his shoulders, and bellowed in what he no doubt thought as 'Strong voice'. "Peeves! Show yourself."
He got a stick to the face for his troubles.
"Do you want me to get the Bloody Baron?" The boy said menacingly.
The air popped above them to reveal the appearance of a tiny man with dark eyes dancing with mischief and a wide-open mouth that laughed down at them, with walking sticks held in his hands as he sat in mid-air cross-legged.
"Oooooooh!" He exclaimed, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"
He swooped down at them suddenly, making them all duck.
"Go away, Peeves or the Baron will hear about this, I mean it." Percy threatened again.
Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.
"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Can you imagine that?"
Harry grimaced. The way the boy seemed to put so much importance on his position made him uncertain about this school's regulations.
"Here we are." The boy announced as they entered a corridor.
At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a fat woman in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she asked lazily.
"Caput Draconis." Answered Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.
They all climbed through it and found themselves in what he assumed to be the Gryffindor common room. It was a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs, giving him a feeling of warmth and comfort. There was also a lit-up fireplace at one side, with a royal red cushioned sofa that looked perfect to lay down and relax.
They didn't have that chance though, cause Percy started directing them through one of the doors to their dormitory, While the female prefect did the same for girls through another.
Harry returned Andrea's goodnight with a nod and followed after the others to the top of a spiraling staircase.
Five large beds were waiting for them, with red velvet curtains dividing each.
Their trunks were already in the room, though he couldn't see his owl, Hedwig.
'Probably in the owlery.'
Harry wasn't concerned, the owl had a strange talent at being able to find him anywhere. Quiet a clingy pet she was, though Harry wouldn't replace her for anything.
As soon as they reached the room, the boys plopped down their heads on the beds in silence, simply too tired from the day's happenings.
"Great food, innit?" Ron mumbled to Harry through the hangings. "Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."
"It indeed was." Harry answered as he laid down with a sigh.
Only loud snoring answered him in return, the boy being already in the grasp of sleep.
Harry, on the other hand, was pondering upon the implications of his full gamer system.
But one thing was clear to him: Whatever the gamer system was, he knew he could trust it.
All that mattered was becoming powerful enough to do whatever he may wish to.
But first, he will need to properly understand his new Gamer functions. And he must do so immediately.
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Same night,
Slytherin Dungeons, 1st-year dorm
Rosalia Potter lay in her bed, eyes wide awake. Her wand was sitting in her grasp tightly, waiting in anticipation of the morning.
"Tempus." She spelled carefully, her wand moving in a practiced motion.
'5:30' the translucent energy said in answer.
She'd been lying in bed for over 30 minutes now. She should've closed her eyes and gone back to sleep but for some unknown reason, sleep was furthest away from her mind right now. No, actually she did know the reason.
She missed her twin.
'Why didn't that stupid hat put me in Gryffindor?' She cursed in her mind. 'Why for Merlin's sake did it have to force me with the snakes?'
She knew why though. Of course, she did. She'd always known that Slytherin perfectly described her in full. Cunning, ambitious...manipulative.
Oh yes, she knew exactly what she was. Or rather, what she was made to be.
Growing up with Arcturus Black as your guardian was not something she would wish on anyone. The hidden insults, the subtle slur at her blood, the constant demand to be perfect, all those lessons to handle her fame, to be the perfect hero for the wizarding world, to be The-Girl-Who-Lived...Yes, she knew exactly what it felt like to be shaped into the heir of one of the most ancient and noble houses.
And she never liked it. Not one bit.
Which was why she was so grateful to Sirius. The moment he'd been released from Azkaban, the first thing he did was take her away from his accursed grandfather and his cursed manor.
But the lessons stuck. She knew how to direct a conversation the correct way, knew how to leave the impression of being smart and powerful if she wanted.
Though she usually tried to be the exact opposite of that. She acted stupidly, used broken words, and did her best to befriend everyone. She tried to be what she felt was her true self, free and happy, instead of what Arcturus wanted her to be. Because she knew the truth.
She wasn't smart and powerful. Her twin was.
Had Harry been in her place, she had no doubt that he would have outperformed her in everything. Her twin was just amazing. And mature. And brutal. So very brutal. Everything Arcturus would've wanted. But she didn't envy him.
Not anymore.
Oh sure, It was overwhelming at first, being outperformed by her twin at almost everything she did or tried to do. And yes, shedding tears on that wasn't something she was proud of, but she'd learned to move on. And here she was now, confident in their newfound bond. If there was one person she loved wholeheartedly, it was her twin.
She never would've imagined she could get so close to anyone ever again. Oh her parents tried, of course, to be close and all. But they were always so busy. And her elder sister didn't want anything to do with her. Even her tactics of being over-friendly didn't work.
'Hadn't that been an unpleasant surprise.'
But then Harry came into her life, and one day was all it took for her to open up to him.
She'd often dreamt about having a sibling when stuck in that accursed manor. Often dreamt of not being alone. Often dreamt about not having this huge responsibility on her shoulders. And suddenly, out of nowhere, her wish came true in the form of her twin. And she began to believe that she would never be alone again.
Only for it all to come falling down because that stupid old flea-bitten cap couldn't overlook her upbringing.
And now here she was, all alone once again, stuck with Malfoy and his gang who had a bone to pick with her because he got his arse kicked by her brother.
Life sucks.
Worse, she had to pretend as if she enjoyed being here to keep her twin from worrying too much. Not that Daphne and Tracy were bad company...but she'd rather be with Harry.
"Tempus".
'5:45.'
She sighed. Life does suck sometimes.
She couldn't even go back to sleep due to having developed this absurd habit of getting up at 5. Harry always got up so early to train and exercise, and she'd tried to imitate him so she could spend more time with him. Now that was coming back to bite her in her behind.
She wondered what he was doing right now. Probably exercising. Or maybe practicing magic. He was always busy doing one thing or another. Always trying to improve himself.
She sighed again. She missed him so much. Even though they were in the same castle, the distance felt infinite at that moment.
On top of that, now she will have to get up and face that ferret boy.
She wasn't scared of Draco Malfoy. No, him she could handle easily. Rose had no doubt that Arcturus would turn in his grave if she couldn't even handle a single entitled brat.
But he was never alone.
The coward always roamed with his gang. Those two mini-giants could probably squeeze her neck like rubber. She didn't know what the pug-faced girl was capable of, but she did know that the creepy Nott boy was dangerous.
Whatever. Worse comes to worst, she could always depend on her brother.
Though she'd prefer to handle it herself cause She really didn't trust Harry with people. He might seriously injure the Malfoy heir just to prove his point.
Harry was quite scary when it came to violence. And ruthless. Shockingly ruthless, even for her who'd grown up seeing that old man abuse his elf so much.
Hopefully, this day will be fun. She really didn't like being all serious and grim like this.
It just wasn't her.
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AN: And the end!
So, what are your thoughts? Yeah Harry's in Gryffindor, largely so he could stay close to the canon characters. I know a lot of you wanted him in Slytherin, but seriously why? I already have a Slytherin Harry in progress, and I have a lot of plans for that house in SOW so it doesn't make sense to force Harry in Slytherin.
Also, his personality doesn't come into play due to Gamer's mind. Plus Gryffindor has most of the beauties in the castle ;)
Now the more important part: Harry's system. Does it feel I'm going a little too fast? I've been hinting at it since quite a while. Especially when he unlocked Reputation and affection as 'partial gamer functions'. Let me know if it came out too sudden or jarring.
Plus, Rose's secret is out! Let me know what you thought!
Well that's all for today. Hope you enjoyed.
Stay safe, and good day/night.
