Authors Note

Hello everyone... it's been a long time since I updated this and you probably thought that it was abandoned. I will confess that it actually was until I received a review from defiasstone2 who inspired me to continue and who has helped with idea bouncing and such like.

Onto the important stuff... it is confirmed that this story is a harem, and I am currently still deciding who to include... and reviews with suggestions will be noted. Oh, and what would everyone's opinions on Lily being in the harem be; remember that in this world they are unrelated!

Let the Story Begin!

Harry Potter and the Video Game Life: Chapter 2!

...

The world whirled around Harry, as if he was hurtling through space – which he might actually be, depending on how this alternate dimension thing worked. Then the blur of colours slowed and they, much to his bewilderment began to take on a kingfisher blue hue. Blinking rapidly Harry reached for nonexistent glasses, before remembering that he had no need of them in this world.

He was standing in a room which was the origin of the Kingfisher Blue colours. The shade seemed to be the theme for the wallpaper, curtains and carpet. Looking down Harry could see that he was standing on a thick carpet, which, strangely enough he was unable to feel. There was no reason why he shouldn't feel, upon looking down he seemed to have a fully functioning body; albeit his original one.

Walking around the bedchamber his footsteps did not make a sound, no matter how hard Harry stamped his feet. This led to him stumbling over his own bare feet and consequently grabbing on to the nearest thing, which in this case was the drapes. A beam of moonlight entered through the gap created, illuminating the fact that he was not alone. Harry stared in fascinated horror at the figure lying on the bed.

A faint, ghostly glow surrounded the boy, and he lay still... far too still. Harry walked closer listening out for any signs of the boy awakening. But as he drew closer the boy remained silent and immobile, even his chest which was not rising and falling as it should have done. A tendril of fear gripped Harry and he leaned over the boy. Nothing happened. The boy was not breathing. He was dead.

His breath hitching, Harry grabbed the boy's hand, and for the first time since his arrival in the room, Harry felt. It was an all too familiar feeling for him, the chill that haunted the bodies of the recently deceased. Then the screen appeared.

Body Detected!

Name: Harry James Peverell

Status: Dead

Proceed with Soul Transfer?

Yes

No

Harry grimaced, as the reality of the choice facing him settled in. He was going to replace this boy... no, this version of him. He had too. It was not that he wanted to take over the body of another, he had not realised that in creating a character he would create a world in which he had existed prior to his arrival.

Sure, it was good that he had not started off as a baby, but that bonus was dwarfed by the fact that he would be inheriting the role of this person. Harry resolved at that moment that he was going to be the best son he could be to his new family. He owed that to his new body's departed soul. And so his hand reached out and pressed the Yes button, and Harry felt a peculiar sensation as his soul merged with what was now his body. The last thing he saw before sleep claimed him was the message.

Congratulations! Soul Transfer Successful!

When Harry Peverell, formerly known as Harry Potter the boy-who-lived, woke up he was pleasantly surprised. The first thing he experienced was the silken sheets and Hogwarts quality mattress that was under him. He lay on a four poster bed which was more than spacious enough for someone twice his size and he was now significantly taller than his former, malnourished 11 year old body had been. It really was amazing how much a decent diet could do. Though the genetic modification he had done had also helped with that.

Unfortunately the size increase was not helping Harry now as he had stretched in contentment and had promptly banged his head on the headboard. That served to jolt him awake, and upon reaching under the pillow for a wand that he had habitually kept there and finding nothing he sprang out of bed and faced the enemy.

Years of living with an insane Dark Lord after your life did tend to cause paranoia as a side effect. In this case said enemy was a house elf which looked confused, and like it wouldn't hurt a fly. Harry stared blankly at the house elf before flopping back onto the bed and letting out a loud yell in pure joy. He was alive and he had a family and he was going to live without death threats. He knew that a long and hard road awaited him, but considering that he hadn't even had that option before, he felt great.

The house elf however was not able to understand Harry's thought process and all it could assume was that it has in some way hurt or offended the new young master of the house. Confusion turned to upset rather too quickly, as the elf lapsed into the stereotypical response when one had caused mental or physical injury to a member of its household.

"Kibbles, is being sorry master kibbles is being very sorry! Kibbles will pinch clothes pegs on his ears, Kibbles will!"

Harry gaped. Forget about not hurting a fly, the main danger to the house elf was itself! He quickly tried to diffuse the situation.

"No kibbles, it's fine. Actually I am very hungry, do you know anything about breakfast?"

That did the trick. Diverting the house elf to a job it could do was definitely not the Hermione approved method, but he had seen firsthand what her efforts had done to the elves of Hogwarts and did not want similar breakdowns. Kibbles… Really who named this elf… began to babble about breakfast being served at 8. A quick glance at the ornate grandfather clock in the corner told Harry that he had all of 20 minutes.

New Quest: Attend breakfast with the family!

Objective 1: Arrive on time: +5 Relationship with Family

Objective 2: Wear appropriate attire: +5 Etiquette

Objective 3: Do not offend with table manners: +5 Manners

Failure: -5, Relationship with Family per Objective failed

That was overwhelming as well as difficult. Harry often hadn't even had breakfast at the Dursleys, and certainly was never taught appropriate decorum. His former relatives had delighted in punishing and scolding him for his freakishness and poor conduct was just another reason for them to do so. Looking down at his current outfit he was surprised to see a pair of navy silk pyjamas. Evidently, though, that was not what he should wear to breakfast. Aware of the ticking of his clock he dashed to the wardrobe and opened the door.

He stopped and stared at the mirror on the inside of the door. Yes he had seen this form before on the screen but for it to actually be his body, to lift his hand and see it touch his awed face was another matter altogether. Then the quest became a whole lot harder as he snapped himself out of his vanity and inspected the contents of the antique wardrobe. It was filled to the brim with shirts and trousers and robes as well as accessories such as ties and waistcoats. How was he supposed to choose?!

After 5 minutes Harry's once pristine room had become a dumping ground for piles of clothes, and he was still in his pyjamas. At the time it had seemed like a good idea to have all the possibilities out where he could see them. This was not turning out to be one of his brightest ideas. It was not until he called kibbles to restore a sense of order to the room that he had an idea. He consulted the elf on the matter of what to wear, and found that Kibbles was only too happy to oblige.

Objective 2: Completed: +5, Etiquette!

A minor rush of knowledge filled his head and all of a sudden Harry knew things about the social codes of conduct that he had never previously been aware of. This did have the side effect of giving him a minor headache and so another ten minutes had passed before Harry had deemed himself presentable. Even if he knew what he was supposed to wear the casual robes were still rather fiddly to put on. Though it did feel unusual to have his hair in a neat arrangement, not to mention odd that it only took a couple of minutes to get it that way.

He then faced his next challenge – finding the room that breakfast was held in. After all, he knew nothing about the layout of Valenroy Hall. Had Harry had the time he would have savoured every minute of the exploration, but unfortunately he did not. This was not because of the elegant and opulent decor; rather it was because of the half unpacked boxes of toys in the corner, the scarf haphazardly flung over the banister and the toy broomstick that he almost tripped over on his way downstairs.

It felt like home. More accurately it felt like his home, even though he had never seen it before. It was not like Hogwarts, or like the Dursleys, and definitely not like Grimmauld Place; rather it had such a personal feel to it, like it was lived in. Harry decided that he liked that feeling.

His feet unconsciously picked up speed as he raced down the hall in his haste to find the room where breakfast awaited. Normally he would have groaned at him not thinking to ask the house elf, but now he was just happy to be here. Time was ticking on, which meant that he had to settle for mere glances around the rooms he caught glimpses of. However In the end his trial and error of all the doors on the ground floor allowed Harry to arrive with barely 30 seconds to spare.

Objective 1: Completed: +5, Relationship with Family!

As soon as he entered a loud cheer exited from the mouth of a small girl, the only other child in the room.

Megan Jones, for that was the only person she could be, was absolutely adorable, and Harry could not help but stare. She had large hazel eyes, and matching hair that fell in a perfectly straight manner to her waist. So this was his cousin.

"Hurry up Harry! We can't open anything until we've eaten!"

She pouted prettily and Harry suddenly remembered the screen that had appeared before him just before he had woken up. Today was the day that he turned 11, and it was also the day he would get his Hogwarts letter! But before he could think about that anymore his breath hitched as he saw the other people present at the table.

The man who looked so much like his previous self was his father, James. The pink-cheeked woman with black hair was his mother, Hestia and the stern looking woman who reminded him of Neville's grandmother must therefore be his paternal grandmother... whose maiden name had been Dorea Black. Large green eyes drank in every detail that his brain could process about these people, no, his family. They were his family. That phrase was repeated several times inside Harry's mind, causing a grin to form on his face.

This was his family. This was his home. It was so easy to just let his thoughts go and forget for the time being about this being a dark kingdom. Everything he had wanted was here, and so for a fair few minutes he was silent, content to drink in the happy and peaceful atmosphere.

It was therapeutic, being in such a place as a welcome change from the tenseness of the War alone. That in itself was surprising. He had just come from fighting the Second Wizarding War, where he had been killed less than a day ago... so why was he so calm? The current him felt oddly detached from the past, which he thought suddenly, he was. Harry Potter was gone, replaced by Harry Peverell...

"Aren't you going to sit down Harry?"

Hestia asked in a melodic voice. She gave a smile which held hints of amusement at the corners.

"Yeah...!"

Megan could not help but punctuate her aunt's question with her agreement, and was quickly rebutted by Harry's grandmother.

"Megan! What have we told you about using slang?"

The strictness in the voice of the elderly women then took on a teasing lilt.

"You just want to get to the present opening already, do you not?"

There was no answer, but Megan's bright red face said it all. Harry chuckled and pulled his chair out then sat down gently, careful to keep his back straight just like how everyone else was effortlessly holding themselves. Proper posture hurt, though thankfully this body was used to it, which was why Harry guessed it did not ache as much as whenever he had tried it at Hogwarts.

The family made small talk, which Harry joined in with whenever he could. Unfortunately much of it was previous Birthdays, or current affairs... both of which he didn't know a thing about in this world, so his participation was somewhat stilted. But he observed plenty, seeing how his grandmother acted strict but would frequently tease him and Megan about past events.

His father was impulsive and the hardest to comprehend, purely because his mind jumped from topic to topic without warning, making it difficult for those who knew what he was talking about to understand, let alone for Harry!

Harry was also hampered by the cutlery when it came to making conversation. The only reason he had not messed up majorly was because he was watching how everyone else ate, and mimicking them to the best of his ability. Still, he thought he was doing alright... certainly better than ever before, even though that was not saying much.

"Is something the matter dear?"

Okay so maybe he was not doing quite as well as presumed. Hestia... no he had to stop calling her that – she was his mother now... was looking rather bewildered as she peered at him from across the table.

"Yeah... I mean yes! I'm fine... just a bit nervous... my Hogwarts letter is coming after all."

James groaned in mock exasperation before taking on a marginally more serious tone.

"Cheer up Harry... it's not like the entrance exam itself is on your birthday! Now that would be a reason to have a glum face... But the letter only schedules your examination time, and says whether you have the potential to attend or not. So there's nothing to worry about."

Harry thought to himself that there was very much something to worry about. There was now a Hogwarts entrance exam? He was sure that there had never been such a thing in the old Hogwarts he had attended. Furthermore his skills were pathetically few; as were his attributes pathetically low and he knew nothing about the curriculum in this world at all! What if he didn't pass? He could be exposed as a dimension traveller, or well, whatever he technically was. Merlin... there was a good chance that he would fail miserably... then what would his family think?!

Objective 3: Completed: +5 Manners

All Objectives Complete! + 100XP

"Harry... Harry... Harry... HARRY JAMES PEVERELL!"

The boy in question jerked to attention and spun around to face two annoyed looks, belonging to Megan and his grandmother respectively. The latter huffed, having been the one to call his name last.

"Breakfast is over, Harry, as you would know if you had been listening to Megan. You really are acting somewhat strange today. Anyway, your presents have been placed in the main lounge..."

"...And mine is going to be the best one ever, right Harry?"

A rather dazed Harry gave an awkward smile as Megan took him by the hand and led him to the mentioned room. He was grateful for that; he would have looked odd otherwise. It was what he saw when he entered the room that made his jaw drop. He felt a sense of déjà vu, and not in a good way. Presents were piled over what he presumed was a table, presumed so because the fact was that there so many presents it was hard to tell!

"I see we've stunned the birthday boy this year!"

His father ruffled his hair, and Harry flinched. The situation was too close for comfort to Dudley's eleventh birthday for his liking. However he managed to compose himself in time, and while his little jump of apparent joy looked odd it did not convey disgust in the same way a flinch would have.

Upon being handed the first of many presents he immediately recognised the contents. Having wrapped enough birthday presents for Hermione that felt and weighed very similar it was easy to tell that there was a book inside. That was definitely not a bad thing though, and any help in finding out about this world was not something that he would turn down.

Peeling back the wrapping paper with unfeigned excitement he blinked a few times. And then he blinked some more as a screen popped up in front of him, shielding his poor unfortunate eyes from the bright light being emitted from the book. His family however seemed to be unaffected... so the glow was probably something to do with the game anyway.

Pretending to examine the book he focussed on the screen, and the words displayed on it.

Skill Books!

As you might have realised by now you can gain information from books. However this may be done in one of three different ways. A book may be able to teach you in more than one of these three ways... or none of these three ways depending on its contents. Here are the types of Skill Books, and their effects!

Type 1 Skill Books give a small boost to a skill without needing to be studied. They will always have a gold exclamation mark above them. These are the rarest type of skill books.

Type 2 Skill Books contain information that you do not know and so studying them and increasing your understanding will raise your skills. These are the most common type of skill books, and will emit a white light.

Type 3 Skill books will increase skills by a set amount when all the information inside them has been successfully comprehended. These are uncommon and can be identified by the sparkles that surround them.

NOTE: To lower the brightness of these effects, press the DOWN arrow in the corner of the screen.

Harry quickly followed the instructions, pressed the down arrow, and was rewarded with visible surroundings once more. Looking at the book he was surprised to see all three of the described signs, albeit faintly. The book's title read 'Nails to Nature: A Study on Transforming Metals to Organic Material and Vice Versa'.

It took Harry a few seconds to realise that this was a book on how to turn matches into needles, as well as the other way round. Flicking open the pages he immediately noticed that it was covered in far greater detail than in his previous life, and was backed up by pages and pages of theory. There were all sort of miniscule variants that changed depending on whether you wished your oak branch to turn into a steel sword, or your titanium needle into a matchstick once more.

Opening the book led to another pop up screen, informing Harry of his new abilities.

Transfiguration + 1!

New Transfiguration Spell: Terra Ferrum: Learnt!

Harry grinned widely as he felt a minor pang before suddenly the basics of transfiguration appeared once more in his head. The grin began to rival that of a Cheshire cat as his eyes fell on the many, many book shaped parcels awaiting him. And was it him, or was the one slightly to the left of him under the telltale gold exclamation mark.

...An hour later...

Charms + 1!

Transfiguration + 1!

Potions + 2!

Astronomy + 1!

Runes + 2!

Fashion + 1!

Politics + 1!

...

New Potion Recipe: Boil Cure: Learnt!

New Charms Spell: Lumos: Learnt!

New Charms Spell: Nox: Learnt!

Since most of the books that Harry had received were either fictional stories or skill books that he would have to actually study to learn spells and increase skills, his overall statistics had not changed that much. But when you considered that he had improved this much in the space of an hour it was remarkable progress. Harry could not wait to be able to attend Hogwarts and browse the library there... after all some of those books had to be skill books.

Of course, the more pessimistic side of him whispered, he would have to actually pass the Hogwarts exam first. But his level of worry about that would depend on the date of the exam, and how long he had to prepare for it. The only reason that that particular thought weighed so heavily on his mind at the moment was because he was sitting with his family in the parlour waiting for the letter to arrive.

Valenroy Hall's parlour was equipped with two fire places, one of them for floo calls, the other for owls to drop the post down. As a few more minutes passed in silence, except for the background chatter of Megan and his grandmother playing chess, Harry was getting more and more on edge. What if something had gone wrong with the transition and he wasn't going to get a letter?! He hesitantly voiced that thought.

"Mother... what will happen if I don't get a letter... or if I don't pass the exam..."

Hestia Peverell looked up from her copy of the Daily Prophet.

"You'll simply attend one of the other Magical Academies of course. Hogwarts isn't the only decent school, and you are already assured a place at Hemlock Hall, if nothing else."

James Peverell then chipped in with his viewpoint.

"Don't you worry son... every Peverell that's ever been has gone to Hogwarts. If you can't get in we'll just have to disown you!"

"James Peverell!"

Apparently all of the females in the room had taken umbrage at the, admittedly in rather poor taste, joke. Harry found a chuckle escaping. It was good to be cared about... and their immediate defence reminded him of Hermione! That did dampen his mood somewhat, and he made a mental wish that, wherever she was, she was doing well. Sadly though, he doubted that he would see her at Hogwarts, unless there was some kind of scholarship program. It was times like this that made him rue not knowing more.

And then five pairs of eyes shot to the fireplace as a thick parchment letter fell with a thud down the chimney. Harry was on his feet first, battle honed reflexes and a high dexterity serving him well. Thus he was the one who managed to snatch the letter before it had even managed to land in the grate.

Fingers fumbling with the all too familiar seal he failed to notice his family gathered around until he dropped the letter on the ground and had it handed back to him by Megan. Eyes wide he scanned the neat handwriting for that crucial piece of information; the date of the exam.

Dear Mr. Peverell

,

We are pleased to inform you that you are under consideration for a place at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, First Ranked among the 81 Magical Academies of Amaranth. Please report to the Ministry of Magic, Testing Room 127 on Sunday the 17th of August for your assessment. Please note that all necessary equipment will be provided, and that you should bring the attached form detailing your chosen companion with you.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

The first fact that sunk in was the fact that Professor McGonagall was still alive and was teaching at Hogwarts. Which was somewhat odd, now that Harry came to think of it, for a member of the Order of the Phoenix to be teaching in a Dark Kingdom? He supposed that he would just be thankful that the strict Deputy Headmistress was still alive.

The next thing to register was the day of the exam, which was in two weeks and three days. That was not exactly good, but not exactly bad either and Harry hoped that if he studied like crazy he would be able to pass with a decent mark. In his second chance he would get good grades... or at least not bad ones like he would have gotten previously – had Hermione not been there to help.

The final oddity that was made known took the form of a question. What in Merlin's name was a companion? He must have voiced that out loud, because Harry's grandmother gave him a disapproving look as she spoke.

"Harry you really must pay more attention in your political lessons. You know that muggle-born children are relocated to the magical world as infants?"

At her grandsons nod of agreement she gave a small sigh of relief before continuing.

"Well in order to give these unfortunate children a chance to attend premier Magical Academies such as Hogwarts there fees are subsidised by those Half-bloods and Pure-bloods who pay the attendance fees. "

She paused for a moment and pinched the space in-between her brows as if she had a headache.

"But in order for this to be fair those who pay are allowed to choose the muggle-born who they will allow to attend. These fortunate children are called companions, and act as servants of a sort outside of classes. You've met your father's companion, and your godfathers... you know Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin respectively."

To say that Harry was shocked was an understatement. He was also gritting his teeth at the idea of Pettigrew being alive in this universe. But his mind was quick to seize on the completely unrelated opportunity that it thought had just been presented to it on a silver platter.

"Does that mean that I have to choose a companion?"

She smiled and nodded. Harry beamed with joy... he would be able to rescue Hermione! But... then he remembered his mother. How was he supposed to choose between his mother and his best friend? He dared to venture another question, this time to his father.

"Have there ever been a case of someone having more than one companion?"

"Of course there have... there are some every year!"

"Does that mean that I could...?"

Harry was then cut off by his father's next words.

"Sorry son, but that's a privilege only allowed for the elite students, the ones who get the highest scores in the exam overall, or those who are extremely talented in a single area. And I'm afraid that with your grades that's impossible."

Harry buried his head in his hands causing Hestia to shoot a glare at James before placing her hand on Harry's back in a show of comfort.

"Darling, I don't know why this is so important to you, but you can always try... we'll enter you into the exams..."

And then there was another sharp stare aimed in the direction of James.

"...Just promise me that you'll try your hardest, alright?"

Harry's head slowly lifted and he looked into supporting hazel eyes. The next thing he knew his arms were flung around his mother and he was thanking her profusely. Then Megan collided with him as she too tried to get in on the hug. When his grandmother went to pull the enthusiastic nine year old back she somehow joined in and last but not least James threw himself into the hug. Harry could honestly say that he had not been this happy for a long time. The question was now about preparing for the exam... where should he start? As he smiled he could just about see the notification for the pertinent quest.

New Quest: Pass the Hogwarts Entrance Exam!

Objective 1: Pass all Exams: +3 Knowledge

Objective 2: Score Highly on MAGIC (Magical Aptitude General Insight Calculator): +50 MP

Bonus Objective 1: Become an Elite Student: +2 Intelligence

Bonus Objective 2: Befriend the Examiner: + 10 Socialize

Objective Failure: Inability to Attend Hogwarts

It looked to Harry as if he was in for a hectic few weeks!

End of Chapter 2

So what do you think...? Please review if you enjoyed the chapter!

Harry's Statistics

Physical

Dexterity: 17
Endurance: 10
Strength: 10

Mental

Intelligence: 11
Knowledge: 10
Perception: 10

Social

Charisma: 10
Wisdom: 10
Willpower: 11

Supernatural

Control: 11
Fate: 14
Magic: 15

Skills

Language Skills

English: 100
Parseltongue: 1

Hogwarts Skills

Astronomy: 51
Charms: 1
Potions: 2
Transfiguration: 2
Runes: 2

Physical Skills

Flying: 50
Duelling: 50

Social Skills

Politics: 1
Fashion: 1
Etiquette: 5
Manners: 5