The final weeks leading up to the date etched into the magically delivered scroll felt taut with anticipation. Harry, now a lean, honed ten-year-old approaching his eleventh birthday, dedicated every available moment to perfect preparation. Primary school finished for the summer, removing one environment from his daily grind, but the volatility of Number Four, Privet Drive, remained a constant, high-level challenge. His formidable [Situational Awareness Lv. 7] perceived the rising tide of peculiar magic in the periphery of Little Whinging, an escalating wave of detectable anomalies that felt tied to his impending departure. Vernon Dursley's paranoia, amplified by the increasingly bizarre delivery methods of the Hogwarts communications in the lead-up, turned the house into a fortress of frustrated Muggle efforts, easily bypassed by Harry's enhanced senses and skill.
His internal status screen reflected years of relentless, strategic leveling, supplemented by his carefully allocated Perk Points.
📊 [STATS]
Name: Harry Potter
Level: 12
HP: 210/210
MP: 42/42
STR: 14
DEX: 22
INT: 22
WIS: 21
LUK: 27
CHA: 20
Experience: 2320/2800 (Closing in on Level 13)
MP Regeneration: 3.6 MP per hour.
His passive skills operated with near-effortless mastery: [Gamer's Mind Lv. 6], [Stealth Lv. 8], [Agile Evasion Lv. 7], [Situational Awareness Lv. 7], [Pain Resistance Lv. 5]. His active abilities, [Subtle Item Manipulation Lv. 3] and its complementary [Intent Focus Lv. 2], were practiced in stolen moments, his control over small objects improving, gaining reliable, if still MP-costly, success.
He had long ago allocated his 9 Perk Points, their raw power injected into his core stats, propelling his DEX, INT, and WIS to superhuman levels for his age. Every deliberate movement, every calculated risk, every instance of learning or perception was a testament to their amplified efficiency.
His stock of money, cautiously amassed from Dudley's careless discards using his Manipulation and Stealth skills, was bundled into a small, tightly tied knot of fabric – enough, based on his research using [Observe] on bus maps and fare tables gleaned from school, to get him into London. He carried the scroll's information and the initial Hogwarts letter's list only in his memory now; retrieving the originals was too risky so close to the date.
The final day dawned bright but tense. This was it. The specific early-summer date, the fixed midday time. His mind, clear and focused due to [Gamer's Mind Lv. 6], treated the day as the ultimate infiltration mission. Phase 1: Survive the Morning at Privet Drive. Phase 2: Execute Egress Protocol at the Precise System-Analyzed Optimal Window. Phase 3: Navigate Resource Node Access Vector (Travel to London, Locate Access Point).
He moved through the morning's routine with absolute perfection, every action calculated, every risk assessed by [Situational Awareness Lv. 7]. Breakfast preparation: zero error, maximal Stealth. Chores: completed flawlessly, drawing no negative attention, leveraging Pain Resistance for unavoidable discomforts. Avoid Dudley: minimal engagement, easy evasions against his cousin's still-formidable, but unskilled bulk. His objective was silence, invisibility, conserving MP and focus for the critical departure.
Midday approached. The Dursleys had just finished a heavy, argumentative lunch. Vernon retired to the sitting room to watch TV, predictably entering a state of loud, immovable post-meal lethargy ([Observe]/Awareness predicted state: High Inattention, Low Mobility). Dudley had waddled off to his bedroom with new sweets ([Observe]/Awareness predicted state: Engrossed, Auditory Filter High - Music/Games likely]). Petunia was in the kitchen, engaged in her extensive washing-up ritual ([Observe]/Awareness predicted state: Focused, Moderate Noise Generation from tasks).
Harry was upstairs, supposedly cleaning the upstairs landing. This was his window. Dudley occupied, Vernon immobile, Petunia audibly busy downstairs. The critical factor: no Dursley eyes on the stairs or front door. [Situational Awareness Lv. 7] was fully active, monitoring all three locations and potential lines of sight, filtering environmental noise from crucial sounds. The System's internal clock aligned with his purpose.
He stopped dusting the banister. His knuckles were white, but Gamer's Mind held steady. [Stealth Lv. 8] engaged. [Agile Evasion Lv. 7] stood ready. [DEX 22], [INT 22], [WIS 21] focused into a single point of will: exit strategy execution. He wasn't running away blindly; he was enacting a plan years in the making.
He moved towards the stairs, not descending directly, but using a calculated path, placing feet on the very edges of the treads he knew were quietest. Down the stairs, one ghost-like step at a time. Reaching the ground floor hall. Dudley's music, Vernon's TV rumble, Petunia's clattering – layered by Awareness into a shield of ambient noise. He crossed the hall, past the cupboard under the stairs that had been his world, no longer fearing its confines but viewing it as a successfully completed training stage.
He reached the front door. Unlocked and unbolted it with infinite care, his DEX 22 and Stealth 8 making the tumblers and bolt slide open with minimal sound, like a trained cat burglar. A breath of outside air, cooler and fresher than the Dursleys' stuffy house. He eased the door open by a few inches. Peered out, situational awareness sweeping the empty street. No neighbours. No mailmen. No one near.
Now. The critical move. Exit. He slipped through the gap, leaving the door to click softly shut behind him (Precise Manipulation using minimal MP/Intent?). No loud slam, no tell-tale noise.
He stood on the pavement, a skinny ten-year-old in oversized clothes, his hidden money belt a comforting weight. Number Four, Privet Drive, the level he had been grinding on for years, was behind him.
He walked down the street. He didn't run, didn't look back. His [Situational Awareness Lv. 7] tracked the house, noted the continued sounds within (they hadn't noticed), and began processing the wider neighbourhood, extending its scope, mapping his route towards the bus stop he knew would take him into Surrey, then on to London. Every stride, every glance at a street sign ([Observe]), every anticipation of pedestrian movement ([Agile Evasion] readiness), felt different now, applied to the wider world.
The bus ride required him to apply his skills in a non-combative, but complex environment. Navigating crowded seats ([Stealth] for movement, [Awareness] for personal space). Listening to conversations, observing people without being noticed ([Observe], [Stealth], [Awareness], [INT/WIS] processing). Reading route maps accurately ([INT/WIS], Observation). Securing his destination. Each correct decision, each seamless transit between buses, added micro-amounts to his experience bar.
He successfully reached London, a sprawling, bustling city far removed from Little Whinging. Now for the Leaky Cauldron. Charing Cross Road was just a major street on a map, but his Scroll specifically marked it as the Access Point. It wasn't a place in the Muggle directories, the System noted.
He walked Charing Cross Road, eyes and senses wide, processing the dense urban environment with all his honed skills. Scanning architecture ([Observe]), crowds ([Situational Awareness], predicting flows), sounds, smells. Filtering out the normal chaos, searching for the [Anomalous Markers] the System had profiled, the tiny deviations, the reality layer discrepancies, or simply a building that didn't belong based on all his collected Muggle architectural data. His high [WIS] and [Situational Awareness] were dedicated to this quest step.
Minutes passed. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just bookstores, theatres, restaurants. Doubt flickered, but was swiftly quashed by [Gamer's Mind Lv. 6]. Analyze data. Trust the System's information. There must be a clue.
And then, tucked between a large bookshop and a record shop, his [Situational Awareness Lv. 7] didn't detect a building so much as a disruption around one. A faint, almost imperceptible wobble in the air, a brief blurring only his enhanced perception could catch. His System immediately cross-referenced.
🔔 [Situational Awareness Lv. 7 Alert: Localized Reality Layer Discrepancy Detected!]
[Anomaly Parameters: Consistent with [Access Point] type signature as profiled via analysis of previously acquired [Navigational Clue]!]
[Proposed Access Point: Discreet entrance between commercial buildings.]
[Location Correlation: Charing Cross Road - Matching Scroll Data.]
This was it. The System had confirmed it. Not a prominent magical landmark, but a hidden seam in reality only someone with his unique, honed senses could pick out amidst the mundane. It pointed to a doorway. A small, rather grimy-looking pub he would never have noticed otherwise, labelled with an almost invisible sign only when his awareness focused.
He approached, blending into the passing crowds with [Stealth Lv. 8]. Walked through the barely-perceptible magical warding at the entrance (detected as faint energy passing by his Awareness). He reached the door of the dusty pub that wasn't quite there unless you looked for the anomaly. He put his hand on the handle, his small bundle of coins heavy in his pocket, his stats high, his skills sharp, his mind ready. The grind was complete. He had successfully navigated the path.
He opened the door and stepped into the Leaky Cauldron.