Years flowed past at Number Four, Privet Drive. Summer bled into autumn, then winter, then spring, in a cycle of endured discomfort and silent accumulation. Harry attended primary school now, a structured environment that provided different challenges and opportunities than the constant threat of home. Learning from teachers honed his [INT] and [WIS], understanding social dynamics refined nascent [CHA] growth, and navigating busy corridors or avoiding playground bullies (different from Dudley, requiring varied tactics) provided new data and rigorous tests for his [Situational Awareness] and [Agile Evasion]. His [Stealth] proved invaluable for avoiding unwanted attention or securing moments of privacy.
🔔 [TIME SKIP NOTED: Approximately 3 Years Have Passed (from Autumn 1986 - Start of Age 7 to Autumn 1989 - Start of Age 10).]
[Accumulated Experience from years of dedicated training and survival noted. Grind Intensity Maintained. Major & Minor Threat Navigation successfully applied.]
[Level Ups achieved during period: 6 (Levels 4 through 9)]
[Accumulated Bonus Stats and HP/MP from Leveling.
[Perk Points Gained: 6 (Total Perk Points: 1 + 5 = 6)] (Starting with 1PP from Lv 4, +1PP each Level from 5 to 9 = 5 more PP)
Harry checked his status. His base capabilities had increased dramatically over the years.
📊 [STATS]
Name: Harry Potter
Level: 9
HP: 165/165 (Base 75 Lvl 3 + 15 for each of Lvl 4,5,6,7,8,9 = 75 + 156 = 165)
MP: 33/33 (Base 15 Lvl 3 + 3 for each of Lvl 4,5,6,7,8,9 = 15 + 36 = 33)
STR: 11 (Base 5 Lvl 3 + 1 for each of Lvl 4-9 = 5+6=11)
DEX: 15 (Base 9 Lvl 3 + 1 for each of Lvl 4-9 = 9+6=15)
INT: 16 (Base 10 Lvl 3 + 1 for each of Lvl 4-9 = 10+6=16)
WIS: 15 (Base 9 Lvl 3 + 1 for each of Lvl 4-9 = 9+6=15)
LUK: 24 (Base 18 Lvl 3 + 1 for each of Lvl 4-9 = 18+6=24)
CHA: 17 (Base 11 Lvl 3 + 1 for each of Lvl 4-9 = 11+6=17)
Experience: 500/1600 (Estimate for Lvl 9 progressing toward Lvl 10)
MP Regeneration: 2.8 MP per hour. (Increased steadily over Level Ups).
He possessed highly advanced passive skills: [Gamer's Mind Lv. 3] (near-perfect emotional regulation and focus), [Stealth Lv. 5] (expert invisibility to passive notice), [Agile Evasion Lv. 4] (instinctive, fluid avoidance), [Situational Awareness Lv. 4] (extended sensory monitoring, detection of minor anomalies), and [Pain Resistance Lv. 2] (significant pain mitigation). These skills, combined with his higher stats, meant he moved through both home and school like a ghost, processing information and reacting to threats with unnerving speed and precision.
He had 6 Perk Points stored, their purpose still a mystery. The [Object Manipulation] potential skill had seen slow progress from incidental efforts, marked by the System's occasional notes. He needed a catalyst for it, something to truly push its development.
It was a Saturday afternoon. Raining heavily outside, trapping everyone indoors. Dudley was stuck in the living room, radiating petulance and boredom, a primed powder keg. Vernon roared from the kitchen about the state of the gutters. Petunia hovered nervously between them. Harry, confined to dusting duty in the living room, found himself near the mantlepiece.
Dudley, seeing Harry stationary and within easy reach, forgot his complaints about the rain and fixated on his favorite target. With a surge of pent-up energy, he lunged. Harry, forewarned by [Situational Awareness Lv. 4] detecting the shift in Dudley's focus and posture, reacted instantly. [Agile Evasion Lv. 4] flowed through him. He stepped aside, movement nearly imperceptible due to [Stealth Lv. 5].
Dudley stumbled past where Harry had been, colliding hard with the large, hideous ceramic dog ornament on the mantlepiece. The heavy ornament tipped, sliding towards the edge, its fall seemingly inevitable. Petunia gasped from the doorway.
Time seemed to stretch. Harry saw the dog falling, heard Petunia's panicked intake of breath. His mind, sharp with [Gamer's Mind Lv. 3], processed the vector, the weight, the certain smash. And the dormant [Object Manipulation] potential flared, amplified by the sheer need of the moment – avoiding breakage meant avoiding massive punishment.
He focused his entire will, his enhanced [INT], [WIS], and [DEX], and his burning intent onto the falling ceramic. Stop.
A jarring discordance sliced through normal physics. The heavy ceramic dog, half-fallen off the mantle, didn't plunge. Instead, with a violent wobble and a loud scrape that made everyone flinch, it halted, tilted crazily for a heartbeat, then seemed to right itself against the impossible slant, settling back precariously on the very edge. It had not fallen.
Dudley froze, staring at the saved ornament, spluttering. Petunia rushed forward, pushing past Harry to clutch the thing protectively, peering at it for damage. They were both oblivious to Harry, his skills making him the last thing they noticed.
A storm of notifications broke over Harry's internal vision.
🔔 [Action Outcome: Critical Anomaly - Reality Local Physics Deviation Detected!]
[System Cross-Referencing against User Abilities and Detected Energy Signatures...]
[Match Found: Anomalous Physics Event highly correlates with User [Intent] applied via [Unclassified System/Ability Conduit] to a Proximal Object.]
[Classification of Action Required! Evaluating against Potential Skill Profile: [Object Manipulation] criteria fulfilled.]
[Processing Potential Skill Unlock: [Object Manipulation] based on conscious application of intent causing successful non-mundane physical outcome under high pressure!]
🎉 [NEW SKILL UNLOCKED!] 🎉
Congratulations! Through concentrated intent and successful, non-mundane alteration of object movement, User Harry James Potter has developed the Active Skill [Subtle Item Manipulation]!
✨ [Subtle Item Manipulation Lv. 1 (Active)] ✨
Description: User can exert limited telekinetic-like influence over small to medium-sized non-living objects within close proximity. Requires concentration and clear intent. Effect strength dependent on object mass, distance, User Stats (DEX, INT, WIS), Skill Level, and MP Cost.
Effect: Allows subtle nudging, controlled halting of movement, minor pushing/pulling of items. Higher levels improve range, force, and finesse.
Cost: 5 MP per use (Attempt)
Persistent Effect: Minor permanent increase to base Dexterity. (Applies Now!)
📊 [STATS Update!]
Name: Harry Potter
Level: 9
HP: 165/165
MP: 33/33 --> 28/33 (Cost of Skill Unlock Attempt/Event Resolution)
STR: 11
DEX: 15 --> 16 (+1 base from Subtle Item Manipulation Lv 1)
INT: 16
WIS: 15
LUK: 24
CHA: 17
Experience: 500 + [EXP for High-Pressure Evasion + Successful Skill Application Event + Skill Unlock]
Another stat increase! DEX to 16. An active skill. Something he could consciously use with MP, not just a passive trait. This was huge. Telekinesis. The System called it Manipulation, but it was magic, wasn't it? Real magic he could command? The 'Unclassified System/Ability Conduit' suggested the System was the key to channeling his inherent nature.
And the EXP gained for that complex moment:
[+70 EXP]
Current EXP: 500 + 70 = 570/1600
Seventy EXP! It was the highest gain yet for a single complex action, even years into his grinding. Surviving Dudley was one thing, but bending reality slightly to do it paid off massively. His grind continued. Two more years until his eleventh birthday. Now, added to his hidden training regime was the exciting, MP-costing practice of Subtle Item Manipulation, a direct, active command over the physical world, his first real step towards mastering the magic that awaited him. He had Level 9, formidable passive skills, a potent new active ability, 6 Perk Points, and a journey ahead defined by power and purpose. The cupboard might still be his room, but the world within his System was vast and growing more incredible every day.