Chapter Text
Harry Potter was a perfectly abnormal man. You see, he’d just lost his fight against Voldemort, on purpose. The flash of green death had struck him and then he knew no more. Well except he did know more, the afterlife was apparently a cramped office. There was no train station, no old wizened mentor to explain, just a young gentleman.
A gentleman with a very harsh scowl on his face, vehemently typing away on his computer.
“Er, Hello,” Harry looked at the man’s nameplate on his rather messy desk. “Mr. Azrael”
“Mr. Potter, it is a pleasure to see you again. Give me a moment, I'm trying to pull up your file.” He said his scowl aimed at the computer in front of him.
“Ah, Harry James Potter, age 17, premature death via Thomas Marvolo Riddle. You… voluntarily walked in front of a killing curse? Would you mind explaining that one to me?” He asked with a bit of a sharp edge.
“Well, I had a Horcrux inside of my scar, yeah? So well, if Voldemort had been killed he still could’ve gotten a new body. And I don’t fancy the pain of basilisk venom again-“
“Mr. Potter. Harry, if I may,” the Man cut him off. “What made you think that your scar was a Horcrux?”
“Well he could possess me, and send me his thoughts, and I can speak parseltongue, sir.” Harry was confused.
“Harry, I’m afraid you weren’t a Horcrux. You never were, there’s a whole ritual you have to go through. Your souls intertwined yes, but that untangles as soon as he’s dead. You walked in front of a killing curse for no reason. This is the fifth death I’ve had you in here for. We need to do something, something different because all of these weren’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to live a long and happy life. Marry some Granger girl, have kids, and a bunch of grandkids. You were supposed to make it through and change the world.” Azrael said softly, skimming the file.
Harry sat with a load of questions on his mind, fifth time? Granger? Hermione?! I was supposed to have a family?
“Yes indeed five times, yes Granger, I don’t know her first name, but yes by the time you were supposed to die of old age you had about ten grandkids. Even more great-grandkids. Give me a moment to think of some options for you okay? We’re gonna get you back on track, kill Voldemort, and get the girl.”
They sat in the office for some time, Azrael leaning back, staring at the ceiling. He typed something on his computer and stared at the ceiling again. He did this a couple of times. Harry stared at him, an eyebrow raised. A loud ping echoed through the room.
“What was that?”
“Oh, just a notification from the Divine Game we’re playing right now. Think of it like a mash-up of Smash Bros and Skyrim. Wait, what year did you die, Mr. Potter? Oh, it’s 199- Wait.”
Harry waited; he could almost see the gears churning in this man’s head.
“I’ll send you back! With your memories! And now added features!”
“Features?” Harry asked, looking unconvinced, “Like new hair or a tail?”
“No no no, Gamer Features. Harry James Potter -The Gamer-.”
“So my life will be like a video game?”
“Yes, now you’re getting it! Now, who to talk to… wait, I’m the angel of Death, I don’t need permission!” Azrael said in excitement. “Wait! I need yours.” He passed Harry a piece of paper from nowhere and a pen. Harry bemusedly signed the paper. “Now, Mr. Potter, you’ll remember everything. Don't you worry, we’ll get you your soulmate!”
Azrael typed something on his keyboard. And Harry knew no more.
Except he did know more.
The Angel of Death Proudly Presents
The Game of Life
Welcome Harry James Potter
New Title Unlocked! -The Gamer-
Would you like to play the tutorial?
(Yes) or (No)
“Er, sure.”
Tutorial Activated
Harry was dropped in the Surrey Playground, not far from Privet Drive.
Say Menu to Open the Menu.
“Oh, uh, Menu.” The entire world paused around him, but as someone who had traveled back in time, it didn't really seem bothersome.
Friday, July 8th, 1994 09:00
Menu
Character
Inventory
Journal
Map
Quests
Say Character to Open Character Sheet
“Character,” Harry said a bit more confidently.
Harry James Potter
The Gamer
Lvl. 20
Age 13
He wasn’t going to lie, this was kind of cool. “Level 20?”
Level 20 is based on knowledge and experience, the higher the level, the more quests you can do. As someone who is 14, with a level of 20 you are better than your general year group. You can raise your level by studying or completing quests.
“Menu, Inventory.”
Inventory
Dudley Dursley Clothes (Equipped)
Wand (Equipped, Sheathed)
Oversized Trainers (Equipped)
Hogwarts Letter
Gringotts Key (687)
12 Galleons
Firebolt
Owl Cage
School Trunk
“Oh, that’s going to have to change.” He looked down on himself, the old stained t-shirt and jeans held together with good intentions would have to go. “Journal”
Journal
Whatever you would like to write down, think of, all kept in a little lock box in your mind.
Cannot be affected by Legilimency, Truth Serum, or anything mind-controlling.
“Oh uh, I died in 1998 by walking into a killing curse, I am not a Horcrux, My SoulMate is Hermione Granger, I am the Gamer.”
New Journal Entry Say “View Journal Entry One” To view.
“Wicked, Please open the map.” A Vast Map opened that covered the whole globe.
To View a specific area Zoom in by saying e.g. “Little Whinging”
To locate where you are on the map say “Locate Me”
To Locate Other(s) on the map say e.g. “Locate Hermione Granger”
To locate Quest Markers, say “Locate Active Quests”
To fast travel (apparate), you need to have been there before, gain your Apparation License, and set your marker there. You can fast travel by saying “Fast Travel to ‘Location’”
“Seems easy enough, other than the fact that I'm only fourteen. Wait, I’m only fourteen! Cedric and Sirius and Everyone! They aren’t dead yet.” He grinned a loony grin that only someone who died and came back could.
“Alright, close the menu.” The entire world resumed, and the birds and wind and all the sound that was missing since he had taken him by surprise. A new thing popped up in his vision, the blue-green text disconcerting against reality.
New Quest
“Let's go Shopping”
-Get items on your Hogwarts Letters
-Get Muggle Clothes
-Get ready for the Tri-Wizard Tournament
-Please, for the love of the Gods, do something for your Health
He mentally thought, Accepted.
Quest Accepted!
Harry held his wand up on the street, and like a gunshot, the triple-decker purple bus pulled in front of him.
“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this afternoon. ‘Cor, it’s Harry Potter again.” Harry looked around to see if anyone was on the Knight Bus; as it was empty, he grinned.
“Hey Stan, good to see you again. How much is the Leaky Cauldron again?” He asked, nodding in Ernie’s direction in acknowledgment.
“Eleven Sickles, right? Thirteen for the Hot Chocolate. Fifteen for the Bottle and a toothbrush in the color of your choice, ‘Arry.” The gangly man said.
“Right then, just one to the Leaky then, please.” He fished one of the gold coins in his pocket.
“Not a problem at all, and off we go!” Stan handed him his change and his ticket. Also like a gunshot, they took off. A reeling three minutes later, he was set to leave.
“Hey guys, I think you’ll do a really good thing here, you know? I was kind of hoping you’d be willing to keep quiet about me traveling today? I’ve got a lot to do, and you guys know how those folk are, right? I’d get mobbed, so I’m hoping I can trust you.”
“Righty o’ Harry, not a word from my mouth,” Stan said. Harry looked past Stan and saw Ernie nod.
“Thanks, I appreciate it. Have a good night, I'll probably see you later.” He smiled before he walked into the Leaky,
The same dingy bar, the same customers, the same bartender, good old Tom. Not torn apart by war or xenophobia, just patrons grabbing a drink.
He made his way past, hoping not to get recognized, which was easy. The short distance to the bank and he was in the lobby. It didn’t take long; the cart slid around like a roller coaster, he grabbed a bag from off the wall and started pouring coins in it, a ride back and he ran to the teller again.
“Hello, I was hoping to get some galleons exchanged into pounds.”
The teller sighed, “Mr. Potter, I am a teller, you need to go to the Exchange Desk.” He helpfully (grumpily) pointed to the said desk.
“Ah, thank you, sir.”
The exchange went quickly, he was 160 galleons poorer but £4.000 richer. Which threw him for a loop. Sure, he had stacks and stacks of gold coins, but the grandkids would need something, he’d have to start looking into ways to make more money.
He ran his eyes down the alley, he needed new of everything. The first stop was Wizarding Wear, Madam Malkins for the everyday, and Twilffit and Tattings for his dress robes. Mostly he let the ladies take control; he did grab some trousers underneath, some things had no business in the wind. His books were another easy purchase, he browsed the cases picking up extra books. Studying did raise his XP. There was a shoemaker, he picked up some heavy-duty dragon leather boots.
The longest time he had spent in a store was Elias Eyewear. It was a small shop in the middle of the Ally, he had to fill out a form, get his eyes examined, and pick his new frames. Plus added enchantments. An always-clean, never broken, and thermal vision all seemed like good options. He got away from the rounded frames and went with a wayfarer design.
New potions kit. Gillyweed. A Wand holster for both his arm and his calf. “Hogwarts Ready kit” from Madam Primpernelle’s shop, which is said to last the school year, in Teakwood. New Quills and Ink from a very kind shopkeeper who also sold him fountain pens. New dragon hide gloves. A bag with expansion charms. And he was pretty sure he was set in the wizarding world, he shoved everything on his new canvas rucksack and set out into muggle London.
He’d been to London proper a couple of times but not enough to not get lost. He stepped out into a busy street filled with people traffic. He quickly looked around, the bustle of the city was very different from the wizarding world.
He walked the streets, looking up and down at the buildings around him. He took a long walk and finally came up to a men's store.
It was filled to the brim with all sorts of clothes, and one of the customer service people came up to him, wearing an almost well-hidden look of disdain.
“I’m so sorry, but if you’re not here to buy anything we have a no-loitering policy, and I’ll have to ask you to leave.” The gentleman said, his lip almost curled in disgust.
Harry looked down at his attire, still wearing the Dudley Dursley wear. He had to come up quickly with a lie to cover his arse. “Er, yeah I was planning on buying, here’s the thing, my house caught up in a fire, and we’re staying with my Aunt and I got a cousin my age see? He lent me some clothes, but obviously, we’re different sizes. My parents gave me some cash to get a new wardrobe, while they go look at a new house, I’m pretty sure they gave me enough,” he said pulling out his wallet, to flash some cash.
The man’s demeanor immediately changed, and suddenly was very affable. He asked questions about Harry’s style, what different types of clothes he liked, and more along those lines.
They went from everything from socks to hats and everything in between, everything.
He looked at himself in the mirror, he looked way better than he had two hours ago. The clothes had made him stand up straighter, look more confident and most importantly they fit.
He was quite happy with the overall changes.
Menu, He thought, and he stored all of his new purchases away in his inventory. It was quite a lot, but, seemingly, his inventory could take it all.
Map, He looked through his map of Diagon Alley, surely St. Mungos had to be around somewhere. “Find St Mungos”
His map popped up two alleys away, with a marker for him and a marker for the hospital.
Would you like to Place a Marker?
“Yes please.” and a marker was created, leading to the hospital. He followed the marker, twisting and turning through the street until he came up to a non-specific entrance. He looked at the marker questioningly but walked through the door.
Inside the door lead to a front desk with a sign that said Welcome Witch, a pretty woman sat right behind the desk, quickly looking up from her magazine.
“Welcome to St. Mungo’s, what’s your emergency?” She asked, very straightforward.
“Ah, erm, no emergency, just a general check-up if you do that?” Harry asked.
“Sure, sure general practice. Well, do you have an appointment?” She asked, looking at the day file.
“Er, no Ma’am, I could make one?” Harry replied. Oh god, he was never doing this again. He flushed.
“No need, we’re very slow with our general practice today, appointment reason?”
“I’ve never had one before, and thought it should be something I should do.”
She started filling out a document, “Right, and your name is Mr.-”
“Potter. Harry Potter.” And as expected, her head whipped right up to look at him, and unexpectedly was the intense scrutiny. He was thrilled to find that yes, he did indeed seem to be Harry Potter.
She muttered at the file, something he didn’t quite catch.
“Alright Mr. Potter, I’ll have you fill out this form and I’ll send for the Healer.”
The form was about thirty questions, from various points, the first five were the “Who the Hell are you” questions, and the next ten asked about if he had any dangerous activities like; gardening with dangerous plants, casual duels, or his favorite any kneazle bites. The rest was general health, vaccinations, and any related records. He left that part purposefully blank.
“Mr. Potter,” A man with a lime green robe popped up, “Please follow me.”
Harry grabbed his Form, handing it to the healer's extended hand.
“Mr. Potter, I’m Healer Tonks.” Menu He thought, and the world paused around him.
“Open Journal”
Journal
“New Entry”
“My Doctor seems to be Theodore Tonks, Father of Tonks, I cannot screw this up.”
“Close Journal, Close Menu.”
The world came back into focus for him.
“Hello,” He did a half-wave before realizing that was stupid.
“So, what seems to be the problem, Mr. Potter?”
“I, er, never had a Doctor’s Appointment, and at the urging of my friends, it seemed like a pretty good idea.”
“Ah,” Ted nodded sagely. “Well while Madam Pomphery is a particularly gifted medi-witch, you made the right choice. So tell me, what do you think your medical history is?”
“Well, I’ve been in a lot of near-death situations, obviously the whole killing curse as a baby thing, first year was pretty normal, other than Quirell trying to kill me. The second year was a doozy with the basilisk, and the third year, uh last year my soul almost got sucked out by like 100 dementors.”
“Uh, right. Um, I'm going to run a few scans, tell me about this basilisk? Was it an accidental hatching? Those have happened before you know.” Ted said doing lots of complicated wand movements.
“Nope, pretty sure it was Slytherin’s, it was the size of a lorry. The fang that got stuck in my arm was probably about the same size as my arm.”
“A fang in your arm?” Ted paused, “Show me where.”
Harry pulled up his sleeve, the puncture mark was the same indent with the lighter skin. “Phoenix tears can do a lot but it didn’t completely leave without a trace.” Ted’s wand moved over the area, and he frowned.
“Alright, and dementors, they tried to suck out your soul?”
“Oh yeah, loads of times last year, let's see, the train, on the Quidditch Pitch, anything I say is covered by Doct- Sorry Healer Patient Confidentiality right?”
“Yes Mr. Potter we have the Hippocratic Oath too,” Ted said a little wide-eyed, looking like he was expecting the worst.
“Oh okay, so the last one was pretty big and it involves some time travel but the first time of the day I nearly got my soul sucked out by close to a hundred Dementors, and then someone saved me, and I Passed out, woke up in the infirmary. My friend had a time turner that she’d been using for classes, and she and Dumbledore had started talking about a lot of things very quickly and she wrapped the necklace part around me and we went back to just before Sirius tried to grab Peter Pettigrew. There was a lot of waiting, we saved Buckbeak, he’s a hippogriff, and then we waited some more. I wanted to see who saved me and Sirius but then I realized that it was me. I did that, my patronus must have staved off about a hundred dementors. And then we broke Sirius out of the cell they held him in and then he ran off to unknown pastures.” Harry said and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. He started fidgeting at the look the healer gave him.
The healer took a deep breath and looked at him, waving his wand a couple more times.
“Exposure of that magnitude should have waned by now, you still have some traces of dementor effects. There is proof of non-active venom in your blood, that does hold in time of the basilisk bite on your arm.”
“Oh good, so am I all good then?” Harry asked dumbly.
“Er, Mr. Potter, no, no you are not. Most people don’t survive these events singularly, you somehow survived them all. That’s on top of all your malnutrition and weak bone density. To be frank, it’s a miracle you’re still alive.” Ted said almost on the edge of exasperation.
“Oh,’ Harry said simply.
“So there are a few things we can do, a draught of peace, and some skele gro. I know you’re muggle raised but did you drink no milk while growing up?”
“Er, no sir. I didn’t.”
“Well, the skele gro will help with density, and the draught will help with the lingering symptoms of the dementors. The bright side is we should have you right as rain here shortly,” the healer replied. He walked out, and Harry assumed he walked to a store room for the potions.
Updated New Feature
Health Bar; Want to know how close you are to dying? Well look no further than your vision, it’ll be situated right at the bottom center of your regular vision. To dim, say “Dim Health Bar” to brighten say “Brighten Health Bar”.
A brightly lit bar entered his vision, a box mostly filled with red, there was a bit of solid grey. And a little black on the end.
Healer Tonks walked back in the room as soon as Harry dimmed his health bar, as to not stare so hard at it.
“Okay Mister Potter, I have a refined Skele-gro potion, it’s meant to help with density issues that you are suffering, and an acute draught of peace, that should take the lingering effects of dementor exposure.”
Harry’s nose curled up at the skele-gro, his last intake of it made him nearly vomit.
Ted looked at him with a knowing smirk, “Yes Mr. Potter you need to take the nasty potions.’ He popped them into Harry’s hand with a grin.
Harry, ever the Gryffindor, shot them back like an alcoholic drinking their least favorite drink.
Quest Complete!
Good job! You completed all the objectives in your tutorial quest!
Rewards
New Appearance
Healthy Status-Filled Out Your Health Bar
Level Up - 21
Extended Character Sheet - Know your Status!
Observe Skill - Know what things/people are just by looking at them! (Improves with Intelligence and Prior Knowledge)
“Menu.” Harry Furiously thought, “Character.” As the world around him froze.
Harry James Potter
The Gamer
Lvl. 21
Age 14
Strength - 12
Dexterity - 14
Constitution - 15
Intelligence - 11
Wisdom - 8
Charisma - 9
Skills Ranked Out of 20
20 is the max these skills can be, anything above 10 is above average, anything below 10 is… not great.
(Your current skill set is based on your first timeline age and the things you’ve done today to improve your health. -AZ)
Class Rank (Student) - 17/40
DADA - 19/20
Charms - 16/20
Transfiguration - 15/20
Potions - 12/20
Herbology - 12/20
HoM - 7/20
Astronomy 10/20
Flying - 20/20
Ancient Runes - 0/20
Arithmancy - 0/20
Muggle Studies - 20/20
Divination - 9/20
Apparition - 20/20
(Class rank is dependent on your scores from your last exam in this timeline, individual scores are based on your comprehension level of the work in school. 13+ you’d get an outstanding on your OWLs, 18+ you would get an outstanding on your NEWTs. Some of your schooling needs some work, anything below 10 would be a fail on the OWLs. -A)
Active Effects
Child of Prophecy - Seems like things tend to… happen around you.
A Mothers Love - Sacrificial Magic, protects you from the one that killed her.
Bloodwards (Botched) - Bloodwards protect you from enemies, these are based on recognizing a place as home with a relative who loves you, the Dursley’s never loved you, sorry.
Balisik Bitten - The Venom in your veins is neutral to you, but it does buff your constitution and makes you a very bad thing to snack on.
Tear Jerker - A phoenix cried on you, your health regenerates at a faster rate than a regular wizard.
Parselmouth - You speak to snakes, and unlike most of the population, they speak back.
Blessing of Death - You united the Hallows in a different life, you met the Angel of Death, and you came back from the dead (technically). You're a hell of a lot harder to kill than most people.
Quidditch Prodigy Seeker - You were born to take to the sky, buffs strength and dexterity.
Tangled - Your soul and someone else’s soul touched, gross. Bright side, you’re not a horcrux do not die again please.
“Close.” Harry thought. It was a lot, but it was something he could work with. The bloodwards being botched kinda means he didn’t have to live with the Dursleys, right? But where could he go? He had no idea.
New Quest
Terror at the World Cup
-Attend the Quidditch World
-Escape the Death Eaters
-Investigate the Dark Mark
-Get Back to Hogwarts
“Accept.” Harry, considered his options in the patient room that Ted was still in, which Harry had forgotten about. He’d also forgotten about the nasty taste in his mouth.
”Oh shite, that’s nasty.” He coughed, as Healer Tonks chuckled.
“I almost think the refined potion is worse that regular skele-gro, to be honest.” Ted said, “I’m going to keep you here for a couple of hours, just to keep an eye on you, is that alright Mr. Potter?”