I pull up my pants, hoping that nobody saw my underwear. I sigh, wishing, not for the first time, that I had a belt. I grab one part of my pants to hold them up, and readjust my glasses. Ignoring the growl of my stomach and wincing slightly in pain from the hunger, I look to my left, turning down the road. I walk for several blocks and look up to the cloudy grey sky.

I blink tiredly at the incoming storm, sighing lightly. At least I don't have to deal with them anymore. I trudge on in the streets of London, looking for something, anything, I can take shelter under without worrying about the Bobbies. I sigh with a shudder as a raindrop hits the top of my head.

I break out into a desperate run. I DON'T HAVE AN UMBRELLA! My ruddy shoes beat the cobbles as I look for shelter. I should have been looking where I'm going, but I wasn't, so I run into someone. I fall on my butt, rubbing my head, and look up at the person.

She's about 12, and has bright pink hair, bright blue eyes, dressed in a black T-shirt and black jeans, carrying a red umbrella. She also wears black leather boots and purple high-knee socks. She looks down at him with a smile, and reaches out a hand. I take her hand, and she pulls me back to my feet.

"Uhm... thanks, miss," I mumble, blushing hard. Please don't- "Are you lost, kid?" She asks. I try not to look her in the eyes, and see her parents behind her. Her mother is blonde, thin, and pale. Her father has dark hair, looks strong, and has a light tan, an uncommon sight in London.

"You ARE lost, huh?" She concludes, and grabs his arm. She drags him over to her parents, and Introduces them, "This is my mom Andromeda, and my dad Ted. I'm Nymph! We'll help you get home, right mom?" She smiles at her mother, and my eyes widen fearfully as she nods back at her.

Ted, it seems, notices my fear. "Hm? What is it, kid?" I glance left and right, bouncing on the balls of my feet, and chewing lightly on my finger. Nothing to lose, now. I sigh, and turn around, lifting my shirt and exposing my back.

The three gasp at what they see, and lightning flashes across the sky, prompting the rain to start pouring down. I let my shirt down, and turn back to them only to have my arm grabbed by Nymph and hugged close under the umbrella.

I'm dragged along with the family as they run into a nearby café. I'm sat down beside Nymph, and across the table from her parents. I awkwardly glance back and forth between the two adults and their daughter. "So... I understand why you don't want to go home. Who are they?"

I look down. "I... I don't know. They're Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. That's all they've ever been. Until I started kindergarten, I didn't know my own name was Harry."

Just then, the waitress comes. "What would you like to drink?" she asks sweetly. Ted and Andromeda order coffees, Nymph orders an orange juice, and I try to ask for water, but before I can, Nymph says, "My little brother here would like a Coke."

She walks off, having written that down, and I look at her. "I-I don't want to be a burden, you know, water's good." Andromeda gives me a look, and tells me, "You've clearly been abused. You are not a burden. Nymph just thought you deserved something sweet, right?" Nymph nods, leaving me just sitting there awkwardly until the drinks arrive.

"You ever had a hamburger before?" Nymph asks me, suddenly, and I shake my head. She gives an overdramatic gasp of horror, "Well, I'd say you need one, STAT!" Andromeda chuckles and shakes her head at her daughter's antics. Ted, however, plays along, "So should we get him a burger with it all on it, or ease him into it, starting with ketchup and mustard?"

Nymph has a bit of a pained expression on her face. Andromeda immediately understands, as do I. Her mind immediately went to the abuse, eh? "I'd... I-I'd say ease him into it... because, you know... The thing." Ted looks shocked at his daughter, and I read his face easily. I'm good at reading faces. He thinks she must really care about me to have ended the humor in a joke so suddenly. I caught that too, if only from the tone of her voice.

I hold back tears. Nobody ever cared before. I'd be suspicious of this family if I weren't so good at reading faces. "Th-Thanks, Nymph... Mister Ted... Miss Andromeda..." The smile at me, and Ted replies, "No need to thank us, it was the least we could do to help some poor kid down on his luck." Then the waitress arrives with our drinks. "Thank you." I say, as kindly as I can. That always gets good results.

She takes our orders. Nymph got a cheeseburger and chips. Ted got the same. Andromeda got fish and chips. I got what was discussed. And chips. Lots of chips all around, apparently.

I sat there, graciously yet awkwardly when the question I'd been dreading almost as long as I'd been in their company. "So," Andromeda starts, "You know our names but we don't know yours."

I sigh sadly. "Until a few days ago, I didn't either. I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

I look up with wide eyes at the sudden gasp of shock. I wasn't expecting that! What'd I do? What happened? "You're thee Harry Potter?!" Ted quietly shouts. I withdraw. I have no clue if they're mad at me or not. Nymph suddenly places a hand on my forehead, lifting up my hair so she can see it, and her shocked, wide eyes grow even wider and even more shocked, if such a thing can even be called possible.

"H-Holy crap! Merlin! You ARE Harry Potter!" She almost shouts, before catching herself, and saying quietly, but no less excitedly. This is starting to make me a little- no, scratch that, a lot confused. "Be careful, Nymphadora," Andromeda warns, "We're surrounded by Muggles!"

Okay, yeah, what is happening? "Wha?" I ever so eloquently produce. The three look at me, look at each other, and then Andromeda pulls out a stick, waves it around, saying something intelligible, and looks at me with a wide smile. I shy away slightly, more than a bit concerned, and then the three all shout together, "You're a wizard, Harry!" What?

-))((-

My dinner is placed in front of me by the friendly waitress as I digest what I've been told. Half of me wants to call them crazy and storm off, braving the weather by myself, but the other half feels inexplicably inclined to believe them. It might have been the fact that when she did the thing with the stick, she called it a wand, Andromeda prevented the others from hearing anything that was said, or at least somehow made them not care.

I sigh, taking a bite, and immediately stopping to chew slowly. This is the best thing I've ever tasted. Then, I take a sip of this 'coke' stuff. That record really didn't last long. I sigh again. What do I do?

Okay, so I'm apparently a famous son of a famous couple, and I survived something that should be unsurvivable. Okay. That's slightly believable. My parents had gone to a school in a castle for seven years. Alright, that works. They were killed by a horrid terrorist that almost toppled a government. Reasonable.

The couple were famous for being wizard cops. Ummm... I survived a magic spell that should have instantly killed me. Errr... The castle was a magic school. We're really dipping into the crazy bin now. The terrorist was a dark wizard that tortured people, killed people, and controlled people's minds with a flick of his hand, led a massive cult, and I killed him by being there. Okay, now we're approaching the territory known as 'ERROR ERROR ERROR, FATAL IRRATIONAL FUNCTION CALL, UNIVERSAL SHUTDOWN IMMINENT, PLEASE REBOOT SYSTEM TO PREVENT MEMORY LOSS.'

"So there are books about me, then?" I ask, trying to keep my mind off the insanity. "Yeah, I mean, it's mostly fiction novels, because we both know you didn't fight off a dragon army when you were three." I laugh. I almost manage to resist. I don't succeed, however. "It was just ONE dragon. And I was four. Granted, it was a baby dragon. Didn't put up much of a fight in the headlock I'd put it in."

The three look at me with varyingly happy smiles, all in between 'pleased' and 'ecstatic'.

I sigh again, eating a bit more. "I... This is all hard to swallow, you know." I take another bite, and after swallowing, continue, "I'm supposed to be this all-powerful wizard guy, and be tutored by Merlin or whatever, and yet nobody seems to have bothered to look far enough into things to realize I've been abused."

"They really haven't looked into things, have they?" Ted mumbles, looking off, lost in thought.

"What are you plotting?" I ask before taking another bite.

"Well, we really don't have any clue why Dumbledore did what he did, or if he knows what's been going on, but he seems a terrible magical guardian."

"So... what, then?"

"I was wondering," he looks back to me, "If you'd let us be your guardians, at least until you're 11 and can claim your lordships."

I glance at him skeptically, weighing my options. Then, suddenly I realize I only have one. With an internal groan, I make a decision. I can't be seen as weak, but not too strong either. "Why should I trust you? Granted you're the first people who've ever shown me kindness, true kindness, but still. 'Stranger Danger,' I believe the term is?"

Ted nods his head. "That's a perfectly reasonable deduction. If you'll let us bring you to Gringotts, the..." He looks left and right, before leaning in close, "The wizarding bank."

I narrow my eyes suspiciously. "I don't know a lot, but what I got from uncle Vernon is that banks only handle money."

"Gringotts is our..." Andromeda waves her hands around, looking for the right word, "Government center. Most of the paperwork done by civilians is done in Gringotts."

I sigh. As is, I have next to no options but to trust them. "...Alright. But, eh, can we finish eating first?"

Nymph laughs. Ted laughs too, and tells me, "Sure, Harry."

-))((-

Looking around at the massive marble structure's innards, I can't help but feel a sense of awe. Standing in line has never been so exciting. The wizards shuffling in and out, the mysterious creatures that the wizards call Goblins... It's all so fascinating.

And then we are next in line. The first thing my eyes go to is the plaque. "Bladehook the Underling" it reads, and I look confused at the title. Is that a compliment or insult?

"Records and Contracts." Ted demands gruffly, and I look, surprised. Is that polite to goblins? No... It doesn't... It... Hmm... Bladehook irritatedly grabs a crystal, and says to it, "Hangedge, come escort these two wizards and two witches to Records and Contracts."

When Hangedge arrives, I turn to Bladehook, and the words come unbidden, in a language not my own, Φ May the blood of your enemies be used to dye all that you need red. Φ In a moment of shock, Hangedge and Bladehook both find their jaws on the floor. A quick glance at my three... acquaintances... shows that they fare no better. Shaking off the shock, both goblins bow, and Bladehook replies, Φ May the gold of your purse multiply like rabbits, young lord. Φ I smile, and bow in return, happy, if not too sure what happened.

As Bladehook leads us to the department Ted indicated, he asks me, "What was that?" I simply turn to him, "I'm not sure, but I know it was far more polite than," my tone shifts to a pompous sneer, "Records and Contracts, maggot."

Ted tries to defend himself, "Hey, I didn't say tha-" "It sounded that way, though, and I would know. I've been regarded that way for five years." I cut him off. It throws him off as the truth of my statements hit home, and I manage to extract a promise that he'll apologize later on.

We reach Records and Contracts, and Bladehook leaves us at the counter. I greet this next goblin, Φ Greetings, good man. May your pockets overflow with your adversaries' gold. Φ A quick glance at the name plate, and I have Wrathfang's name. Φ May your enemies suffer in eternal poverty. Φ He smiles at me. "Now, what did you four need?" He asks in English.'

"My name is Theodore Tonks... I need to see the contracts between my family and the Potters." The goblin smiles, "Ah, need some proof of agreement." Ted chuckles nervously, "Yeah, something like that."

Wrathfang's assistant goes off to grab the files as doesn't take long, as apparently the files are import- "Ah, the betrothal contract between Harry Potter and Nymphadora Tonks." What.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask incredulously, looking to the goblin for answers. He looks to me, and says, "Are you Harry Potter?" I nod, my question still unanswered. "Then you will marry Nymphadora when you, or she, depending on how fast you want it, comes of age." Nymph looks just a shocked as I do, and I should know, I checked.

"We're engaged?!" Nymph all but screams, and the goblin sighs, having obviously been through either this or something similar before. "Yes, and unfortunately, because of how the contract was written, no matter how bad one or both of you might want out, there is no out, because the contract clearly states 'Harry James Potter of House Potter will be wed to Nymphadora Tonks, daughter of Andromeda Tonks-nee-Black, before the youngest aforementioned becomes eighteen years of age.' The rest is a seventeen page essay on why dogs are better than cats." Ted looks sheepish. "I had thought it was a joke, given the essay," he explains.

Wrathfang sighs. "It was, unfortunately, not a joke. They were probably just drunk, but at the same time... There is nothing that can be done. On the bright side, it never says anything about consummating the marriage, having kids, or even liking each other or living in the same house." He smiles, "This means you'll only be married on paper and can make a mistress out of whoever you want... though in Nymphadora's case it would be a master, wouldn't it?" He finishes thoughtfully.

I don't really catch more of the meeting as I faint dead away. I see Nymph follow in my footsteps, and, oddly, my last though before the darkness is if Ted is going to actually apologize.

-))((-

My eyes open wide, and the first thing I notice is the blue sky above me. That doesn't make any sense. It's never not rainy in London. The next thing I notice is the grass tickling my arms and back. I immediately sit up, seeing the burlap jeans on my legs, with a small pouch tied to my beltline. I pause.

This makes no sense. I look straight up, back at the clear blue sky, and laugh. Where in the world am I? I shake my head, and lie back down, waiting for something reasonable to happen. I hear a groan, and a voice, "What the bloody..."

I turn my head to the source, and see Nymph, wearing a burlap pair of jeans like mine, but with a sort of chest strap, also burlap, covering her... things... I blush, turning back away. I'm pretty sure she turned to see me, because she immediately says, "Harry! What're you... WHAT AM I WEARING?!" She squeals, covering her (already covered) chest.

With a groan of my own, I sit up, and, putting an arm on my knee, I reply, "I don.. Don't know... Hah..." I look up at the sky. "Where do you think we are?" I look at her, and she looks around in confusion. "Uhm..." She pauses.

"A forest." I give her a level glare. Really? What was your first clue, the trees? "I mean specifically."

"Ah..." She points up with right hand, before her index finger wilts in defeat, "I don't know."

"Well... we can lie here and get killed by wolves, or we can stand up, try to get somewhere safe, and then only probably get killed by wolves." I groan, getting up, and doing some stretches. I turn back to see her doing the same. I take a deep breath, and take in our surroundings.

It's a shame, though, that I only just barely find one thing worth mention. Of to the side of our little clearing, emphasis on the 'little' part, there's a dagger and a book on a rock. I walk over and pick up the book. Harry Potter's Spellbook? I take a look at the dagger, and see 'Nymph' carved into the flat.

"Oi, Nymph." She comes over, and I hand her the oversized knife. "It had your name on it." She gives it a glance, and slides it in between her pants and her belt. I open the spellbook and see that five pages are completely covered in scrawl. Looking at the scrawl, I slowly start to understand it. Each page has a header, 'Affect Normal Fire', 'Cantrip', 'Feather Fall', 'Magic Missile', and 'Shield'.

"Hey! I have gold in this pouch!" Nymph exclaims, holding out a few golden coins. I open my own pouch and count out 20. "Well," I say, "They're completely worthless if we can't find somewhere to trade them, right? Can you see any signs of a town, like smoke or something? I couldn't find anything."

"Sure," She says, and glances around at the sky. "Damn," she mutters, "I can barely tell that the sky's blue. That sun's too bright." I chuckle, "Maybe don't look at the sun?"

"Har Har," Nymph responds cynically, and glances back in the sun's general direction. "I looked toward the sun because I thought I saw smoke. It isn't there anymore, though. Let's just head north, eh?" I sigh, and shrug. "Nothing better to do." So, we move on, in the direction we roughly approximate to be north.

Unfortunately, ten minutes into travelling, my fears are proven... We run into a trio of rather pissed and bloody-looking wolves. We both pale as they turn to us and growl. "Shit..." Nymph mumbles, eyes wide with fear. I try to look for anything we might use as an advantage.

8 / 12

What was that? Suddenly I notice that they're all severely wounded, and might, MIGHT, easily go down with a single hit. "They're wounded!" I yell, and Tonks rushes one, stabbing at it.

17 / 13

Uhh...

Roll 1d4

4

Huh?! Nymph's blade strikes home, embedding itself in the skull, and the wolf falls still. The two other wolves glance at us, almost nervously, before resuming their aggressive strikes. A wolf jumps at Nymph, missing her entirely, but another lands a bite on her leg. With a cry, she falls to the ground.

NYMPH was hit for 2 HP!

NYMPH has broken her LEFT LEG! Prevents healing HP! Heal 4 HP at once to heal!

NYMPH is in CRITICAL CONDITION! 1 HP remaining!

WHAT?! OH GOD! WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?! SHE'S GOING TO DIE AND I CAN'T- wait! My spellbook! What was that spell, what was it- I raise my right hand at the wolves, and scream at the top of my lungs, I scream, "MAGIC MISSILE!" The knowledge floods my brain, and I furiously continue, "STRIKE THE WOLF CLOSEST TO NYMPH!"

Roll 1d4 + 1

2 + 1

A bright blue ball of furious energy flies from my hand, striking true against the wolf, knocking it instantly dead. My own eyes feel like they glow with the same furious energy as I glare at the other remaining wolf, who runs off, yelping, tail between its legs.

VICTORY!

Three WOLVES have been defeated!

CLASS BONUS! For defeating the WOLF with a magic spell, you earned 50 EXP bonus!

You earned 360 EXP!

NYMPH earned 396 EXP!

What! Confused as I may be, that still seems a bit unfair. I killed those things, and I don't have a scratch on me! She almost died, and she gets MORE of that... EXP stuff?! I... Err... Actually, that Might be fair, she might NEED more if she almost died. Satisfied with my working that bit out, I help Nymph up.

"AH!" She gasps, putting weight on her broken leg, and I move to support her left. "Don't walk on that leg, I think it's broken, Nymph."

Sucking air through her teeth, she nods her head, tears in her eyes, as she supports herself on me. "What... What was that, Harry?" She asks me, sounding in awe of whatever it is I did. I think for a moment, before coming to the most logical conclusion. "I used the Magic Missile spell in my book."

She groans in pain, and asks, "Can I see that? It's not like any magic I've seen before." I hand her the book and for the first time notice the deep beauty of the tome. It's colored like red velvet, with a feel to match, with its self-explanatory title written in the most beautiful golden script I've ever seen. It practically glows with power in my eyes, and even as it's in her hands and I am no longer touching it, I still feel its warmth and power in my very soul. Wow. I just got deep about a book.

"This..." She mutters, looking at the written-upon pages, "This makes no sense. What does this even mean? I can't read this crap! What language is this?! What does this bloody wheel diagram even MEAN?!" She hands my spellbook back angrily, and I open it for myself, looking at what she's talking about. "This wheel shows how to focus the energies so that the missile won't self-destruct immediately. This other diagram shaped like a body shows how to make the energies solid, and repel force."

She looks at me fascinated. "You can make sense of that? Wow. You're going to be a really powerful wizard when you grow up, Harry. And that's even if your powers themselves are weak, if you can make sense of that, you can make sense of anything." She praises me, and I blush, unused to it.

I clear my throat, and say, "We don't have any supplies, Nymph. We have to keep moving, and hope we come across a town, or a doctor, or, best of all, a town with a doctor." She nods, and we hobble off in the direction we were going in earlier.

-))((-

We finally, after several hours of walking, or hobbling, rather, we come across a large wall. The wall is wooden, about ten feet tall, and off to the left, I see a gate, with a guard. "This way," I mutter, carrying Nymph over to the man. The man is, eh... shorter than I expected.

"Ah," He exclaims, noticing me, "Evenin' Lad! Yer prob'ly look'n' fer a Cleric, given that Lass with th' broken leg, eh? Shira's down th' main road, an' off ter th' left, t'ward th' big white buldin' whit Furlis' Sphere at th' tip. She'll be inside, an' prob'ly willin' ter help some wayward explorers like yerselves." I blink at the strange man, and smile. "Thank you, sir," I say, and he waves me off, opening the gate.

"Don' mention it, Lad, less yer mentionin' it ter me wife. Always need a few 'good-guy points with her, eh?" He chuckles as we pass through the gate, closing it behind us. What we see inside is the most fascinating thing I've ever seen. It looks like a medieval village, but... happier, somehow. Less dreary, you might say. I follow the short man's instructions, and pick up Nymph when she finally gives out.

"What is this place?" she mutters, "More importantly, what've we gotten ourselves into, Harry?" I sigh, shaking my head. "Sorry Nymph. I really don't know. Let's hope this Cleric... Shira... Isn't too... let's say... inquisitive... about our lack of knowledge." Nymph mutters something, and wraps her arms around my shoulders to make carrying her easier.

I turn left at the intersection, when I have a thought. How can I carry her?

Oops! Uh... Let me... Oh! She weighs 120 lbs. Your Max Carry is 140 lbs. You have no other Items, except your spellbook, which has no weight.

Did the Data Mystery just get a personality? Whatever. I step up to the big white building, and knock on the doors. A moment later, the door is opened by a short woman, about the size of the man by the gate, but a little taller, and quite a bit thinner. "You know this is a church, right?" She asks incredulously, "You don't have to knock." I grin sheepishly at her, and say, "Well, I, uh, I've never had a chance to go to church before, you see." She gasps, and her eyes go wide as her hand covers her mouth.

"You've never even had a chance to see the light? No, not just the light, you've never had a chance to see any light?!" I give a bit of a sad sigh. "Yeah... I ran away from home a few days ago... Bumped into this nice girl... Before that I've almost never left the house. Unless my Aunt and Uncle needed me to weed the garden, like the lazy bastards couldn't do it themselves." I grumble the last bit, before shaking my head and snapping myself out of it, "Anyway, that doesn't matter right now, Nymph needs help."

"Well, bring her in, then!" We carry Nymph over to a section of the room with mats about the floor. I stare in awe at the massive interior, the rows upon rows of wooden bench seats, and the intricate designs of the arches.

I set her down, and the woman gets to work on healing her. She must be a wizard, because, all she does is place her hands on Nymph's leg and say, "Cure Light Wounds." A yellowish white glow encompasses her hands and Nymph's leg, and I hear a crack, that sounds painful, but somehow fills me with a sense that it will all be alright.

NYMPH's broken LEFT LEG has been healed! Additional 2 HP restored!

Nymph looks at the woman gratefully, and I ask her, "Are you a wizard?" She turns to me with humor in her eyes to see my own wide-eyed fascination. She falters when she sees how serious I am, but mutters, "He's never been outside before..." She looks directly at me, and tells me, "No, I'm a Cleric, Shira. A kind of Priest. Cure Light Wounds is a Priest spell, not a Wizard spell." She helps Nymph up, and encourages us, "Now run along, you two are obviously adventurers and need to level up some. Go raid a dungeon or something."

We both look at her oddly. An idea pops to mind, and I slowly ask her, "What does... what does 1d4 and EXP mean?" Her eyes open wide, and a smile spreads across her face. "You really haven't seen much, have you? Check your stat sheets, alright? Just, just, WANT it to happen. Will your stat sheet to appear." Out of nowhere, a piece of paper appears in my hands. It's a complicated form, but it looks easy to make sense of nonetheless. Only one thing really stands out, after the day I've had. "My Constitution is rather low, huh?" Shira takes a glance at my sheet, saying, "No, seven is only a little lower than average."

Suddenly, she seems to remember something. "Have either of you-" "I am NOT a theif! I've never stolen a thing in my life!" Nymph races at the sheet. "Have either of you seen or heard a sort of powerful voice that isn't really there but kind of is?" I catch on immediately while Nymph steams, half-listening, "'NYMPH'S broken LEFT LEG has healed!' right?" Shira smiles, telling me, "Yes. That's the DM. Nobody agrees on what DM stands for, but the most widespread definition is 'Dungeon Master'. Second most common is 'Descriptive Monologue'. He tells you the things you need to know, and even a few things you really didn't need to know." She flushes, embarrassed, "A lot of things, actually, that you really don't need or want to know."

She shakes her head, saying, "Anyway, go to a tavern, there's a couple in town, you'll probably find some disgruntled farmer that's down on his luck, got his daughter kidnapped by a thing or something and needs it taken care of. Good EXP, possible reward, definitely worth your time. If you need anything else, or get beat down again, be sure to stop by. There won't be any more freebies from now on, so you'll have to pay to get healed, but don't worry too much about it. Oh, Black Tavern has some rooms, too, five Silver a night. Pretty expensive for a farmer, but you two are adventurers! You'll get it taken care of, I'm sure."

With that, we wander aimlessly in search of the tavern.

-))((-

By nightfall, we've discovered two things. This town is about half as big as London, but is still considered a small village where farmers meet to trade goods, which is funny because this place is HUGE. The other thing is, the people are really friendly. And Dwarves. We can't forget the fact that this is a town of Dwarves. Not short Humans, but real-life DWARVES. However, we still manage to find the tavern.

The cool air of the nights whips my back, and it's sharp. It's sharp enough to remind me of the times when Uncle Vernon would whip me with a belt. I shiver, but not at the cold, no, I've long since grown out of that, but I shiver at the prospect of ever being near those creeps, those monsters ever again. I go up to the front door, and open it up for Nymph.

It's quite seedy, all things considered, but it IS a tavern. Taverns are usually seedy. There are Dwarves sitting all around various tables, playing cards, drinking ale, and being uproarious. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother Nymph, so, as would make sense, I don't let it bother me.

We walk up to the hardwood counter, and the Dwarf manning the bar looks at us and says, "Minors... Yer' 'ere fer a room, eh'? That'll be five Silver." I glance at the Dwarf, and ask, "How many Gold is a Silver?" He chuckles, replying, "Yeh mean 'How many Silver's a Gold', Lad. An' th' answer's simple. Ten Silver ter a Gold." I nod, and hand him a Gold Piece. "Whit this, ye c'n buy yerself a dinner as well, fer ye' an' yer sister."

I can almost feel Nymph's sigh of relief, and I'm not sure whether she's relieved at the prospect of food, or if she's just happy that they think we're related. I feel like I should be insulted, somehow. Either way, I nod, and he gives me the options for tonight. I get a steak and a glass of water, and Nymph asks for the same thing. We get our food, and go to sit down at a table.

"You know something, Harry," She begins as she cuts into her steak, "We still don't know where we are, do we?" I nod, a bit saddened at the prospect, but regardless, I tell her, "We'll get home eventually. It's just a matter of time before we're back in England, eating Hamburgers and chips, doing... Whatever wizards do in England... God, I don't know much about anything, do I?" I ask myself that last bit, more confused at my own stupidity than how we ended up here in the first place.

Nymph starts shaking, and I can tell that she's on the verge of tears. "P-Promise?" she asks me, and with a gentle nod of my head, I tell her, "I'll die before I give up on us going home." She probably would've hugged me if there wasn't a table in the way, but since the table IS there, she just goes back to her steak. Almost the instant we finish, we notice a figure skulking at the bar, arguing with the barkeep.

"I don't caer whit happened ter yer daughter, Gilderoy! Ye cannae drown yerself like this!" He yells, and we step in, "What happened?" the barkeep sighs, "Here we go," and Gilderoy, a surly dwarf in overalls wails, "Some evil beast nabbed me daughter! I'd give anythin' to 'ave 'er back, but nobody's keen to fight 'im!" Nymph and I exchange a look.

-))((-

"Why is there a giant stump in the middle of this farmland?" Nymph complains, and I shrug, saying, "I couldn't care less." I lift the torch Gilderoy gave us to the mouth of the cavernous opening into the stump, and continue, "Let's just get this job over with, eh?" Nymph sighs, but follows my lead. It turns out that the stump is completely hollowed. Just a massive room, floor covered with hay, a small pile of... things to the edge, no tunnels, no nothing of that sort, and a massive furry man in makeshift iron armor looms over a beaten, bloody, Dwarven girl. "Oi!" I yell to the creature, who turns to expose his rat-like features, and the dagger in his hand, "Let her go!"

The rat-man chuckles, and leaps at us. Sheeit.

WARNING – WERERAT is a BOSS creature. Use EXTREME CAUTION and DEFENSIVE SPELLS.

"Be careful," I scream, "This thing has power!" The Wererat jumps past me, missing its mark entirely, and I turn on my heel, and take advantage of the magic in my book, as well as the advice I've been given. "SHIELD!" I cast on myself, and feel the energy surround me. I don't SEE it, but I know it's there. "STAB IT!" I scream at Nymph, and she nods.

11/14

Her strike misses entirely, and I look on in fear as the Wererat tries to take a chunk out of her with his knife. Somehow, he misses as she rolls out of the way. I look around at our arena, trying to get a feel for anything useful. The floor is covered in straw, but only the center, I notice, but how does that... AH! "NYMPH! GET TO THE EDGES!" The Wererat looks confused at me as she complies, and a grin crosses my face. The massive man-rat's eyes widen considerably as I say, "Control Normal Fire," and drop the torch. He panics to get out, but it is too late. The floor swiftly ignites and he is left to cook in his armor.

You had a clever idea and saved your and NYMPH'S asses! Bonus 300 EXP!

I hear a squeal of agony from the fire, and we move to untie the poor, broken girl. Unfortunately, it seems he survived. With a furious hiss, he dashes out of the fire and strikes at me. He fails entirely to hit, crashing into the wall.

The Wererat's stupidity caused him 4 HP damage! Just thought you should know.

With a smirk, a yell, "MAGIC MISSILE! STRIKE THE WERERAT!" An angry light blue sphere of magic is launched from my hand and strikes the rat-man's head, blowing it clean off.

CLASS BONUS! For defeating the WERERAT with a magic spell, you earned 50 EXP bonus!

VICTORY!

The WERERAT has been defeated!

You earned 270 EXP!

NYMPH earned 297 EXP!

Oh come on! She didn't almost die that time!

BOSS DEAFEATED BONUS – PARTY earned 1000 EXP!

NYMPH levelled up!

NYMPH'S MAX HP is now 8!

We help the bound woman up, and I tell Nymph, "Hey, you levelled up, or something. Check your character sheet." "Uhm..." The young Dwarven girl mutters, "Th-Thanks f-fer savin' me..." I smile at her, and pick her up. "I'm Harry," I tell her, and continue, "What's your name?"

"I'm Ferins... Thank you." I smile again, and Nymph shows me her character sheet. "I put all my extra stat points in Comprehend Languages and Detect/Disarm Traps." I huff, and help Ferins to her father's hut. "You go grab that stuff the Wererat stole," I call to Nymph, who complains, 'The fire's still-"

"Control Normal Fire."

"Oh, okay."

-))((-

"Thank yeh, thank yeh, thank yeh Lad, and ye ter, Lass! Yeh've saved me precious Lass from tha' beast," He shakes both our hands gratefully, and hands us a pouch. "Ah don' 'ave much, but please take this as a token of mah gratitude." We smile at the Dwarven man, and leave back to the tavern.

Nymph places the various things she got from the stump in a backpack, one she actually grabbed back there as well, when suddenly a message pops up.

OH! P.S. NYMPH found a bunch of shit back there. Fifty more gold, a couple silver plates, four to be exact, and a silver shortsword. That sword will make fighting lycanthropes and undead much easier in the future. Keep that in mind. The total GP value of the haul is about... actually... The value is EXACTLY 80 GP. 25 silver each for the plates, and 20 Gold for the sword. Plus the fifty gold already in currency. Your thief got you 80 extra GP in the party. Speaking of which...

CLASS BONUS! For grabbing 80 GP of loot, NYMPH earned 160 EXP!

"Gotta wonder why a Lycanth had so much silver," Nymph jokes.

-))((-

We lie on our respective beds, and I sigh. "That was... I'm so glad that we survived... not only that, I'm glad we managed to save that poor girl." She sighs too, and mutters, "Yeah... I guess... I just hope I can- no, WE can get home." I huff, and close my eyes. "Yeah..."

Unfortunately, when I open my eyes, I still see the log ceiling of the tavern. "Sheeit..." I mumble, hefting myself out of bed. I grab my money pouch, and then turn to the backpack Nymph grabbed. I turn back to Nymph's sleeping form, and back to the satchel. We need to share the... What did the DM call it? The loot. We need to share the loot, right...?

I shake my head, and turn back to the bed with its fur sheets. I mutter, because damn I want to crawl back in, but we have things to do today. Namely, figure out where we are. Then, probably, we'll go kill some more things. Yeah. We... We need some supplies first. Thankfully, we know just the guy. Well, we know just the guy to ask about knowing a guy that has supplies. He is a barkeep. Barkeeps know all.

ALL.

AN: So, yeah. D&D. Specifically, AD&D 2nd edition. This is a... novelization of an ongoing solo campaign using Harry Potter characters instead of... you know... OCs and shit. Yeah. I've also stolen a little something, well, PLAN to steal a little something from another fanfic. A Harry Potter fanfic. You'll know what it is, because I'll show you with a flow-breaking AN as soon as it shows up. It won't be 'till they get back though. If you see something else stolen... well... I didn't do it on purpose. Like, say, if someone were to accidentally design a nuclear missile from scratch. It's TECHNICALLY plagiarism, but, in the eyes of those who saw it going down, really ISN'T. Like... A cult, that will show up later, its design might be extremely similar to someone else's OC cult. This is entirely unintentional and unless they're based off of death eaters or some shit like that, it was entirely unplanned, I was unaware while I was doing it, and if you aren't a beta reader, then there is no time to change it. It will be 'Canon' by the time you're reading this if you are not my beta. I have no beta. If you are reading this, everything before here is more or less completely 'Canon' to my story. Campaign, rather. If you like the world I build, and D&D it, please PLEASE record it. Like, on a microphone or something. Then send it to me. I'm telling you, I've only inspired someone once before in my entire life that I know of, and I'd be abso-fucking-lutey delighted to hear that I gave someone an idea. I'd love to see the idea as well, so I can steal it for my own evil purposes. MUHAHAHA! Who said that? I didn't say that. Quit looking at me like that, I didn't say that.

Wow, I've dragged this out. PEACE, BITCHES... AND... WHATEVER A MALE DOG IS CALLED! YEAH! Oh my god I'm so lame. Don't mind me, I'll just be in the corner... reading. And crying. Mostly reading.

Oh, and Character Sheets will be posted later, I don't have time yet right now. Unless you're reading this... FROM THE FUTURE. DUN-DUN-Okay I'll just go back to crying in the corner now, bye... God I'm so stupid... And rambly... and fucking desperate. Fucking fuck, man. A'ight, bye.