fics I read

In a place outside of reality was a room carved of sixteen dimensional space. Within sat five of the most powerful existences in the Omniverse known as Marvel. The room itself if described from a four dimensional perspective would appear to be crafted of sculpted crystals with each facet of every surface reflecting a different indescribable color of light. However regardless of the beauty of the room from a mortal perspective, the closest term that could be used to describe the layout of the room would be the word 'Bar.'

Eternity, Infinity, Lady Death, and the Living Tribunal were considered among, if not at the very peak of beings that exist. Lady Death had also invited the Phoenix Force whom she encountered earlier trying to save a ten year old girl. The girl in question was trying to save a dying friend and almost found herself dragged to Death's realm herself had it not been for the Phoenix Force's intervention. Safe to say, this got Lady Death's attention which led to the invitation.

Contrary to popular belief, the existences at the peak of the Omniverse did in fact have complaints and issues with the various multiverses and the universes they contained. Within the Bar, Death took the form of a tall woman with bone white skin and long ash grey hair. She sat at a bar stool and wore an elegant black cloak that seemed to be woven from silk and shadow. Sitting at a table was Eternity who appeared male, but had no distinguishable features other than his face. His bipedal silhouette contained stars and planets within its shimmering darkness. Sitting across from him was Infinity. She appeared as a gold woman of the same stature as Eternity, though slimmer in form with black markings and skin that rippled down like golden sand with the ever flowing passage of time.

Setting down her glass, Lady Death complained aloud with a firm voice that never lacked sophistication, "Last week, those Beyonders of one of the multiverses killed every single Molecule Man of that multiverse at the same time."

The Phoenix Force sat a seat away from Lady Death on another bar stool. In the presence of these beings had an appearance of a beautiful bipedal woman composed of elegantly flowing flames. Compared to the forms the other cosmic beings had taken, she was the shortest but she didn't mind. She asked Lady Death, "But why would they do that?" If the Multiverse ended, no life existed so she didn't exist there and didn't know what happened.

Eternity answered her in a low, gruff voice, "They ensured this Molecule Man character had a power which existed at the heart of the universe and when the man's existence was removed, it caused the collapse and obliteration of that universe. By doing so to all of them in that multiverse at the same time, it destroyed the whole multiverse in a single moment."

The Phoenix Force became even more confused, "But, why? Why would they commit such a senseless act of destruction?"

Infinity answered in a stoic yet feminine voice, "They wanted to see what would happen if they did it.." She downed another glass and motioned for Eternity to refill it.

The Phoenix force was rendered mute at the given answer. All entities called the Phoenix Force that existed in the various multiverses were her, but they were also individuals as well. She could connect to them and direct them at any point but when not actively connecting to them, they would do their own thing. It was the same for all the other beings in this 'bar.' Being both a single being and infinite beings simultaneously was not an easy thing and it was easy to lose track of the infinite other selves when not actively connecting to them.

The purpose of the bar was for the omnipresent beings to get together every once in a while and get drunk and get their complaints off their metaphorical chests. They'd often invite another being to give them a glimpse of the problems the higher ups had and get better acquainted. Doing so allowed the Omniverse to run much smoother and it just so happened this time the Phoenix force was invited. Getting drunk had a somewhat therapeutic effect on the infinite individuals as they could more easily connect to their infinite selves while drunk and discuss the general and specific problems with 'everyone.'

The origin of the bar was an experimental challenge given to Eternity some unquantifiable time back to create a means for a cosmic being to get drunk. He succeeded in creating what he called Eternal Ale, alcoholic proof, infinity. The brewing process would start during the Big Bang and would finish fermenting right before the Great Collapse. It was a brew that took the lifetime of a universe to make and he couldn't make much of it as only specific universes were born that even had the right conditions for the brewing. Once he accumulated enough of it though, he'd invite the other Cosmic entities and they'd all get drunk. The Omniverse benefited from the drunken complaining bonding time in odd ways so it had continued ever since.

Sitting on his own bar stool on the other side of Lady Death was the Living Tribunal. As a being with three differently covered veiled faces on three of the four sides of his head, he drank three times as much as the others to get each face had successfully drunk. He was in fact the most powerful of the assembled beings and he too appreciated the occasional time given to wind down and complain with beings he did in fact consider friends and family.

One of the Living Tribunal's faces, the partially covered one that had domain over Vengeance within the Omniverse said with an unconcealed edge in its voice, "Those Beyonders... They think they can treat everything as they wish. It is but a game to them." The uncovered face rebutted in a slow slur, "They are.. a necessity. To everything as a whole.. As you know." That face had domain over Necessity, so it was of course considered an expert on the subject. The last face, the one that was completely covered by a veil said in a crisp cut voice, "But after doing so, no price will have to be paid by them for such a transgression. Can this be tolerated?" The last face with domain over Equity felt uncomfortable when things did not balance out and it couldn't see anything on the other side of the scale when some beings annihilated a multiverse just to see what would happen.

Death considered this for a moment and answered the arguing faces, "The price they must pay is that they will stay in an empty multiverse until the collapse of the Omniverse. None of them shall be allowed to trespass another multiverse nor create one anew."

"""Agreed,""" all three faces of the Living Tribunal simultaneously replied.

Finishing her glass once more, Infinity said with irritation in her voice, "Beings like the Beyonders can only be punished once they have gone too far and only by their own actions."

Eternity added, "Not just the Beyonders. The Celestials and the Norns of every multiverse treat the whole of it as their own playground to do with it as they please and play whatever games they wish as if each universe didn't already have a Gamemaster."

The Phoenix Force nodded after downing another glass of Eternal Ale. Even when using an Avatar she had never truly gotten drunk before so this was a new experience. She knew of the Celestials and the Norns as she had many run-ins with them as well in various forms. The Celestials decided that the universe must progress in a direction of their choice and they seeded and destroyed worlds as they please to further their decision. The Norns were the fate weavers and storytellers. They pretty much decided at birth whether or not someone would live a blessed life, a cursed one, or an ordinary one. They did not make the decisions for that person of course, but they did arrange in advance the trials or lack thereof any given person would have to go through. If they were neutral that would be fine, but they seemed to have their own agenda and their own interests and more often than not they would interfere with the lives of others they felt got in the way of those interests.

The flame embodied woman said in a light yet drunken slur, "You know, if you really wanted to ruin their games, you could change the rules they are used to so they no longer apply."

Lady Death gave an amused look to the embodiment of Life and Passion and said, "Oh? And how would such a feat be accomplished without throwing off the balance we ourselves are tasked with maintaining?"

The Phoenix Force had many avatars in many multiverses and had experienced many things with many interesting people. As such, she had her own unique perspectives on such matters and it took only a moment of drunken contemplation to think of something.

She answered back, "Those Beyonders gave a person the purpose of destroying the universe on his death, right? If that kind of thing doesn't throw off the balance, then couldn't we do something like that? What if we gave a person powers which changed the rules of the game those guys force everyone to play by?"

Death's amused look changed into a pondering smirk. She was actually the least affected by the Eternal Ale but she still liked these occasional get togethers as oddly enough, it made her feel alive. Ordinarily, she would pass on the Phoenix's suggestion. However her somewhat drunken state allowed her easy access to herself in all multiverses including a specific universe where a certain series of events crafted by the Norns was coming into play. It just so happened that she could hijack their carefully laid out plans and, with some items already in place along with some help, they might make something rather interesting.

The other Cosmic beings listened to the Phoenix Force's suggestion but didn't think much of it. It was not their place to interfere. That was until Lady Death spoke up. "I like it, but a test run would be prudent. I have a candidate in mind that would do well."

She sent the information to each of the other beings. The Phoenix Force was quite surprised that the chosen candidate was in the very universe of the girl she had just saved. They were even on the same planet and about the same age.

Death had also given the details of some of the things of that world they would have to work with and the events that would allow them to change a few things.

The Living Tribunal passed his senses over the candidate and was a bit surprised. Not at how young he was. Age mattered little to him. The Living Tribunal was capable of simultaneously looking through other universes for the same person and could see their actions at many ages so he was easily able to get a clear picture of the mortal's potential and future. What startled him was that should this candidate be similar to his parallel counterparts, even he, the Living Tribunal, Judge and Jury of the Omniverse, would have no notable complaint. For a being with three separate personalities, having all three agree on a single thing was surprising.

Eternity and Infinity looked at each other before nodding. They calculated out how much each could contribute without breaking the balance and how to set it so that their chosen would be both protected and formidable without being catered to or pampered.

As each discussed what they could contribute, they realized the irony behind the form the power they were crafting had taken. They felt it really did balance out quite well. If those other beings of great powers thought this world was solely their game, it was time to introduce a new player.

The Power they crafted would turn the chosen into a video game character when granted along with the timing of a specific event the chosen would soon go through. The concept of video games had been shared by Lady Death and the Phoenix Force who both had more knowledge of mortal lives than the others. Eternity and Infnity's power would grant a Game like system that included a Pause function and Infinite Inventory. The Living Tribunal's power would generate Quests for the chosen to guide him to accomplish deeds that would go towards making that universe a better place. The Phoenix Force came up with the Experience, Level, and even a Respawn system. She had more to work with as the granting of the power would occur with the awakening of the chosen's innate abilities which could be directed by her. Lady Death's granted power would assist with the Respawn system as well as grant a Tutorial period for the chosen. She also intended on using some existing materials in that universe that were under her domain, three items in particular. They would be used to make sure the chosen's abilities and potential were rendered invisible to those beings of great power capable of seeing such things while keeping the chosen's powers flexible.

On the 26th day of July of the year 2003, nine year old Harry Potter sat alone in a cupboard under the stairs of number 4, Privet Dr. There were many universes with a Harry Potter, but this one's time, as written by the Norns, was coming to an end. This Harry had discovered he could do magic when he really tried to, and a few years back, he had consciously started suppressing it. As far as he knew, suppressing it prevented accidents from happening which, although had not made his relatives treat him better, it had made sure they didn't treated him worse. Most of the time anyways.

He already felt the pressure in his gut making him ache but since there was an accident today that his relatives blamed on him, the cupboard he was in had a lock on it and he was unable to leave.

His relatives, the Dursleys, were upstairs trying and failing to fix a game station Dudley had gotten for his birthday a month ago but had broken accidentally. Rather than admit the truth, he blamed Harry even though everyone knew Harry would never step foot into Dudley's room. Dudley was currently whining that Harry's aunt and uncle should buy him a new one. Harry doubted anyone cared that his own birthday was supposedly next week.

What was strange however was that although Harry knew his relatives to be upstairs, he could have sworn he heard footsteps outside his cupboard door. At that thought, he realized how pathetic it was that he had considered the cupboard his. That was like saying the trashcan belonged to the trash. This wasn't his space, it was just where they put him.

Harry felt the pressure build up in his bones and they somehow felt worse than they did when they were broken. He decided to go for broke and asked softly to whoever might be there, "Hello? Can I come out? I don't feel so good."

A moment later Harry heard what could only be described as a woman sobbing. Was someone crying out there? Several sounds came and it seemed that there might have been several people on the other side of the door. The door jarred itself as it looked like someone was going to open it but then Harry heard a muffled, 'Stupefy,' followed by a heavy thump and someone saying, 'You know the laws, the past cannot be changed, only observed. I'm sorry.'

The footsteps got further away towards the direction of the front door and Harry heard from the other side of his cupboard door someone say, "I'm sorry Mr. Potter. This is not what you deserve. But I promise you, you'll be in a better place soon." Harry could hear the bitter sadness behind the stranger's voice and wondered what that person meant.

The members of the Department of Mysteries left after using a variety of spells through Harry's cupboard door and now knew the exact physical condition of the Boy-Who-Lived as well as the details of the space he had been living in for the last nine years. Every member of the group's heart ached, but when using Time Turners to determine the cause of an event, they were forbidden from stopping it, no matter how unjust or heartbreaking.

Some time after silence returned, Harry felt his body ache and crack. A moment later, Harry Potter exploded as he transmuted into a mass of semi-solid magic formed ash. Had Harry been more powerful, he could have survived his initial Obscurus transformation. However, the blood wards which were placed to protect him from magicals who sought him with ill intent, had been draining his own magic reserves for years. They were supposed to be powered by love and would only use Harry's Magic as a fuel source in a pinch, but not a single trace of love for Harry would be found in the home forcing the blood wards to drain Harry's magic instead. There was a reason they were considered illegal.

Harry actually would have become an Obscurial two years prior had it not been for the drain delaying his magic from going critical after years of being suppressed. The black ash that could not be seen by non-magicals quickly dissipated and with that, nothing was left of Harry Potter in this world.

The assembled members of the Department of Mysteries watched without a single dry eye. They were a stoic profession but this tragedy was something that would have the entirety of Greater Magical Britain drowning in tears before the next sundown.

What none of the watchers concerned themselves with was the fate of the Dursleys. The residence had been obliterated to the point nothing stood higher than a meter off the ground from what was once a two story building. No one would bother searching the wreckage for survivors. What was interesting was that the blood wards actually contained the explosion, preventing damage to the surrounding houses while amplifying it within the property line. The blood wards were of course examined thoroughly and would be documented for later review.

After getting a few more readouts they left to the agreed upon location to wait until their originals had gone back in time before they could return and give their reports. Although the Departments of Mysteries employed those who sought answers to questions no one had ever answered, none of them were looking forward to giving the answers to the questions of what happened today to their fellow members. If possible, it might be better to put a lid on it, but they highly doubted that would be possible. Perhaps it would be for others, but not for Harry Potter. More than one had already determined a means to have it leak in a way that could not be traced back to them. They would not allow this matter to be swept under the rug.

The almost ten year old boy himself however, found that he was in a grassy plain. He no longer wore his cousin's oversized clothing but a plain white cotton shirt and tan pants. He even had shoes which both fit him and were comfortably tied.

Before he could further question where he was, a familiar looking black haired man with glasses and a red haired woman walked up to him and smiled. Without knowing why, Harry started crying as he could see real love in their eyes and unconsciously moved towards them. They rushed at him and embraced him into a hug.

Harry didn't know how, but he knew these were his parents. No one said anything as each was crying.

*Ping*

Harry lifted his head which had been buried into his father's shoulder and saw a floating display

[Tutorial has begun. Time Left for Tutorial: 363 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes, 12 seconds.]

[Press Start.]

Although there was a timer, it did not move forward. Harry decided to ignore it for now and after crying some more in his parent's arms he fell asleep.

Some time later he woke to a clear, beautiful sky and saw that his parent's faces were still there, looking at him. Harry softly asked, "Are you my mum and dad?"

The redhead answered, "Yes sweetie, I'm Lily and this is your father James."

Harry asked, "Am I dead?"

James smiled and answered back, "Yes my son, but once you are ready you're going back to life."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before frowning. "But what if I don't want to return?"

Lily looked like she was going to cry again before she pushed it down and answered him back, "Harry, I can promise you no matter what, you are never going back to.. my sister's again."

Harry could hear the righteous fury behind his mother's words and his heart felt warm. No one had ever been angry for him before.

James nodded and said, "Harry, you've been given a special gift. No one can force you to use it, but if you do, you'll be able to see and experience wonderful things and do things others will speak of for generations to come."

Harry looked back at the see-through screen with the frozen timer and said, "Is it that?"

Lily nodded and said, "Yes Harry. It's like a game, one of those that Dudley played. But instead of using a controller, you can play as you. If you click Start, it will begin. If you Pause it, you'll find yourself back here. You can keep it paused as long as you want my dear."

Harry wasn't aware when Lily started petting his head but he instantly liked it. He stayed like that for a while until he started speaking with his parents and they started talking to him, telling him of their lives and their friends and family.

Harry knew he could do magic thanks to an epiphany he had years ago which was why he became an Obscurial in the first place. One can't consciously suppress magic without awareness that it's there. What he didn't know however was that both his parents could use magic as well and went to a castle for their schooling. Lily reminded Harry that once he returned to life, he would be able to go to Hogwarts too.

Lily and James told Harry everything about themselves and later started teaching him everything they could think of. Harry was a very smart child otherwise he wouldn't have figured out he could do magic so early in life. Until this point he had to make himself look slow or his relatives would accuse him of cheating and punish him for getting better grades than Dudley. Now however he wanted to make his parents proud and put every effort into learning everything they were willing to teach him.

Lily taught Harry Math, English, Literature, and the basic Sciences. James taught Harry about magic, about the Potter family, and about many forms of History both mundane and magical. Often the space they were in would change to a classroom and they pulled out books to read with Harry and wrote things on a blackboard to go over with Harry. Other times the space would turn into a living room with cable tv and a selection of his parent's favorite movies. The space could even change into a game room with an arcade and several game stations of various generations with many dozens of video games, both retro and new.

For what may have been months, years, or even longer, Harry spent time with his mother and father, getting the childhood and love he always craved. Although he was not pressured into it, eventually the temptation had won out and Harry pressed the Start button. The game had begun.

*

Harry had reached level 57 after a year of training in the tutorial and the timer was nearly at zero. The tutorial took place in a basic village where he could do basic quests and gain levels and get stronger, though not without danger or risks. Monsters in the area weren't easy to slay when the game had the quality of real life and though he could return from death when killed, the process was indescribably painful. When he died he would lose a level and if he died when he didn't have a level to lose, five days of Tutorial time would be used up. When this first happened, Harry was made aware through a pop up warning that revival when dying at level one was only possible in the tutorial and would lead to permanent death if this occurred after the tutorial was finished.

During the tutorial, Harry's skinny, malnourished body changed to a full and healthy one and he gained visible muscles from running around and swinging a sword. For three months a drill instructor like Trainer in the village had him doing all kinds of things while feeding him fruits and such. Day by day his body healed and filled out at a visible rate and his malnourished form morphed into a high performance one in less time than should have been possible were it not for his Gamer's Body.

According to the FAQ part of the menu which came with his gift, his Gamer's Body was gained through the combination of becoming an Obscurus and awakening a Mutation at the same time along with some help. Harry asked his parents about this and his father informed him what an Obscurial was while his mother informed him what a Mutant was.

A normal Obscurial could shift back and forth between an Obscurus form and a normal form. Though historically the ability to control the transformation and the form were both questionable as all Obscurials were inherently unstable and almost guaranteed to die. Harry's body however was incapable of taking on the Obscurus form of a flying mass of semi-solid magic particles that could exude tremendous force and was nearly unstoppable.

A mutant was someone who would, often through great stress or trauma, gain an attribute, trait, or power outside of the norm that they were not born with. His mother however told him there had never been a mutant wizard. She said that wizards were hardier and the amount of stress needed to awaken a mutation was not something that a wizard could survive. Harry was likely not the first Wizard to be subjected to enough stress to kill him but come back to life, but the gene needed for a mutation to activate was not common so Harry lucked out.

His mother and father concluded after many tests they walked Harry through that his mutation allowed the traits of an Obscurial to fuse into his human form rather than have them set into an alternate highly unstable form.

Because of this, though his body appeared to be a bundle of organs inside a skeleton wrapped in muscle and skin, it only looked that way. His actual existence was composed of black ash like particles of semi-solid magic energy that came together and took a form that imitated the cells of Harry's body. When observed, you couldn't even tell there was anything special about the cells until they broke down. It was a flawless imitation.

What was special about this type of existence was that the amount of Obscurus particles that composed each cell was greater than the minimum required to imitate a cell. Should Harry's body receive damage, the excess particles of the body would be able to change form and take the place of the damaged cells. Moreover, as the damaged cells were just imitations of cells and not actual cells, the damaged cells would recover after a period. Truly harming Harry's form was like punching sand.

However, if Harry's body accumulated enough damage to exceed the excess of particles he had to replace the damage with, AKA his damage tolerance or total health, the integrity of his body would break down and dissolve completely into Obscurus particles and reform later at a lower density. Both processes were intolerably painful.

In other words, Harry's body was like a video game character's. Damage he took basically decreased his Health Bar without decreasing his physical abilities and if he took too much damage and died, he respawned later at a lower level.

His level itself seemed to be the concentration or density of the Obscurus particles and there were many things Harry could do to increase his level. At higher levels Harry's damage tolerance would be higher as well. Of course at a higher level his cells would contain more particles to imitate the cells so when he did take damage it was more severe. This meant that the amount of health he lost if someone was strong enough to damage him increased as his own health increased along with his defense. So getting stabbed at any level removed about the same percentage of health, but he was much harder to stab at higher levels.

The main source of Harry's Level ups had been defeating monsters that roamed around the Tutorial Village. Whenever a monster died, it dissolved into particles of grey light which was considered Death Energy and Harry could absorb them. Once he absorbed enough energy to reach a specific threshold, Harry's level increased. The FAQ stated that when Harry leveled up, his Obscurus particles would replicate themselves using the external energy they had absorbed. However, the Obscurus particles he was composed of could not absorb just any energy. The energy he absorbed had to be dominated first. The monsters around the village were composed of energy of the afterlife and defeating them was what allowed Harry to absorb them in a way that his Obscurus particles could replicate themselves. Of course this meant that Harry had to actually fight them.

Combat in the Tutorial Village had a steep learning curve for someone who never had muscles before but his spartan style trainer, someone who did not look like he belonged in a small rural village, said that was a good thing since it meant Harry didn't have any bad habits he needed to beat out of him. The village trainer showed Harry how to use a short sword and round shield and didn't bother questioning why a ten year old child was learning how to fight monsters.

And while the trainer taught Harry physical combat, and the meaning of the word sadist, his mother and father taught him the finer points of magic based combat. This was useful as the timer didn't move while paused but Harry's stamina and magic reserves wouldn't restore themselves while paused so if Harry exercised till he couldn't move and cast spells until he was out of magic then paused for a week, for that entire week he would still be so weak he couldn't move which sucked. Thanks to that he couldn't abuse the Pause Function to grind his physique or practice magic though he did become an expert in theoretical situations.

Although that made sense, it still bugged Harry to no end.

With his game like body, Harry had the Stats of Wisdom, Intelligence, Strength, Agility, and Luck. Each did as their game equivalent did.

Wisdom increased his magic restoration speed, made magic easier and faster to cast, decreased magic damage taken when attacked, and made Harry more clever.

Intelligence increased his internal magic reserves, made the effects of cast magics stronger, and gave him better memory and faster thinking speed.

Strength increased how much he could lift, how much force he could put behind a physical blow, how long he could fight without stopping, and also reduced how much physical damage he took when attacked better than a level up did on its own.

Agility increased his movement speed along with his reaction time and dodge rate.

And Luck of course increased luck.

When Harry increased in level he was able to gain five stat points he could distribute as he pleased, but he was warned against the stockpiling of Luck. Luck apparently affected real world chance and probability in a way that was hard to avoid. It didn't just increase his odds of winning at Casinos, it increased the likelihood that opportunities which brought danger would be forced on him. Harry decided to stick with an average person's level of luck and not distribute anything to it, but that was not the only way to increase his stats points.

When Harry first saw his stat page, the stats were abysmal. Not that surprising of course as a skinny nine year old twig a week before his tenth birthday. The village trainer practically dragged him to the training arena and took it upon himself to put Harry through his paces until Harry's Strength and Agility had both reached 10. Because his stamina didn't recover while paused, he could only spend real time exercising, but the benefits were worth it as it added stats to Harry's body without leveling up.

One thing Harry did abuse of the Pause Function was that he could spend as long as he wanted to study with his parents, thus increasing his Wisdom and Intelligence almost for free, though he definitely spent more time playing video games and watching TV with his parents than he did studying. Once Harry's Wisdom and Intellect both increased by 30 additional stats, it didn't move any higher and his parents couldn't think of anything else to teach him as no more books appeared in the classroom they could use. That in itself was fine, but the TV only showed reruns which he eventually grew tired of and you can only beat an old video game so many times before it is no longer enjoyable.

And although Harry was level 57, he could fight monsters that were level 70 or so thanks to his bonus stats. Harry spent far more time increasing his base stats through exercise and studying and increasing his path mastery than he did grinding levels. The reason was simple. When the tutorial was over, his level would return to one, but the stats he added through exercise, study, and practice would remain, so Harry would not return to earth with a twig body again. The fact that he wouldn't lose his Paths was also something to celebrate. This game didn't have specific skills and proficiency towards those skills. Instead, each skill was grouped into a Path and as the Path Rank increased, so did the effect of the skills contained without.

Each Path had a hundred Ranks and Harry had made progress on three Paths. His Magic Path was at Rank 12, his Warrior Path was at Rank 4, and his Scholar Path was also at Rank 4. The Magic Path strengthened Magic of course but Harry was surprised that he was only Rank 12. Although he lacked in practice, Harry still memorized the method and mastered the spell theory of every spell Hogwarts taught and he practiced up to the third year spells. By that ranking, Harry doubted that this Dumbledore character he heard about's Magic Path Rank was higher than 30. Of course, Rank did not represent percentage. It was in fact geometric much like the Richter scale used in earthquakes. Rank 20 was ten times stronger than Rank 10, and so on.

Harry gave his heartfelt goodbyes to his parents before unpausing for the last time here. It would have involved more tears but Harry figured out some time ago that the Lily and James Potter here weren't his parents, they were echoes. Lily and James Potter probably reincarnated long ago. Harry didn't think the echoes were aware of it and honestly he didn't mind as even if it was just a simulation, it gave him a childhood filled with love and everything he ever wanted.

Ten year old Harry appeared at a park he somewhat recognized as one close to where he used to live. The sun was just beginning to rise and the park was empty of anyone there to see how he arrived.

[Tutorial Complete. Enjoy your new life.]

Harry opened up his stats menu to see his level one stats and inventory. He was pleased that the former was not as bad as he thought it might have been but that sadistic trainer did put him through the ringer and his body certainly wasn't normal anymore.

[Harry Potter

Level 1 Age 10

STR 32 AGI 36

INT 38 WIS 34

LUK 10

Warrior Path Rank 4

Scholar Path Rank 4

Magic Path Rank 12]

His dad told him many times to hide as much about his new abilities as possible, so the fact that someone a week from their eleventh birthday was three times stronger and smarter than an average adult was something that he would have to be discreet about. Harry's inventory included his current clothes which matched what he wore before. A plain white shirt and tan pants which still fit him though he had grown several inches since his death. He also no longer needed glasses which was something he was thankful for.

Out of curiosity, Harry used the Pause feature and found the world silent, grey, and frozen. Harry was able to move around, but only a few feet from what he was. Anything he touched felt like cold stone so it was not very comfortable. When he unpaused, he found himself back where he was when he paused though he had moved while the Pause was in effect. Harry paused again and opened his Inventory. He noticed earlier there was something else in there.

According to the see-through display that his Inventory took the form of, he had about 300 British pounds, the local currency, and a small present icon in one of the Inventory slots. Harry tapped on it which caused it to vanish and two Inventory slots filled out, one contained a letter and the other contained a train ticket. The Inventory content however felt different from what he expected.

In the game, items and such were simple things and when Harry placed them in his inventory, he got the details about them such as weight, length, balance, and quality and such. He didn't need to read those details, he simply knew them. His inventory wasn't available when Pausing in the Tutorial as during the Tutorial, Pausing caused him to be with his parents so he never placed any of the books Lily and James taught him in his inventory so he had no idea what was happening now was a feature.

Although Harry had not taken the letter out of his inventory, he knew the exact contents as if it was memorized. He even knew the texture of the paper even though he hadn't touched it yet.

Harry couldn't take the letter out while paused so he unpaused and took out the letter and the content he seemed to have memorized vanished, though he did remember what he went over. As a test, Harry placed the letter back into his inventory and once more, he seemed to have memorized it. Harry went over the content of the letter a few times and removed it again. Though he no longer knew the exact details, what he went over was still retained.

Although Harry couldn't place and remove things from his inventory while paused, this was still the ultimate cheat for studying and knowledge retention because he could take as long as he wanted to memorize a book while paused.

*Ping* [INT +1]

Harry smirked at the familiar ping in realization he could still gain bonus stats after the tutorial. Yes, Harry had some ideas to try out now. Then of course there was the letter itself. It was his Hogwarts acceptance letter and was actually dated for the next week and included all the required school supplies he would need for his first year. His mother told him that Hogwarts letters for first years were always mailed out on their eleventh birthday and somehow Harry got his a week early. He even got the train ticket that should only have been mailed to him after he mailed his response to the admission letter. Not that he was going to complain about it.

The game system included a map that Harry was able to zoom in and out of and although it was grayed out past a certain point, the whole of Surrey was highlighted and the places of interest were marked. Harry quickly made his way to the bus station.

Harry wasn't sure how to describe it, but the normal world felt weird. Well, perhaps not weird. Boring? Something like that. Harry kinda missed the sky of that tutorial world where he would occasionally see gigantic things flying higher than mountains soaring from one end of the horizon to the other. They never descended near the village but their silhouettes could be made out from their massive forms. Flying leviathans with multiple sets of wings. Massive flocks of enormous birds capable of blocking out the sun. Illusionary beasts that radiated color and left a rainbow like trail as they flew off.

Yes, the normal world was boring, or maybe it was just the suburban area. Hopefully it was just that.

Harry was questioned by the ticket vendor at the bus station why a minor was going to London but Harry told him he spent the night with a friend who had an emergency and couldn't get him home so he gave him money and dropped him off at the station.

Harry's mother didn't appreciate that his father insisted on teaching Harry how to come up with a believable lie on the spot, but Lily had no way to deny its usefulness as long as it was not abused. The fact that his mother loved to watch crime dramas that demonstrated all sorts of lying skills didn't help her argument.

He took a bus to London and once his map filled out he headed from the station to the Leaky Cauldron. Before entering he cast the most overpowered spell his parents could think of teaching him, the Notice-Me-Not.

The Notice-Me-Not charm was a seventh year spell and one of the few that his parents insisted on Harry mastering before the end of the Tutorial. It was the same spell that prevented non-magicals from noticing people walking into Platform 9 and 3 Quarters at King's Cross Station and was picky with how it was cast.

The spell only allowed you to prevent people from noticing one specific thing and the more specific it was, the longer it lasted. Like people walking into and vanishing into a brick wall.

Harry cast it on himself with the intention to prevent people from noticing his black hair color. People still saw him entering and if they wanted to speak with him there was nothing to stop them. But if seen it wouldn't register in their minds that he had black hair and if asked to describe him later they wouldn't remember what color his hair was. Harry's mother insisted Harry learn this as Harry looked much like James did at that age and she didn't feel comfortable that people might recognize him before he could prepare himself.

Harry once tried the Notice-Me-Not while grinding monsters to prevent them from noticing his presence, but Harry learned the hard way that wasn't how the spell worked. The best Harry could do was prevent monsters from noticing Harry was not a monster. And even that didn't work very often as many monsters would attack each other. Also, the stronger the magic of those who are prevented from noticing, the quicker the spell ran out and needed to be recast. There was no way for example to use it for longer than a few seconds against a powerful wizard and it would only last a minute or so on a seasoned Auror according to Harry's dad and even less on groups of Aurors.

Luckily the pub was filled with average wizards and not Aurors. No one was specifically looking for him so a quick glance was as much if not more than most would give. This many magicals though and Harry would need to recast it soon but Harry had enough magic to cast it three times thanks to his bolstered stats even at level one.

Harry made his way to the back and tapped on the bricks his dad told him about which opened up the wall to Diagon Alley.

The alley itself did remind Harry a little of the village in that every building had its own unique aspects but it seemed as if they cared about the wrong details. Was it impressive that a building could lean further than should be structurally possible without falling over because it was held up by magic? Not really to be honest.

Harry recast the Notice-Me-Not charm just as it was flickering out and hurried down the cobblestone street to where his dad said Gringotts was located.

The fact that a structure called the Wizard Bank was run entirely by Goblins was a point Harry felt might have been lost on most wizards. Then again, if they called it the Goblin bank, Harry doubted they would have as much usage in the alley. The Notice-Me-Not charm fizzled out the moment Harry stepped into the bank showing that many beings whose attention could not be avoided were staring at him. Harry didn't bother reapplying the charm, he simply walked up to an empty counter and said, "I'd like to speak with my account manager Rocksheer."

The Goblin leaned over to look down on Harry and said, "And what account would that be?"

Harry gave a flat look and answered back, "One of Rocksheer's. That's all you need to know."

Harry's dad told him that talking to a Goblin was like speaking to a tiger. Never let them see your back and show no weakness that gives them a reason to pounce.

The Goblin took no offense and called a runner. He told Harry, "Follow Deeptooth here and Rocksheer will meet you soon."

Harry gave a barely noticeable nod before following the other Goblin to a waiting area.

It did not take long for another, much older Goblin to come forth. Harry expected that on habit, Goblins would force wizards to wait some time before getting to them, but Harry was different as the Goblins had some expectations onto his identity and would not exercise patience in acquiring the answer just to stick it to an unknown wizard.

Rocksheer looked over Harry for a moment before irritably stating, "I am Rocksheer. There are but two accounts handled by me and both are considered dead."

Harry smiled, "A mistake I'm certain. I'm Harry Potter."

Rocksheer narrowed his eyes and said, "We shall see. Follow me."

Harry followed the Goblin through a series of hallways to his office where there was already a parchment on the table and a knife. The Goblin held out the knife and said, "This blade will draw only a few drops of blood. Cut into your finger and let the blood fall on this parchment. If your claim is true, this will give proof. If not.." The Goblin gave a toothy sneer. It seemed he did not appreciate the possibility of someone pretending to be Harry Potter.

Harry nicked his finger and a few drops of blood fell. Harry could still bleed when injured but the actual drops of blood would return to magic particles after a few minutes. Before that point however they were still drops of his blood and would act like it. The parchment the drops fell upon filled out with strange patterns and words Harry did not recognize.

The Goblin reviewed the words and patterns for a few moments before saying, "Congratulations on returning from the dead Mr. Potter. Gringotts has no prejudice against mutants."

Harry frowned and asked, "That paper shows you I'm a mutant?"

The Goblin nodded and placed the paper over a candle, setting it ablaze. He calmly answered back, "It does, though the nature of the mutation cannot be inferred through this means as we have no precedent before yourself. You are the first mutant wizard my kind has come across though. I shall assume the nature of your mutation relates to the source of your unlikely revival from a failed Obscurial transformation. It matters not. The fact that you are indeed Harry Potter and currently alive is all that Gringotts is concerned with."

Harry asked, "Why does it sound like everyone knows about my death?"

Rocksheer commented back, "You have not stepped foot into the magical world since that day have you? Very well, I shall give you your answer. The events of that night twelve months ago were felt throughout Greater Magical Britain. The Minister of Magic ordered the Department of Mysteries to send a group of Unspeakables to investigate using Time Turners to go back and determine what happened. They learned that Harry Potter had grown up in an abusive household and had died while transforming into an Obscurial. Originally the Minister tried to silence the news but word got out and the next day everyone knew that Harry Potter had lived in an abusive household and was dead."

He opened a drawer and shuffled out a few pieces of paper. He took one and said, "And although recently dead, your family's assets remain yours. Many daughters of the Potter line were wed out and many families share your blood and all of them have been trying to inherit your family's assets. As there was no Will, Gringotts' policy is to wait two years for any and all contenders to come forward and the one with the closest blood relations would inherit. As you have returned, that is no longer necessary."

Harry ignored the last part and was deep in thought. He remembered those people standing outside his door the night before his death which always wonder about. That being said, he was now more confused. His parent's knowledge of events after their death only included things Harry knew. His father did ask him to check on Sirius Black as the man had not died and was Harry's godfather so the echo of James Potter asked Harry to check on him once he returned.

Harry said, "This is my first time in the wizarding world and everything I know of it I learned from a letter I found written by my father." This was a part of a cover story James and Harry had come up with to account for all the things they would let other people know that Harry knew without revealing the impossible truth. That being said, it hadn't take into account Harry's fame. Harry questioned, "Why would my death matter to the world?"

Rocksheer pondered the question and decided to answer the best he could. "From the wizards' perspective, you are responsible for ending the reign of Voldemort. You know of him don't you?"

Harry nodded. His parents did tell him loads about that blighted bastard.

Rocksheer continued, "You were taken to St. Mungo's once found after your parents were killed and they found that you were hit with the Killing Curse, something that no one survives but you did somehow. It was guessed that Voldemort killed your parents and used the curse on you, something prevented it from working and somehow the man hasn't been seen since. Many wizards hope he has died though there is little conclusive evidence to support that. You were given the moniker 'Boy-Who-Lived' and treated as a hero by Wizards even though you personally couldn't have done anything as a fifteen month old child and no one actually has any real idea of what happened that night outside of mostly wild and a few educated guesses."

Harry looked at Rocksheer for a few moments to see if the Goblin had been joking. When the serious expression didn't break up into laughter, Harry realized Rocksheer had been serious and Harry suddenly felt that the Wizarding world might not be all it's cracked up to be.

Harry asked a few more questions such as why he was taken to his relatives and told about the blood wards set up by Dumbledore. As long as Harry was near a relative of Lily's, the wards would protect him from any magical being seeking him with ill intent. It was revealed in a public hearing later that Dumbledore never took into account the possibility that one's blood relation would treat another as anything but family. Harry was not left there with ill intent but it was considered neglect, as Harry was never checked on and his situation was assumed to be healthy. Dumbledore resigned from his post as Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump afterwards once he realized how blind he had been.

Harry didn't like the man but honestly couldn't hate him. He certainly would have felt different if things had not turned out the way they had but for now he would at least give the old man the benefit of the doubt.

Harry settled the remaining matters with Rocksheer and took possession of the Potter Manor on Highrock in the north. Harry's father told him during the war the spell to hide it couldn't be used unless it was empty and it contained the Potter family library. Harry had no intention of letting that go to waste. Harry acquired a moderate sized bag of gold and purchased from the Goblins a necklace that would cast a simple Glamor that changed the color of his hair from black to dirty blonde. Harry's lightning bolt shaped scar had started healing during the tutorial and was not noticeable without looking closely. Without the scar, his glasses, or black hair, Harry felt he should be able to safely move around Diagon Alley though Rocksheer did mention that Ollivander the Wand Maker would likely recognize him.

After settling a few more matters, Harry asked, "What of my Godfather, Sirius Black?"

Rocksheer scowled and said, "Lord Black remains imprisoned in Azkaban for these last ten years."

"What?! Why is he there and how is he a lord?"

Rocksheer answered, "They say he was the Secret Keeper of your parent's home in Godric's Hollow and the right hand man of Voldemort. It is also said that he killed Peter Pettigrew and thirteen muggles though he has never been formally charged and no trial has taken place for him. As for the Lordship, it was only recently that his mother, father, and grandfather died and with his other siblings and cousins dead or incarcerated after legitimate trials, Lordship has fallen to Sirius Black."

Harry held his face in horror at the realization of what the man had gone through. He said, "My parent's secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew. How can we get Sirius out?"

Rocksheer shook his head and answered, "It would not be simple. Pettigrew has been posthumously given an Order of Merlin Third Class. Without incontrovertible evidence, there is little that can be done. I believe gold has been spent by Death Eaters aware of your Godfather's innocence to prevent his matter from going to trial. Should Sirius Black die in Azkaban, the Black Family properties and vault shall be inherited by Draco Malfoy after two years. He is the son of a known Death Eater and the closest male by blood of the Black Family."

Harry sighed at all the information that didn't make sense and directly asked, "If someone is a known Death Eater, how are they not in Azkaban?"

"They claimed to be under the Imperius Curse during their own trials," he answered in a flat tone.

Harry shook his head and asked, "Anything else you think I should know?"

The Goblin gave it some thought and said, "Dumbledore and the whole of Greater Magical Britain looked quite terrible after your death so rumor has it they are going to do something big and stupid to make up for it. No word on what it is yet but expect the unexpected."

Harry thought that sounded foreboding but hoped nothing would come of it. He was still Level One after all!

The final matter he got to which his mother insisted on was getting himself a non-magical identity and background to be used should he leave the magical world. Both his parents agreed it was too small for Harry to stay in forever. Although he could arrange for such things later, the earlier it was made, the better it looked. Luckily Harry was born in a mundane hospital and at least until a year ago went to a mundane school. Harry asked the Goblins to set up his non-magical identity showing he was placed in the system after his relatives died and became a genius shortly thereafter and was enrolled into a high end self paced school. Harry watched enough crime dramas to know that suspicious people always had their past looked up and Harry wanted something for others to find that was independent of magic and looked as normal as possible for his circumstances.

Once finished, Harry put on the necklace turning his hair dirty blonde and left the bank.

*Ping*

[First Quest! Acquire Class Materials

-Acquire: Books from all seven years

-Acquire: A full set of potions ingredients

-Acquired: High quality potion crafting equipment

-Acquire: Four sets of quality robes

-Acquire: False Wand

-Acquire: Special Familiar]

Harry had to do a double take when he saw items five and six. He did wonder how he was going to do the wand thing as he never needed one. Turns out even the Quest was saying he didn't need one but better to pretend he did. The special familiar was also interesting. Would he get a Phoenix or perhaps a Fairy Dragon? Maybe some rare and obscure mythical beast?

Harry selected the first item on the quest and his map tagged the area and led him to a store called Flourish and Blotts. From what Harry understood, most subjects used the same book over several years so he needed only a few for each class. Magic books were among those his parents could not produce in the classroom they taught him in but they did tell him what they remembered. Thanks to that, Harry was able to get all the books they spoke of and a few others they recommended such as Moste Potente Potions. It could be found in the Hogwarts Restricted Section but could also be purchased from the book store though it was far more expensive than standard books. Harry was quite pleased that none of the book store employees questioned why he needed so many books.

Once a check mark was next to the quest item and all of the books were in Harry's Inventory, Harry followed the map to one of the Apothecaries and purchased a fair amount of each ingredient and two cauldrons, one for class and the better one for personal use as the Admissions Letter specified the one for class needed to be pewter. Once Harry had finished getting each ingredient, his map marker changed to a location further down the alley to get the remaining ingredients he needed. Harry made his way through the shiftier part of Diagon called Knockturn Alley and found another Apothecary, this one a bit shadier but as Harry was only buying ingredients that were considered legal if uncommon, the owner didn't make a fuss about it. Another check mark down.

Next stop was the robe shop marked on his map called Twilfitt and Tattings which looked far more humble compared to the one he passed called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry guessed this one had better quality though since his map led him here instead. The seamstress was surprised to see a young child on his own requesting several sets of robes as even rich purebloods wouldn't buy their children's Hogwarts apparel here. Her hesitation vanished of course when Harry showed her he had the coin needed. She started measuring him up and deciding on colors to match his eyes and hair, but Harry told her he would be changing his hair color to black for family reasons later which she luckily didn't question. She did subtly ask if he wished for his family crest to be sewn into the robe though. The question indirectly asked if Harry was a Pureblood as Twilfitt and Tattings catered more towards Purebloods than it did others. Harry thought about it and asked if that was allowed for school robes before deciding against it. Since Harry hadn't denied having a house crest, the seamstress let the point drop and finished her measurements.

Harry left the shop more than a little surprised that it had taken two hours and that the robes had cost more than all his ingredients and potion supplies put together, but the robes did look nice. The seamstress was silently pleased with herself as she noticed Harry had a well developed form for a child and she lessened some of the usual slack in the robes to better give an outline of Harry's physique when he wore them. She wondered if her customer would have a girlfriend before Christmas time.

Harry's next map blip for the fake wand led him to a broom shop where Harry picked up on what he needed and purchased some pieces of wood. He used a carving spell to round and narrow the wood and used some sandpaper and polish he bought from the broom shop to finish it up until it had a nice sheen.

A check mark appeared next to Fake wand and with some anticipation, Harry followed the map to the last check mark, the Special Familiar.

Harry found two shops next to each other, Eeylop's Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie. His quest tag led him into the latter. The shop was filled with wall to wall cages and only about a third of them were filled with creatures Harry somewhat recognized. Wait, scratch that, a fourth. That turtle's shell was covered in jewels, so not a normal turtle.

Harry looked around in anticipation and followed the map mark to the cage containing his target. It was an orange female tabby cat.

Harry quizzically stared at the cat as if daring it to be more interesting, but she simply sat there and stared back. Harry backed away and walked around the store a bit more but the map was definitely pointing at the cat. That being said, the other animals didn't look that interesting. Sure there were crabs that set themselves on fire, rabbits that transformed into top hats, and every type of bird and snake imaginable. But Harry didn't look twice at them compared to the orange cat. Besides, it was a good looking cat.

Harry asked the shop owner, "Anything special about that cat?"

The man looked over at the tabby and said, "The orange one in the corner? No, it's just a cat. We got some kneazles and half kneazles if you want. Frightfully clever and loyal. Keen to sniff out suspicious things, kneazles are."

Harry asked, "Then why do you have that orange one up for sale?"

The Magical Menagerie employee answered back, "Well we got tricked truth be told. Thought it was some rare breed or hybrid. Heard some strange rumors told by the one who sold it, but I've never seen anything odd about it. If you're really interested, I'll sell it to you cheap. She used to spend time with another orange cat, an old half kneazle one. But some family bought it last month so this girl has been a bit lonely."

Harry went over to the cat and said, "You want to come home with me?"

The orange tabby looked him in the eye for a moment and meowed and lifted her paw, scratching lightly the cage she was in. Harry smiled and opened the cage. The cat was calm as Harry picked her up and brought her over to the desk where the cat got down on its belly and waited for Harry to finish.

Harry thought it was a very chill cat and liked her even more.

The advertisement for ginger and tabby cats was nine galleons but the employee sold her to Harry for seven which Harry thanked him for.

*Ping*

[Quest Complete: Acquire Class Materials

Reward: Familiar Bond]

[Bonded Familiar:

Name: Goose, Race: Flerken, Age: 217 years]

Harry wondered what he had just gotten himself into.