Time moved with the steady, relentless rhythm of System updates and endured existence. Another birthday passed in familiar Dursley indifference; Harry was ten years old. The System marked it with a passive notification and EXP bonus, just like every day since he first awakened it. The years hadn't been a blur of pain; they'd been a climb, each level gained, each stat increased, each skill honed adding another tool to navigate his world.
🔔 [TIME SKIP NOTED: Approximately 1 Year Has Passed (from Autumn 1989 to Autumn 1990).]
(Harry is now age 10, heading towards his 11th birthday next summer)
[Accumulated Experience from year of dedicated training and survival noted. Grind Intensity Maintained/Scaled to User Level.]
[Level Ups achieved during period: 1 (Level 11)]
[Accumulated Bonus Stats and HP/MP from Leveling.]
[Perk Points Gained: 1 (Total Perk Points: 7 + 1 = 8)]
Harry checked his status, reflecting the significant gains from the past year.
📊 [STATS]
Name: Harry Potter
Level: 11 (Corrected Level)
HP: 195/195 (Base 180 Lvl 10 + 15)
MP: 39/39 (Base 36 Lvl 10 + 3)
STR: 13 (Base 12 Lvl 10 + 1)
DEX: 18 (Base 17 Lvl 10 + 1)
INT: 18 (Base 17 Lvl 10 + 1)
WIS: 17 (Base 16 Lvl 10 + 1)
LUK: 26 (Base 25 Lvl 10 + 1)
CHA: 19 (Base 18 Lvl 10 + 1)
Experience: 200/2500 (New required EXP for Level 12, assuming continued scaling e.g., 2000 for Lv 11 -> 2500 or 3000 for Lv 12)
MP Regeneration: 3.3 MP per hour.
His passive skills were more powerful than ever, also gaining ranks from the past year's use: [Gamer's Mind Lv. 5], [Stealth Lv. 7], [Agile Evasion Lv. 6], [Situational Awareness Lv. 6], [Pain Resistance Lv. 4]. Subtle Item Manipulation Lv. 2 practice continued, improving incrementally despite the MP cost, its Skill Level perhaps reaching Lv 3 now. He now had 8 Perk Points, their purpose still undefined by the System.
The Primary Quest objectives remained: Understand Hogwarts (Step 1: Achieved). Navigate Prerequisites (Acquire Supplies - Step 2: On-going). Investigate Magic (Step 4: On-going). Step 3 (Attend Hogwarts) felt impossibly close now, less than a year away.
The "Investigate Prerequisites / Acquire Supplies" step felt most urgent. Understanding magical money (Sub-objective: Investigate Wealth) had seen minor gains from discreet observation, but actual 'Acquire' progress was zero. Finding Diagon Alley, the supposed 'Resource Node,' remained a wall. His one lead, "Leaky Cauldron, Charing Cross Road," was just a name and address found in a mundane book. How did that lead to a magical resource node? He lacked crucial information on access.
As Harry's 11th birthday approached (now roughly 9 months away), the magical world's attempts to contact him escalated dramatically, just as the original letter hinted. The Dursleys' early methods of intercepting and destroying the standard letters failed entirely. The letters began arriving in increasingly improbable ways – shoved under doors, stuffed into milk bottles, delivered via inexplicable methods Vernon couldn't block with mail slots and locked windows. The System detected them all.
🔔 [Anomaly Detected: Multiple [Magical Communication - Urgent] Events!]
[Source: Repeat Sender (Hogwarts/Magical Authority?). Delivery Vector: Non-standard, High Persistence. Outcome: Interception/Destruction by Hostile Entity (Dursleys) in over 90% of cases. Event logging initiated.]
Vernon was pushed to increasingly frantic behaviour. Nailing the letterbox shut. Boarding up the pet flap. Taping the chimney. Dudley was even enlisted as a scout. Harry, Level 11 with Stealth 7 and Awareness 6, moved through this chaos with clinical efficiency, constantly monitoring the environment. His core training paid off – dodging Vernon's rampages, slipping away to avoid Dudley's patrols, navigating a house turned into a paranoid bunker.
He needed to intercept one. Not just witness it from afar like the destruction. He needed one to see if it contained new clues about accessing the magical world or Diagon Alley. They were arriving too fast, in too many places.
It was a Sunday, Vernon at his most paranoid, covering potential entry points. Petunia, high-strung. Dudley, confused but enjoying the madness. Harry was supposedly helping Dudley find his favorite toy in the upstairs hallway – an area prone to ignored clutter perfect for Stealth.
Harry was searching behind a dusty armchair ([Observe] the dustbunnies and forgotten toys) when his [Situational Awareness Lv. 6] flared. Not an external magical anomaly this time. Internal. Close. Non-standard delivery.
🔔 [Situational Awareness Lv. 6 Alert: Proximal [Magical Communication] Detected!]
[Origin: Within structure. Vector: Anomaly in solid object passage. High energy/Persistence.]
[Physical Materialization Imminent: Predicted Location: Just below User current elevation, near floorboards/wall join in adjacent area.]
Something was coming through the wall? His eyes flickered to the floorboards nearby, to the spot his Awareness was pinpointing. He moved subtly, repositioning himself, dust rag in hand, affecting deep concentration on a scuff mark near that exact location. Dudley was rummaging noisily further down the hall, oblivious.
He watched. And then, from the absolute solid wall near the floor, a thick, rolled-up parchment scroll began to materialize, pushing its way through the brick as if it were liquid, addressed again in that impossible green ink. It was trying a new delivery vector, defying solid matter.
This wasn't a letter in an envelope. This was a message.
He had milliseconds. Vernon could stomp up the stairs at any moment. Dudley might look up. Petunia shriek. He needed to act immediately, capture the anomaly before it fully formed and dropped conspicuously on the floor, or, worse, vanished if blocked.
Using his honed [Stealth Lv. 7] for absolute quiet and fluid movement ([DEX 18] assisting), he lunged. Not a wild, panicked lunge, but a low, controlled slide on his knees across the dusty floor. His [Agile Evasion Lv. 6] ensuring perfect physical execution and minimal sound. As the scroll completed its impossible materialization, seconds before it dropped, he snatched it. Fast. Precise. Quiet. He barely made a whisper of noise, relying on years of practice. He palmed the heavy parchment instantly, tucking it inside the waist of his trousers as if he were simply adjusting his shirt.
He returned to his previous spot, dusting the scuff mark, breath tight in his chest. He'd done it. Intercepted the ultimate improbable mail delivery using high-level skills and instinct.
Dudley grumbled nearby. Vernon's voice roared from downstairs. The house was a picture of Muggle pandemonium, completely unaware of the small, quiet figure who had just cheated physics to intercept a magical message.
Later, safely in the dark of his cupboard after dinner, Harry retrieved the scroll. It unrolled into a thicker, sturdier piece of parchment than the letter, with less formal but equally insistent green script. It wasn't the acceptance letter. It was an ultimatum.
To the guardian of H. Potter. It wasn't even addressed to Vernon. It was addressed to whoever was interfering. Be advised. Harry Potter is overdue for correspondence. He will attend Hogwarts. If conventional mail is obstructed, alternative vectors will be employed. Followed by details – dates the letter was sent, warning that failure to respond would necessitate 'personal visitation'. And, buried within the officialese: mention of required funds, acceptance that a 'representative' would need to guide Muggle-borns to acquire supplies, explicitly stating where Muggle-borns are met for this purpose: The Leaky Cauldron, Charing Cross Road. It gave a specific date and time for 'those requiring assistance'. A specific date, several months from now, but before September 1st.
🔔 [Magical Communication Analyzed: Scroll of Warning (Automated Persistence Protocol)]
[System Identifying Key Data Points related to Primary Quest.]
[Event Type Confirmed: Urgent Notification bypassing mundane countermeasures.]
[New Data Point: Acknowledges interference.]
[New Data Point: Provides alternative information path for [Resource Node: Magic/Commerce] access for [Muggle-born Type User/Proxy].
[Information Fusion Success: Previously fragmented [Navigational Clue] ('Leaky Cauldron, Charing Cross Road') confirmed as direct Access Point for [Resource Node: Magic/Commerce]!]
[Actionable Date/Time Provided for [Proxy Guided Access]!]
[Major Advancement for Primary Quest Step 2!]
🗺️ [PRIMARY QUEST PROGRESS: Step 2 Major Update!]
Title: Embrace the Unknown: A Wizard's Journey
Step 2: Navigate Prerequisites for Entry (Acquire Supplies).
Status: MAJOR PROGRESS! Navigational Clue to [Resource Node: Diagon Alley] Verified and Access Point [Leaky Cauldron] with Provisional Access Date/Time Acquired! Investigate Magical Currency Sub-Objective Ongoing.
Rewards Claimed for Primary Quest Step 2 Major Advancement:
+250 EXP! (Applies now! Current EXP 250 + 250 = 500/2500 towards Level 12!)
+1 Perk Point!
**Unlock Active Skill [Intent Focus]! (Provides bonus to [Subtle Item Manipulation] success and potentially other intent-based actions!)
Current EXP: 500/2500. Perk Points: 9. MP Regen 3.3/hr. HP 195/195, MP 39/39.
Level 12 felt distant, needing 2500 EXP, but the EXP burst was immense. And a new active skill, [Intent Focus]! Linked directly to Manipulation, making his subtle control over objects stronger and more reliable. This was it. Actionable steps. A place. A specific date and time provided by the magical world itself. It was several months away (likely the timeframe before canonical Hagrid arrival), giving him more time to train, but the path forward had just slammed open with undeniable clarity. His grind, his waiting, his secret growth - it was all leading here. To the Leaky Cauldron.