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Act One: Prologue
(Unknown Location; July 31st, 1998)
Harry Potter stared at the world around him, blinking in confusion. He was surrounded by shadowy darkness, facing the floating words, You Are Dead, written in eerie crimson ink. Grayed out below that were the words:
You Are Dead
Reload Last Checkpoint
Return to Title Screen
He couldn't believe what he was reading, or what it meant for him either.
"I sacrificed so much blood, sweat, and tears... and for what? A bloody game?" he muttered softly, still reeling from the shock of experiencing death. He'd accepted that he needed to die, and walked into the forbidden forest to face off against Lord Voldemort one final time. And in the end, it didn't even really matter. All of the conflicts and stress that he fought against for these past seventeen, almost eighteen, years was meaningless.
He cried for a few minutes, allowing his emotions to run their course while he continued thinking about what it was that he needed to do next. His hand wavered over Return to Title Screen, which glowed an even brighter red. It was nearly blinding in its radiance, yet he refused to look away from it. Then all the floating, luminescent ink swirled about before forming several more lines of words:
New Game
Load Save
Settings
Only the first and third choices were colored-in, meaning that he could actually select them. After ignoring a single prompt that asked him if he wanted to overwrite his last Checkpoint, he read a small box appeared soon after with this message.
Edit Name (Harold James Potter)?
Edit Date (June 31st, 1998)?
WARNING: CONSCIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE EVENTS WILL BE LOCKED FOR GAMEPLAY PURPOSES!
Are You Sure You Want to Start a New Game?
He was certain that he wanted to start a new game, because that was the only choice left to him. But, the thought of losing that edge made him a bit nervous. But he just squared his shoulders.
But the date... well, that was definitely something that he was going to change... "Four years ought to do the trick..."
(France; July 1st, 1994)
Fleur Delacour walked across the sandy beach, watching transfixed as the Mediterranean Sea repeatedly crashed into her 'back yard.' The sun was glowing above her, the water sparkled before her, and her smooth red lips quirked upwards.
Bliss swirled through her majestic body upon returning to her ancestral home. She sighed happily at the warmth covering her nude figure, stretched into a yoga position, and blinked lazily at the resplendent beauty of the world around her.
Lying on a towel in the sand next to her was her younger sister, Gabrielle. She looked like a miniature version of Fleur, one that was still a child.
"So Fleur," said Gabrielle as she enviously admired her sister's Big Toe Pose, "I was wondering... how old were you when you went through the Change?"
Fleur sighed and changed into the Lord of the Dance yoga pose, as she regarded one of her most precious people in the world. "... About thirteen, your age, when it finally happened," she said, her eyes growing distant as she relived the memory.
A moment passed, the gentle rush of waves and swish of palm trees the only sounds in the world.
"What did it feel like?" whispered Gabrielle, her eyes pleading for more details on the subject. It would be happening to her very soon, just like what every other veela went through.
"Painful," came Fleur's immediate response, her lilting voice contrasting the sharp word.
Fleur shrugged her shoulders, as she shifted to a different yoga pose, her jovial attitude doing nothing to bury the tension underlying the conversation. Sweat starting glistening across her smooth body, though it somehow made her seem even more attractive than before.
Gabrielle smiled and said, "I'm scared about it, but only a little. It's just that... I know it could happen at any time, at any place without warning."
The likelihood of her going through an intensely painful transformation process would grow marginally everyday, until she would succumb to her bodies urges and allow her instincts to take hold. Enormous emotional reactions tended to expedite the metamorphosis process, and those were frequent in normal hormonal teenagers, let alone those with phantasmal blood flowing through their veins.
"That's true enough, I suppose," said Fleur as she stretched her spine.
"I just can't help but wonder if there's some way to force it to happen painlessly, or maybe to prevent it from happening altogether. I want to go through the Change, I really do, but the pain... I don't want to be stuck in the body of a child for the rest of my life either, not if boys'll just see me as a little girl while the other girls my age leave me behind."
The conversation was a heavy one already, and Fleur only just got back home for summer break from Beauxbatons earlier that day. The day was coming to an end, the sky becoming a veritable rainbow of color from the setting sun.
"I know how you feel; I was there four years ago..."
They stood in companionable silence, particles of sand clung to their dainty feet as they watched the beautiful sunset together. Gabrielle's stomach growled, and they both giggled, the dramatic tension of the moment broken.
They turned her back towards the enormous mansion they called home. Chatteau Delacour was hidden away from the rest of the world by powerful bounded fields laid down centuries ago by her paternal side of the family. In fact it was probably the only reason that she would ever dare to leave the confines of her room with the tiniest amount of skin showing as a veela.
Their smiles grew as they ran back to their towels and bathing suits.
Fleur had decided, upon reaching the family's private beach, that she'd rather not wear clothes after all, simply because it wasn't all that necessary when nobody could trespass on their lands. And, being the typical little sister that always wants to emulate the older sister, Gabrielle quickly mimicked those actions.
Now, knowing that soon she'd be treated to her favorite foods by the Delacour family's personal master chef, Roselia, they quickly began slipping into their clothes. Gabrielle decided to discretely examine her sister's body, to gauge about what she'd look like after the Change.
Most women would probably do inconceivably unhealthy things to themselves to get a body that looked even half as attractive as Fleur's, but the Delacour sisters' maternal ancestry allowed them to almost take it for granted. Being veela made them a perfect ten in appearance by human standards even on their worst days.
They began the short walk back to their beach-side mansion. There were beautiful marble balconies, giant stained glass windows depicting long forgotten tales about the achievements of their ancestors, and dozens of brick chimneys sticking out of the slanted rooftops.
Gabrielle ran as fast as she could back to their home, laughing all the way there.
Fleur's almond-shaped eyes twinkled with happiness as she watched her beloved sister be an energetic young girl. Turning, she looked over her home. The grounds had beautiful gardens and flowerbeds, orchards and vineyards, a stable and kennel, and even an aviary.
People wondered why she seemed spoiled, but that's what you get when you're arguably royalty.
Shaking her head to regain track of her thoughts, Fleur covered her flawless skin with a racy black bikini. She could take the chance of running into her parents without accidentally flashing them now that she was properly clothed, so she entered through the still open front door.
The tantalizing scent of French cuisine wafted through the house, signifying that her favorite house elf was preparing a special meal just to celebrate her coming home from Beauxbatons with a perfect grade point average.
She quickly ran up one staircase out of the five or so that adorned her house and quickly headed to her room to get changed into proper eating attire. Once done, Fleur quickly headed to the dining room, where the rest of her family were already waiting politely for her.
"So, Fleur, now that you're back home, I was wondering if you'd like to continue honing your racial abilities?" asked her mother Apolline. Fleur grinned and nodded, making her mother smile happily before adding, "You're gonna have a busy vacation, young lady..."
Laughing, Louis Delacour decided to comment before his wife got lost on a tangent, "Also, I'd like to begin your... other training." Fleur's smile slipped as she heard her father's words.
"Father, are you serious?" she asked softly. The entire table was quiet, as both Apolline and Gabrielle watched.
"Fleur, I love my family more than anything else in the world. And... I don't feel comfortable with you going to an entire other country, especially a corrupt country run by blood purist conservatives, without having this particular set of skills to fall back on," said Louis Delacour, a small amount of his insecurity finally coming through.
He just didn't quite think that she'd be able to rely on her fledgling abilities as a maiden veela.
Perhaps when she grew into the formidable matron stage of her race's lifecycle like her mother, or even if she managed to become a nigh unstoppable matriarch like her grandmother, but those wouldn't happen for decades at the very least.
"I don't think its nearly as bad as you're envisioning it to be, my love," said Apolline, her kind voice taking on a tender tone as she gently rebuked her husband. "After all, we haven't even been there. Who are we to judge them without even gracing them with our presences?" she asked rhetorically, her elegant eyebrow raised slightly in a surreptitious challenge.
He gulped and turned back to Fleur before continuing, "You were three years old, Fleur, when Britain was in strife, and I remember worrying about it spilling over into the mainland. I... I want you to learn how to protect yourself in situations where I can't do it for you, and it should help you with the Triwizard Tournament."
Fleur gave a small smile and said, "I've been asking you for years, but you only want to teach me when I'm leaving the nest?" She just chuckled softly, "I should've threatened to leave earlier if that's all it would take." At a sharp look from her mother, she relented, "I'm sorry, father. But, how will I have enough time to study under you? I have to cover a year's worth of magecraft, and I'm constantly working on my racial powers..."
Louis sighed in defeat and said, "I didn't want to give you this until your birthday," which everyone present knew to be the day before Halloween, "-but it'll serve a better purpose if you have it over the summer." He got up and said, "Roselia," to which said house elf appeared out of nowhere.
"Yes?"
Smiling indulgently, he said, "Would you kindly retrieve Fleur's birthday present from me? It's in my personal office." The house elf nodded and disappeared with a faint pop. Within moments he took the proffered gift from Roselia's quickly returned hands.
It was a fairly small parcel, wrapped in bright blue paper with a white bow. Handing it to his daughter, Louis smiled expectantly and said, "There are several rules concerning its usage, but I trust that you won't abuse this gift unduly." As those words were spoken, Fleur opened the package and peeked inside before gasping in disbelief. Her slender hand reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a necklace with an hourglass shaped pendant.
"A time-turner..." she muttered breathlessly, her twinkling sapphire eyes staring unabashed at the trinket.
The glittering sands held within the hourglass were actually the crushed up wings of pixies, the weakest subgroup of faeries known to man. Ever since the discovery of temporal distortion in the vicinity of the creatures, as well as the eventual quantification of such a phenomenon, there was a gold rush that placed them all on the endangered phantasmal species list. So many were leaving the world nowadays...
"Yes," said Louis with a grin, "I expected you to react like that. You already know the rules of its use, so there's no point in repeating it. Just, please follow them. It would be a bit awkward to explain if you were found with that during the Tournament, even if you are my daughter. Do you understand, Fleur?"
Nodding absently, Fleur murmured, "Thank you so much, father..."
Fleur Isabelle Delacour: Veela, Shadowhunter, and Umbra Witch. The Triwizard Tournament didn't know what was about to hit it.
(Britain; July 1st, 1994)
Harry Potter was lying in his bed at Number Four, Privet Drive, counting the cracks in his ceiling. This was becoming something of a habit of his, now that he was back living with his extended family again. It was much too early in the morning for him to be moving about the house, but far too late for him to be able to get any sleep.
Insomnia was a bitch.
Lack of sleep had been ailing him recently, ever since the hectic last few days he'd had at school. The whole fiasco was clouding his mind, with images of Lupin as a werewolf or hundreds of dementors coming for his face constantly plaguing his dreams. He just couldn't sleep anymore.
In fact, his lack of sleep was having such a strong impact on him that he was seeing things. Right in the center of his vision at all times, no matter where he was looking, there was a slowly spinning, translucent lightning bolt (much like the scar on his forehead). Right under the symbol was the word Loading. He wasn't entirely sure how long this odd phenomenon had been going on, but he was feeling just lazy enough to humor it.
As sunlight started filtering its way through his curtains, the lightning bolt and accompanying word began expanding, before they promptly exploded into a shower of silent fireworks that he was sure only he would have been able to see. As the fireworks faded out of view, a holographic menu was left floating before his eyes.
Harry Potter: the Odyssey!
Have you ever felt like the world was too chaotic and disorderly? Have you ever felt like you lacked the freedom and agency to affect such a world? Well, congratulations! Your life has been transformed into a videogame! Unfortunately, a side effect of this new development is that you will have to relearn every skill or spell you have ever learned up to this point; be prepared for a very difficult next few weeks.
Would you like to take the Tutorial?
Yes
No
Puzzling at the options provided to him, he, more out of curiosity than anything else, shrugged and clicked Yes, which oddly provided some haptic feedback.
After all, if he was going to be dealing with this for the rest of his life, as he had a strange feeling was going to be the case, he might as well get a good handle on it. Besides, he didn't really know all that much about videogames, and a tutorial was probably the best way to learn.
The phantasmagorical screen minimized into a lightning bolt icon that was spinning, just above the word Loading. Then the icon, which had stayed in the exact center of his vision no matter where he looked, faded away. It didn't appear to be a physically present thing, because it had no reflection in his mirror, which didn't make him feel any better about the fact that he could see it.
Quest Unlocked: Tutorial
Objective 1: Explore Your Main Menu!
Completion Reward: 100 EXP
HINT: First, explore the menus available to you. To open up your Main Menu, simply think the words 'Main Menu' with note that there are many features that will be kept from you until you meet their requirements.
Blinking, the young wizard looked around his bedroom for signs of anything out of the normal. It was a little delayed, but a rushing feeling washed over him, the drums of war pounded in his chest, and some text overlaid parts of reality, something that he was vaguely sure that only he would be able to see.
Frowning at the fact that some things were going to remain hidden to him, he sighed and decided to just go along with it, for the time being. After all, it wasn't like he was going to be able to get rid of this videogame nonsense anytime soon. Without further ado, he did as he was instructed, and was presented with the following:
Main Menu
Status
Inventory
Journal
Data
Settings
After a brief moment wherein he took in all the different things for him to choose from, he idly moved his attention away form the menu to the world around him; he noticed that most of the sounds that he was used to, such as the ticking of a clock, the humming of the air conditioner, or the whirring of a fan, were all dulled. The colors of the world outside the menu were all faded, and the clock on his wall was ticking far slower than it had been before he opened the menu up.
"Interesting..." he muttered, to nobody in particular, before clicking the very first option available to him.
Status Submenu
Character
Condition
Attributes
Traits
Achievements
Skills / Styles / Techniques
Harry, in knowing that time was moving far slower than before, knew that he could take his time exploring the possibilities of his newfound power. Even more curious than before, he started working his way through all of the tabs.
Character Tab
Name: Harry James Potter
Age: 13
Race: Homo Magi, ?
Level: 0
Experience: (0/100)
*Class: (Undecided)*
*Focus: (Undecided)*
*Type: ?Normal? (Undecided)*
Title: The Boy-Who-Lived
Archetype: Wand-Wizard
Affiliations: Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Weasley Family
Alignment: True Neutral
Renown: Major Wizarding Celebrity
Threat Level: Delta
*Codex Entries Added: Homo Magi, The Boy-Who-Lived, Wand-Wizard, Hogwarts, Gryffindor*
After a second, he clicked on the Class, Focus, and Type lines because of the asterisks around them. Annoyingly, a new window opened up asking him to:
Decide Your Class!
Saber
Lancer
Rider
Archer
Berserker
Caster
Assassin
Hint: Your Class will unlock certain Ability trees, and lock you out of others. It will also give Attribute bonuses and penalties.
Decide Your Focus!
Diplomacy: Negotiation and pleasing people.
Martial: Skill at warfare and combat.
Stewardship: Management of the demesne.
Intrigue: Skill at manipulation and scheming.
Learning: Self Explanatory.
Hint: Your Focus will unlock certain Ability trees, and lock you out of others. You can reassign your Focus once every moon. It will also give Attribute bonuses and penalties.
Decide Your Type(s)! (Pick a maximum of TWO!)
Fire
Water
Grass
Ice
Electric
Ground
Rock
Steel
Bug
Flying
Fighting
Poison
Dark (Demonic)
Psychic
Ghost
Dragon
Fairy (Moon)
HINT: All types have strengths and weaknesses, like an enormous game of rock-paper-scissors. Fire burns grass, grass absorbs water, water puts out fire, etc. Your Type(s) will unlock certain ability trees, and lock you out of others. Multiple Types will further unlock more specialized Ability trees. Types can also impact the effectiveness of certain actions you take.
There were no descriptions of what each class entailed, but he had a pretty good idea as to what each of them did. In the end, he decided that being a Caster would be his best bet. A message popped up once he made his choice, telling him that his Class would install once he Leveled Up.
Looking them all over, while also thinking about how he would need to relearn all of the skills that he had up until this morning, he ended up choosing Learning. After all, he would be able to change it at some point, probably. Another message popped up, telling him that his Focus would install once he Leveled Up.
He was having a very hard time choosing a Type for himself, but he ended up choosing Dragon and Fairy, since those seemed like they would give him the most options in the future. He would have loved to be Psychic as well, but it didn't seem like nearly as good of a choice.
A final message popped up, telling him that his type choice would be installed as soon as he Leveled Up. He was beginning to see a trend there...
Condition Tab
HP [Health Points]: 29/40(-10); 4(-1) HP/Minute
SP [Stamina Points]: 26/40(-10); 4(-1, -75%) SP/Minute
MP [Magic Points]: 19/20; 20 MP/Minute
HINT: Your total possible HP and SP are normally 40 (due to you having a 4 in END), but are penalized 10 due to a status effect that lowers your END by 1.
HINT: When your HP reaches 0, you will become incapacitated. In this state, you will be prone on the ground. Another hit from an enemy will kill you, and going to long without being resuscitated will end in your demise, though any allies nearby can resuscitate you if they have the capacity to do so. While incapacitated, your ability to regenerate resources will be temporarily halted; your SP will begin to drain, determining how much time you have before you die.
HINT: SP is used when performing any taxing form of physical labor: sprinting, climbing, strangling and wrestling, blocking and dodging, taming, swimming, etc. When your SP reaches 0, you will begin accruing Fatigue which directly translates to having a greater delay between ANY action performed whatsoever. If Fatigue grows to be too great, you will pass out from exhaustion wherever you are. You will need to rest long enough for your Fatigue to decay, and your SP to regenerate.
HINT: MP gets used whenever you use supernatural powers. When it runs out, you will begin to suffer from Magical Exhaustion, which has similar symptoms to radiation poisoning and being fatally exhausted.
Consumption: (80/100)
Hygiene: (93/100)
Waste: (100/100)
Energy: (20/100)
Social: (50/100)
Fun: (2/100)
HINT: Consumption is your need for food and drink. If it goes too low, you will start suffering from starvation and dehydration, which will negatively impact almost all of your Attributes. If you consume too much too quickly, you will surpass your stomach capacity and be forced to vomit what you tried to intake.
HINT: Hygiene is your cleanliness. Brushing your teeth, putting on deodorant, washing your hands, and showering are the bare minimum of what's required to keep yourself within the confines of societal norms. Using mouthwash, beard oil, lotion, nail clippers, and floss will get you extra points. Hygiene immediately impacts your CHA, although it can lead to health problems later on.
HINT: Waste is your need to urinate, defecate, and regurgitate. Failing to take care of this need can lead to an embarrassing situation...
HINT: Energy is your need to sleep. While it can be bolstered with stimulants are adrenaline rushes, your need to sleep can and will catch up to you.
HINT: Social is your need for social interaction. With the [Outgoing] Trait, you will need quite a lot of social time before it can begin to impact your mood.
HINT: Fun is your need to relax and enjoy life. While it might seem somewhat counter-intuitive for something as arbitrary as Fun to be seen as a Need, it is scientifically proven and clinically tested that you need to have Fun for the sake of your mental health.
Money (Wallet): 0 G
Money (Account): 29,785 G
Prestige: 5
Piety: 0
Mood: -15
Renown: 500
HINT: Money is used to buy goods and services. The money in your wallet is that which is immediately available to you, while that in your account(s) needs to be withdrawn before you can access it.
HINT: Prestige is a form of currency used to curry favors and alliances among noble families and/or ruling bodies. Prestige is a measure of how honorable and respected a character is. It is increased in a variety of ways: gaining titles, Focus in Diplomacy, gaining direct vassals, creating (or usurping) titles, having certain Traits, winning battles and sieges, and recovering family heirlooms.
HINT: Piety is a measure of how pious a character is, and is a form of currency used to curry favors and alliances with religious organizations. It increases by a variety of mechanics.
HINT: Mood is a measure of your overall disposition in the current moment. The better your mood, the more successful you will find yourself, and vice versa.
HINT: Renown is a measure of how famous you are, and fame is a tool all on its own. While a nobody in the mundane world, you are a major household name in the wizarding world...
Active Effects:
Exhaustion: -1 END; -3 Mood
Insomnia: -50% SP Regen; -2 Mood
Parasomnia: -25% SP Regen; -2 Mood
Unhappy: -8 Mood
Title [Boy-Who-Lived]: +50 Luck, +450 Renown
He skimmed over all the annoying goddamn HINTS that kept blocking the actual information he was looking for, before pushing past them. Why did this feel like he was reading a training manual?
When he opened up the next tab, he was shown that he could allocate up to thirty points however he wanted across all twelve attributes. A hint box opened up and said that all attributes could be further trained and improved over time organically, but they would also majorly increase every time he leveled up (based on the ratio of attributes he used throughout the level he was ascending from). So, if he theoretically leveled up after running a marathon, he would increase his Endurance and Agility attributes.
He didn't bother reading any of the hints that popped up on that page, however.
After putting his points where he thought he would get the most use out of them, he ended up with it looking like this:
Attributes Tab
Strength: 4(-1)
Endurance: 4
Agility: 4
Dexterity: 4
Intelligence: 6
Spirit: 0
Wisdom: 2
Willpower: 2
Charisma: 4
Guile: 0
Perception: 0
Luck: 0 (+50)
Then he opened up the Traits tab, and blinked at the wall of words that were available for him, with multiple restrictions per subcategory. He could only have one trait from each of the four categories: emotional, hobby, lifestyle, and social; what's more, many of the traits were incompatible with one or another.
He could only have a total of 4 traits, and he had to find a combination that would suit his playstyle. After almost fifteen minutes of careful consideration and experimentation, he ended up with the following list:
Traits Tab
Emotional: Genius: All Mental Attribute Gains Are Doubled And Banked
Hobby: Perfectionist: Crafting and Training Are More Effective
Lifestyle: Ambitious: Rewards For Completion of Bonus Objectives Are Doubled, Failed Bonus Objectives Incur Penalties
Social: Outgoing: All Social Attribute Gains Are Doubled, But You Will Have Personality Incompatibilities With Introverts
Abilities:
Magical Blood: Allows the User to Actualize Mysteries
Parseltongue (Incomplete): Allows the User to Speak to Snakes
Perks:
Wand-Wizard: Allows the User to Cast Spells, and Wanded Magic Uses 50% Less MP
Gamer Perspective: Sleeping Grants Well Rested Bonus (Increasing Gained EXP By 10%) and Heals Temporary Status Effects
Corrupted Blood: The User's Blood is Poisonous to Enemies and Restorative to Allies; Gained From Near Death Experience Involving a Basilisk and Phoenix
HINT: You can gain more perks as rewards for Leveling-Up, completing difficult Tasks, increasing Attributes and Skills, or doing other noteworthy things.
Skills:
General
Household Management (0/100): Child-rearing, Cleaning, Cooking, and Gardening
Riding (0/100)
Speechcraft (0/100)
Stealth Arts (0/100)
Sword Arts (0/100)
Rowling-Verse
Care For Magical Creatures (0/100)
Charms (0/100)
Herbology (0/100)
Magic Dueling (0/100)
Potioneering (0/100)
Transfiguration (0/100)
Achievements
Child of Prophesy
Vanquisher of Lord Voldemort: Boy-Who-Lived
Protector of the Philosopher's Stone
Slayer of the Serpent King
Banisher of Dementor Centurions
HINT: Achievements unlock Titles, which come with game changing perks. Only one Title may be equipped at a time, normally.
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that, but there was no way for him to turn it off, so he had to just go along with it, and just make sure that he didn't end up accidentally taking advantage of it.
Next he returned to the Main Menu and clicked on the second choice.
Inventory Submenu:
Apparel:
1 Underwear: [Dirty][Ripped][Hand-Me-Downs], HP: (70/100); DT: 0, DR: 0; CHA -3
HINT: The Inventory Submenu will expand with more tabs as is needed. Certain conditional modifiers of items can lead to decreased effectiveness and further penalties.
That's all that he had on his person, which was kind of sad. Then, a realization struck him like a bolt of lightning: his glasses weren't in his inventory because he wasn't wearing them. However, he was capable of reading everything in the menu with perfect clarity. This meant that he wasn't actually seeing any of these menus with his eyes at all. He didn't know exactly what it meant, but he could tell that it was pretty significant.
Mulling that epiphany over for a few seconds, he realized that he wouldn't be able to do anything with that information for the time being, so he might as well continue on with the Tutorial.
Journal Submenu
Repertoire: Complete list of spells and techniques that you have acquired, along with mastery levels for each.
Codex: Contains a beastiary, herbiary, dossier, and encyclopedia on anything or anyone that you come across on your Odyssey.
Recipe Book: Contains every crafting recipe that you discover.
Logbook: Contains all of your quests, missions, goals, activities, objectives, aspirations, and diversions.
Navigation: Contains an actively updating map of the world around you.
Journal Submenu: Navigation Tab
Desmesne: Potter Manor (Destroyed), Godric's Hollow Cottage (Destroyed)
HINT: Allied Territory is blue, enemy territory is red, contested territory is purple, and neutral territory is grey. Territory ownership is important for myriad reasons: you and your allies can only respawn at hospitals if 'incapacitation' occurs in allied territory; you cannot fast-travel to or from enemy territory (or any location and landmark that you have still yet to discover), and units allied with the owners of the land gain military bonuses. Keep in mind that De Jure ownership and De Facto ownership are not the same thing; rights of ownership are important to many magical rituals and political machinations. As you explore the world, Blackmap will fade away, but Fog of War will rest on all parts of the map that you cannot perceive at the moment. Your perception will also dictate your ability to detect enemy or neutral units, hidden treasures and secrets, and other such things of note.
Reputation
Hogwarts Staff: 6
Gryffindor: 7
Hufflepuff: 5
Ravenclaw: 4
Slytherin: 3
Wizarding Britain: 9
Order of the Phoenix: 10
Death Eaters: 1
Weasley Family: 8
Diagon Alley Shopkeepers Guild: 6
HINT: Your Reputation is broken down by individual groups and factions, with your reputation made up of the average of all the members' opinions of you, on a scale of 1-10 (1 Despises You, 2 Hates You, 3 Dislikes You, 4 Unfriendly Towards You, 5 Ambivalent Towards You, 6 Friendly Towards You, 7 Likes You, 8 Loves You, 9 Reveres You, 10 Worships You)
Data Submenu
Save Game
Save Select
Load Game
ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted!
Okay, so he wouldn't be able to do anything with the save state of his game, which meant that he probably wouldn't be able to go backwards in time or survive dying. Good thing to know.
Finally he came upon the final submenu, and his jaw promptly dropped open when he came across everything that it entailed.
Setting Submenu
Gameplay
Audio
Video
Cheats
Gameplay Settings:
Easy Mode: Multiple Save Slots, Slow-Motion Quick-Access Wheel, Auto-Aim, Aim-Assist, Slow Enemy Detection, Low Enemy Search Persistence, No Enemy Reinforcements, High Resource Regeneration, Increased Resource Replenishment, Low Enemy Damage Dealt, No Group Attack, Low Enemy Attack Speeds, Low Enemy Accuracy, High Likelihood of Enemy Panicking, High Storage Capacity, High Item Spawn Rates, High Potion Affect/Effect Rate, Low Chase Tenacity.
Impossible Mode (Activated): No Save Slots, Real-Time Quick-Access Wheel, No Auto-Aim, No Aim-Assist, Instant Enemy Detection, Indefinite Enemy Searches, High Enemy Reinforcements, No Resource Regeneration, Paltry Resource Replenishment, High Enemy Damage Dealt, Large Group Attacks, High Enemy Attack Speeds, High Enemy Accuracy, No Enemy Panics, Enemy Resource Regeneration, Low Storage Capacity, Low Item Spawn Rates, Low Potion Affect/Effect Rates, High Chase Tenacity.
Survival Mode (Activated): Adds Hunger, Thirst, Hygiene, Bladder, Bowels, and Sleep-Needs System. Adds Stamina Fatigue, Magical Exhaustion, and Resuscitation System. Adds Diseases, Injuries, Limb Condition, and Immune-Deficiency System. Adds Drug and Potion Addiction, Tolerance, and Withdrawal System. Adds Need-Based-Item Penalty and Debuff System. Adds Atmospheric Status System. Adds Over-Encumbered Penalty System.
Amalgamation Universe (Activated): ?
Fanfic Mode: (Dark/Light) Dumbledore, (Evil/Good) Weasleys, (Abusive/Acceptable) Dursleys. NOTE: Fanfic Toggles Are Permanent.
Harry took a moment to stare in horror at the descriptions of Impossible and Survival Modes, before gawking at Fanfic Mode, and the many implications therein. He was curious about what Amalgamation Universe did, but he didn't feel like worrying over that at the moment, not when...
"With the flip of a switch I can change the actual characters of the most powerful wizard in the world, and two different families?" he asked himself, still horrified at the thought of an evil Dumbledore. He swore in that moment to leave them all on Light, Good, and Acceptable respectively. Sure, he was a little worried about their free will, but something told him that they were just characters in a story anyway-his story.
He promptly made sure that Dumbledore was Light, the Weasleys were good, and the Dursleys were acceptable. But when he tried to change the difficulties away from Survival and Impossible modes...
ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted! ERROR! Memory Functions Are Corrupted!
There was nothing for him to change in the Video Settings tab whatsoever, but the Audio Settings tab had an interesting option. He activated the soundtrack, which should make things more interesting in the future, though he had its volume at a much lower level than everything else.
But then he came upon the final tab from his Settings.
Cheats Tab!
Phoenix Down: Single-Use Power to Transform Any Owl into a Phoenix (Gained By Fighting Alongside a Phoenix Against a Truly Dark Entity)
Shining Knight: Quintuples CHA Effects With Females (Gained From Saving Two Damsels In Distress Without Sexual or Romantic Motivations)
He stared at the two Cheats available to him in astonishment, before exiting out of the menus until he was back to just sitting on his bed.
Objective Completed: Explore the Menu Systems
Completion Reward: 25 EXP! Current EXP: 25/100
Objective Unlocked: Complete Your Chore List
Sub-Objective Unlocked: Cook Breakfast
Sub-Objective Unlocked: Mow the Lawn
And it was at precisely that moment that he heard a tapping on the glass of his window, instantly catching his attention. Hedwig was back from her late night flight, likely having gotten herself a nice meal.
As he opened the window and let her back into his bedroom, she jumped onto his outstretched hand and stared up at him with her petulant eyes.
Hedwig finally hooted, and he realized that he also had his familiar back. And that reminded him of a Cheat he just unlocked. With it already activated, he preternaturally realized that all he had to do was will it to happen, and it would be so.
"Hedwig, become a phoenix!" he declared. And nothing happened for almost five seconds, making him think that he'd messed something up.
But then his owl exploded, a miasma of white flames spread out in the air above him, sprouting out from where she once was. The eldritch energy coalesced into a vaguely avian shape before condensing. The brightness faded out of the predatory shape slowly, forming a fiery aura around a bird that was steadily coming into view, as if his glasses prescription were constantly adjusting to the new being.
The levitating entity that occupied space above his bed slowly descended towards the mattress he was lying on, the bright misty fire it exuded slowly evaporating into the shadows of the room. The white bird opened its eyes, revealing them to be blood red as it gazed into his own bespectacled emerald orbs.
They stared at each other in silence, though Harry was too frightened to even move. The creature before him felt alien as if it didn't even belong to the world. It reminded him of Fawkes, that feeling of unearthly origin and warmth being almost identical.
It was at this moment that he noticed that he could see the name Hedwig floating over the phoenix, sort of like how character names can appear over their heads in the role-playing videogames that his cousin liked to play. "This is real, isn't it?" he asked softly, knowing deep down, somehow, that this wasn't a trick. He got no response from the phoenix, so he just shrugged.
Now was not the time to sit back and question things; now was the time to plan, to try making things work out better than they had the first time around...