{Harry's temporary room, Leaky Cauldron}
Cleaning the mess that I had created turned out to be harder than I imagined. I could have used one of my old T-shirts to deal with it, but I had been in such a hurry to leave that I hadn't even grabbed an extra set of clothes. In the end, I had to spill a lot of water on the floor and then ask Top to use a spell to clean it up.
'Not that I was necessarily lying. It kind of happened, didn't it?' I thought as I flopped back down onto the bed. I opened the diary as it appeared in my hands again and flipped through the portrait of a masturbating Adorabell.
...
[Daphne Greengrass]
[Corruption Level: 0/5 {Noble ice queen}]
[Affection Meter: 0/100]
[Inhibition Level: 9/10]
[Inhibition Meter: 23/100]
[Trait unlocked at Level 1: Calm Mind]
[Perfect Poker Face(Blue): A supplementary trait that allows you to hide your emotions behind a perfect mask]
[Trait unlocked at Level 2: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 3: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 4: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 5: Locked]
...
'Hmm, not a bad trait, even though it doesn't help me much in combat, but it would most likely help with survival.' I thought as I flipped through. Contrary to what I expected, witches like Madame Malkin and other witches who were working in that shop did not appear in the diary, and the next face was surprisingly Susan.
...
[Susan Bones]
[Corruption Level: 0/5 {Noble princess}]
[Affection Meter: 30/100]
[Inhibition Level: 10/10]
[Inhibition Meter: 13/100]
[Trait unlocked at Level 1: Bubbly Presence]
[Bubbly Presence (Blue): A supplementary trait that allows you to gain affection faster with the opposite gender. +30% increase to affection gained.]
[Trait unlocked at Level 2: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 3: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 4: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 5: Locked]
...
[Hannah Abbott]
[Corruption Level: 0/5 {Shy girl next door}]
[Affection Meter: 20/100]
[Inhibition Level: 10/10]
[Inhibition Meter: 10/100]
[Trait unlocked at Level 1: Intuitive Gaze]
[Intuitive Gaze (Blue): A supplementary trait that allows you to sometimes see through someone's intentions in a social setting.]
[Trait unlocked at Level 2: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 3: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 4: Locked]
[Trait unlocked at Level 5: Locked]
...
I stared at the moving pictures of Susan and Hannah, and the sharp contrast in their personalities stood out again. At the same time, I noticed that the future Huffepuffs both had initial traits geared toward social interaction.
'Though I'm pretty sure they must have at least a magical inclination like Adorabella and me, they just must be locked behind level 3.' I thought it was a reasonable conclusion. What bugged me was that I couldn't see which of my actions led to this affection gain, so I could calibrate my approach to each girl.
...
[Notifications settings update!]
...
'Huh, so feedback works, can I try anything else, like making the locked traits visible?' I thought, but received no feedback in return.
Still happy something worked out for once, I looked out of the window. It wasn't that late into the night, but most of the shops in Diagon Alley had already closed down. But I could still see light coming from a distance, from an area that clearly belonged to Knockturn Alley, which we had brushed past quite quickly in the morning.
'It's a bit risky to go there, but I'm pretty sure that the Red Light District should be in there.' I thought. While gaining LP from whores wasn't my favorite option, it was the best option I had for today.
A few seconds of debate later, I grabbed my wand and watched as it vanished into my inventory with a thought, and then brought out my trunk onto the floor beside my bed. Opening it, I grabbed my money pouch and poured the small heap of galleons onto my bed.
With an extended finger and a thought, the heaps of galleons disappeared into my inventory. Next, I grabbed the knife that came with my potion supplies, and it vanished all the same. Now feeling a bit more secure, I looked through my trunk once again, and after storing it, I walked out of my room, locking the door behind me.
As the steps creaked once again, I caught sight of Tom, who was looking at me. I gave him a nod as I walked toward the back door and into Diagonalley by mimicking Prof. McGonagall's taps on the wall.
Thankfully, the doorway appeared, and I felt a deep chill seep into my bones as I walked into the dark night. London chill was no joke, and I wasn't exactly used to these temperatures.
'Need to talk to Hermione tomorrow to get some Muggle cash. Might as well buy some stuff with the money I'll get from the exchange.' I thought as I pushed my hands in my pockets and pushed through. Thankfully, it was summertime, so it wasn't as cold, and I quickly arrived at the alley that was going downhill towards Knockturn.
I looked around nervously before I took a deep breath to calm my fraying nerves as I walked in. It didn't take long for me to arrive at the seedier part of the alley, but I quickly noticed that most of the hustle and bustle was coming from a brightly lit side alley going upwards to the left.
With a quick turn, I arrived and quickly realized that I might have made a mistake. Everyone around me was wearing a cloak to cover their features. Going in now would mean exposing my face, which looked like a bad idea, as a few people were already turning toward me, noticing my anomaly.
I quickly backed out, forcing myself to remain calm and not break out in a run. I quickly walked out of Knockturn Alley, and only then did I hear the click-clack of heels from behind me.
Suppressing the urge to bolt again, I stopped and turned to see a woman with a familiar curvy figure, dressed in a skin-tight white dress, gloves, and thigh-high boots, staring at me. Her red lips looked striking in the dark night, and they curled into a smirk as she walked closer. Her breasts, tightly confined in her dress, jiggled with her every step.
The only reason I didn't run was the name hovering above her head.
...
[Adorabella Greengrass]
[4]
...
[Affection increased by 5 for being seen in the whore alley by Adorabella.]
'Well... at least the notification setting change was a good idea...'
-x-X-x-
{Knockturn Alley}
"Follow me," Adorabella whispered as she quickly took the lead. I hesitated for a brief moment, the knife hidden in my inventory served as my sense of security before I decided not to be a pussy and quickly followed her.
We walked through the dizzying, crooked alleyways until we finally arrived at a secluded corner. Adorabella finally stopped as her wand appeared in her hand. I took a step back as a grin appeared on her face.
She waved her wand through a series of complicated motions as soft, gentle beams of light erupted from it and collided with the walls surrounding us. I didn't notice any change, but at least I sighed in relief when she tucked her wand back into her robes.
Taking off her cloak, she looked at me with a look that I couldn't quite describe. The intensity of her gaze, the small smile, and the knowing look on her face.
"I never expected us to meet in such circumstances, Mr. Potter. Did you get lost while exploring Diagon Alley?" She asked as she moved closer. My eyes followed the jiggle of her breasts. Compared to the somewhat modest dress she was wearing during the day, the plunging neckline of her dark violet dress left nothing to the imagination.
"Lost..." I mumbled as my eyes feasted upon her exposed cleavage for a moment too long. As they came closer and closer, I finally shook myself awake from a daze and tried to suppress a blush that was creeping on my face. "Yeah, I was just looking...around." My eyes snapped back down to her nipples that were poking through her dress.
"Yes, you were...looking...and lost," she murmured as she stepped closer and closer until she was just a couple of inches away from me. Her hand, which was covered in a black lace glove, tugged at my T-shirt, wiping away nonexistent dirt before she moved and slowly caressed my face.
"Well, there are so many things to explore..." she murmured against my ear as she leaned closer, her chest almost touching my chest, and as I looked down, I could see the deep valley of her breasts. "... and see in the magical world, I could show you around," she continued as her other hand tilted my head upward so I was looking into her eyes.
"Of course, Lady Greengrass," I nodded against her hand as she gave me a lusty grin.
"Good boy~" she whispered as I felt goosebumps rushing through my spine as she moved closer and her full lips sucked my own into her warm mouth. Even though she was shorter than me in height, her high heels allowed her just enough reach to initiate the kiss.
Her lace-covered hand scratched against my cheeks a couple of times before it rummaged through the back of my head as she pulled me in for a deeper snog, her tongue invaded my mouth as it quickly entangled with mine as they started a delicate dance of dominance.
It took me a moment to realize what was going on and react. My hands, which were frozen by my side, finally moved onto her supple waist. It felt incredible to hold onto the thin, tight muscles that held her gigantium boobs upright every day. As our kiss continued, my hands moved.
My right hand moved upward, sliding along her smooth, naked back, as the dress left all of it bare to entice anyone looking. While my left hand slowly inched all over her ass, it was just small movements at first, exploring her body as she seemed content in trying to dominate and suck on my lips.
But slowly I moved both of my hands to cup her ass and squeeze. Lady Greengrass moaned into my mouth as the long kiss was finally broken. She let out a throaty moan as she leaned back, her back arched as she pressed her swollen ass against my palms.
Her eyes met mine, now filled with lust as she looked down. Her other hand moved, and quite quickly I felt her hand groping my hardening cock against my jeans. After a quick feel, she looked up, then slowly dropped down, her hands quickly undoing the buttons and belt on my jeans. A moment later, they pooled at my calves.
A quick tug took care of my boxers as my cock sprang upwards. I twitched in protest as the cool breeze of the London night brushed against my ass and balls before her gloved hands grabbed onto the swinging shaft and brought it under control.
"Mhmm~ With a wand this fine, I sure have a lot of magic to teach you, Harry," Adorabella whispered into my cock, her warm breath teasing me, causing me to twitch and move my hips, fucking her hand.
"My, my, someone's eager for a lesson." She gave me a slutry look as her hand started to move. She brought her other hand to cup my balls and started a slow massage, matching the rhythm of her handjob. I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the sensation, but her hands paused immediately as she gave my cock a tight squeeze in warning.
"No, no, Mr. Potter, how are you going to learn like this? I need your eyes on me the whole time." She demanded, and only when I looked down at her did she smile and start moving her hands again.
"Good boy~" she almost sang that into my cock as she gave the tip a wet smooch.
As her hands started to move faster, I could quickly feel my orgasm building. Feeling my constant twitching, Adorabella moved her hands faster as she gave my balls almost painful squeezes every couple of seconds. That didn't seem to turn me off, however, as the buildup was helped along with every squeeze of her lace-covered hand.
"Fuck," I murmured as I felt it, traveling along my urethra as I leaned forward. Anticipating my reaction, Adorabella removed her hand as she moved, her lips stretched wide as she engulfed my dick in her warm, wet mouth.
I erupted. Rope after rope of cum filled her mouth as she kept her eyes locked with mine the whole time. It must have lasted just a few seconds, but it felt a lot longer as I stared into her green eyes, down her cleavage, and at her nipples poking through her dress.
She moved her hand back onto my cock and gave it a few more tugs, squeezing the last few drops, which she sucked right off my cock. With that, she opened her mouth, showing off the load and then gulped it down.
"Now wasn't that magical?" She asked with a lusty grin as she stood up, her hands once again circling around my neck and my going back to her ass as she whispered in my ear, "Now lift me up and fuck me like a good little boy~"
Now, in my past life, I have never had a partner who has ever taken the lead like her. Looking into her eyes, I grabbed onto her dress and lifted it up. I went to push aside her panties to find no band going around her waist.
'Now that's a real slut,'
I grabbed onto her asscheeks, taking one in each of my hands as I lifted her up. Her legs helped as well, as she circled them around my waist as I lined my rock-hard cock against her entrance.
"Fuck me," she commanded, and I obliged. I pulled her down as I pushed my hips forward. A loud clap echoed around the alley as my pelvis collided against her ass, and in one swift motion I thrust myself deep inside of her.
"Fuck yesss~" She moaned into my ears as her hands grabbed onto my back. Still taking hold of her ass, I pulled her upwards, dragging my cock out of her slowly before I let her drop and pushed my hips forward once again.
"Uhhh Yess~ Just like that~ Fuck me~ fuck my brains out~" She moaned, utterly lost in her own pleasure as I continued in a slowly increasing rhythm, each push of my hips was followed by the slap of our bodies colliding together and her moaning like a nympho.
'Maybe she was a nympho,' I thought, but I slowly lost myself in pleasure as well as my speed started to increase. My arms burned from the exertion, and for a moment I was worried that it wouldn't be enough.
I could feel my orgasm building once again. Adorabella's colorful commentary didn't exactly help in that regard, but thankfully I felt her pussy tighten as a flood of warmth enveloped me as she started to squirt against my thrusts. I could have stopped, but by now I was running on willpower, and my own orgasm forced me to discard the protest of my muscles aside.
"Uhh~ UHh~ Ughh~ Umhhm~ Uhh~ Uhh~ Umhh~" I fucked her through her orgasm before I once again pushed myself deep into her pussy and erupted, which caused another flood of pussy juices to collide against my pelvis as she squirted once again.
...
{Side alley, Knockturn Alley}
"Hah....Hahhh....Hahhh." I took deep breaths, a mix of excitement and exertion, as I felt Adorabella move. Her legs left my waist as she stood up, unsteadily on her own feet. A bunch of notifications were blinking in my vision, but I pushed them aside for now.
I moved my hands from her ass to her waist as she slowly let go. My cock emerged from her warm depths inch by inch, and as it left, a flood of cum trailed down her thigh.
She casually leaned down, used her fingers to catch some, and put the finger back in her mouth with a lewd expression. I didn't say anything, or rather, I couldn't say anything, as I just stared at her.
"Hmm, eat more fruit," she said, and then waved her wand. The leftover trail of cum and other bodily fluids vanished from her legs and dress as she pulled the hem of her strappy dress down.
"Keep in touch, Harry." She winked, walked out, took a turn, and vanished from my vision.
...
[Adorabella Greengrass]
[3]
...
I stared at her for a few more moments, my eyes fixed on the number 3 now hovering beneath her name, before I quickly grabbed my boxers and jeans and hurried out of the alley too, leaving behind a puddle of squirt mixed with other bodily fluids.
'Okay... that just happened,' I thought as I looked back at the scene one last time before trying to follow the same route we had taken and ending up lost for a good few moments. Somehow, though, I ended up in front of Ollivanders through a side alley that I had not noticed during the day.
With a sigh of relief, I quickly made my way back to the Leaky Cauldron and focused on the notifications I had pushed aside, which painted a rather explicit picture of what had just happened.
...
[Affection increased by 1 for following Adorabella without much complaint]
[Affection increased by 5 for ogling Adorabella's ass]
[Affection increased by 5 for ogling Adorabella's breasts]
[Affection increased by 10 for following in Adorabella's roleplay lead]
[Affection increased by 10 for groping Adorabella's ass]
[4(*10) LP gained for groping Adorabella's ass(First time bonus)]
[Affection increased by 5 for kissing Adorabella]
[4(*10) LP gained for kissing Adorabella(First time bonus)]
[8(*10) LP gained for getting a handjob from Adorabella(First time bonus)]
[Affection increased by 2 for following Adorabella's orders]
[12(*10) LP gained for cumming in Adorabella's mouth(First time bonus)]
[Affection increased by 10 for filling her mouth with cum]
[12(*10) LP gained for getting a blowjob from Adorabella(First time bonus)]
[Affection increased by 5 for getting hard instantly after the first load]
[Affection increased by 5 for stuffing her pussy with your whole dick in one motion]
[Affection decreased by 10 for not touching her cervix]
[40(*10) LP gained for having sex with Adorabella(First time bonus)]
[Affection increased by 5 for hitting her G-spot]
[Affection increased by 5 for hitting her G-spot]
[Affection increased by 5 for hitting her G-spot]
[Affection increased by 5 for hitting her G-spot]
[Affection increased by 5 for hitting her G-spot]
[Affection increased by 10 for making her squirt]
[Affection milestone reached: Affection max]
[Inhibition threshold reached: Inhibition level decreased]
[Corruption Level increased]
[Trait gained: [Charms Initiate(Blue)]]
[Affection increased by 50 for fucking her through her orgasm]
[80(*10) LP gained for creampieing Adorabella (First time bonus)]
[Affection increased by 10 for making her squirt]
[Affection increased by 50 for creampieing Adorabella.]
...
I read the full list, a brief summary of the scene that was played out in some random alley. I could feel a twitch as I felt my cock start to harden through the pain. I had somehow managed to go through 3 almost consecutive orgasms, which made it feel a little raw.
'But fuck me, was it worth it,' I thought. Even if I push the pleasure aside, the LP I gained in this scenario was substantial, especially with all these first-time bonuses.
'Also, all of the LP that I gained was in multiples of 4, her inhibition level. Which means the next time, if we do the same thing, I'll get 25% less LP, and without the first-time bonus it would be even less.' I concluded as I sneaked back into the Leaky Cauldron, gave Tom the barmen a tired nod, and swiftly trotted up the stairs.
Collapsing into bed, I brought up my status screen again and noticed the change in my LP stat.
...
[Status]
[Name: Harry Potter]
[Level: 1 {0/100}]
[Traits: Boy-Who-Lived, Hidden Horcrux, Parseltongue*, Dark Arts Prodigy*, Transfiguration Inclination]
[MP: 180/180]
[SP: 20/20]
[LP: 1618]
[Stats]
[STR: 2]
[AGI: 3]
[DEX: 5]
[END: 2]
[INT: 4]
[REF: 7]
...
'That's good, but how do I use it?' I thought. I hadn't really focused on it before because I had so little of it, and the day had gone by pretty fast, but now I think that I have a decent amount. I should see what use this power even has.
As I focused on the stat, a new window appeared in front of me.
...
[Available LP: 1618]
[Lifetime LP gained: 1618]
[LEWD Shop level 1]
...
I focused on the Lewd Shop option as another window, this time, it appeared in pink in front of me.
...
[LEWD shop]
[Sexual Aura - Sexual Aura increases how desirable you are found by other women and gives a percentage boost to Affection gain. Unlock Level 1: 10% boost - 100 LP]
[Pleasure Meter- See how far your target is from her orgasm. Unlock- 100 LP.]
[Dick Length- Increase your Dick length by 0.25 Inch. Current Size - 6.15 In. Upgrade Level 1 - 100 LP]
[Dick Girth- Increase your Dick girth by 0.1 inch. Current Size - 4.4 In. Upgrade Level 1 - 100 LP]
[MILF Hunter - Gain a 2.5x multiplier to gain LP during sexual encounters with a MILF. Unlock - 500 LP]
[Sexual Endurance- Increase the amount of time under maximum stimulation you can last before you reach your orgasm by 1 min. Current time- 1.5 min. Unlock Level 1 - 500 LP]
[Pleasure Lock- Stop your target from achieving an Orgasm no matter how much stimulation they get. Unlock Level 1 - 5000 LP]
[LP Induction- Convert all available LP into EXP points that are stored in an experience pool that can be used to increase the skill levels of your spells or character Level. Unlock - 10000 LP]
[???]
[???]
...
{Harry's temporary room, Leaky Cauldron}
I leaned into the bed, my eyes still locked onto the expansive list in front of me.
'Alright, I have 1600 to spend, I don't know if I would be able to get a lot more LP this summer. I could go looking for more whore in the red light district, but judging by how these fame traits work, I don't think I need any negative traits to be attached to my name this soon.' I thought, scanning the list again.
'To be honest, I want the Lust Induction perk as it is clearly designed to be my trump card. But it costs 10000 fucking LP.'
Going through the list again, I first of all needed the Sexual Aura perk. Any bonus to affection gain was important, as affection was the stat that would allow me to break through and increase corruption level to get those traits.
I hesitated for a brief moment before I clicked buy and waited. I looked at my hands but felt no change whatsoever. Standing up, I walked over to the mirror and looked at my frazzled appearance.
"You should get some new clothes." A wheezy voice came from the mirror, making me jump back and nearly lose my glasses, so I grabbed them to keep them in place.
'Fucking hell,' I cursed as I looked back at the mirror one last time, it didn't comment on anything this time. As I got a good look at myself, I didn't exactly look like Daniel, which makes sense because Hermione didn't look like Emma. My scruffy hair was all over the place, and I looked exhausted, but the bright green eyes clearly suited my squarish face.'
Not finding any obvious change from the morning, I went back to bed and focused on the updated description of the shop's first item listing.
...
[Sexual Aura - Sexual Aura increases how desirable you are found by other women and gives a percentage boost to Affection gain. Unlock Level 2: 25% boost - Shop Level 2 required]
...
'And it's locked behind a condition which I don't know how to achieve,' I complained, but moved on for now. With that option gone, my gaze was locked onto the two options that increased the size of my cock.
'I remember that Adorabella felt a little dissatisfaction when I was in her, at not touching her cervix.' I thought back and went through the notification logs once again to confirm, and indeed I had lost 10 affection to that.
I clicked the upgrade since it was pretty cheap, and soon felt warmth flood through my nether region. It lasted only a short while, and then it was over. I unbuttoned my jeans for a quick check and couldn't confirm any change. Going back to the LEWD shop, I was going to choose the girth option, but I paused when I noticed the next length upgrade still cost 100 LP.
...
[Dick Length- Increase your Dick length by 0.25 Inch. Current Size - 6.40 In. Upgrade Level 2 - 100 LP]
...
I clicked on the option again and focused my gaze on my soft cock, and as the warmth flooded through it once again, I clearly saw it swell just a little bit.
'Or am I going crazy?' I thought before clicking the button two more times, spending a total of 400 LP until I reached the upgrade limit again.
...
[Dick Length- Increase your Dick length by 0.25 Inch. Current Size - 7.15 In. Upgrade Level 5 - Shop Level 2 required]
...
I looked at that with satisfaction before I looked at the remaining 1118 points. Now I was stuck in a dilemma, as I had been thinking about my dick and had gotten overfixated on length. I could go with a girth upgrade, followed by the two 500LP options I had available.
...Or I could gain pleasure meter, which would help tremendously during a sexual setting, and forgo the girth upgrade for now.
I didn't think for too long, as I could feel my eyes starting to droop. The exhaustion of the day, followed by an exhausting bout of standing sex, had taken a toll on my stamina. Clearly, I needed to hit the gym if I wanted to keep this lifestyle up. Being a little selfish, I focused on myself and locked in the girth upgrade once, followed by the sexual endurance.
'Let's leave the remaining 518 LP in reserve. I can decide based on my next sexual encounter. If I can catch Adorabella again tomorrow, then I'll lock in the MILF hunter, otherwise, I'll just focus on the pleasure meter.'
With the decision made, I stopped fighting myself as I pulled over the covers and drifted off to sleep among daydreams of Susan's busty body bouncing on top of me.
...
...
'Fuck, who turned the lights on?' I thought as I stirred, leaving the cobwebs of my dreams behind. I woke up again in an unfamiliar place. It took a moment for the memories to come flooding back, and my hand brushed against the scar on my forehead.
"Right, good morning to you too, Harry Potter," I grumbled as I slowly sat up. I walked over to the bathroom and stood in front of the washbasin. I looked down at the faucets, my eyes searching for a toothbrush that wasn't there.
'Right, now what do wizards do for morning breath, a charm or something?' I thought, forcing myself not to curse at myself again. I gargled a couple of times for good measure, then walked back. I had slept in my jeans and T-shirt, since it was the only clothing I had. Before anything else, I needed to deal with my homeless look.
I looked outside my window, and the sun had already risen way up into the sky. Many wizards were milling about as Diagon Alley was in full swing. I looked into the mirror to adjust my hair to hide my scar and suppressed a flinch when it commented again, "Dear me, you really ought to buy some new clothes, scruffy."
"Yes, thanks for the quality advice," I muttered as I pulled my trunk out of my inventory again and searched for the box of supplies from the wizard stationery shop. I stared at the quill and inkpot for a moment and resisted the urge to sigh again.
...
'This is going to be a drag.'
-x-X-x-
{Harry's temporary room, Leaky Cauldron}
"There you go, Hedwig. Give it to the pretty brunette, okay." I stroked the regal-looking owl's feathers as I gave her the letter to bite. Hedwig turned around, her beady eyes staring at me.
'Why is she judging me?' I thought as she took off. I watched her go. I could have chosen a different name for her, but if there was someone who had always been with Harry till the end in the books, it was Hedwig.
As she disappeared into the clouds, I closed the window and walked back toward my bed. With that out of the way, I had finished my first errand of the day. I went to gringotts exchanged 10 galleons for 100 pounds, and walked back through the pub into Charing Cross Road.
It was a quick trip. I got a pen I desperately needed to write the letter, a notebook, a set of spare clothes, and grabbed necessities like a toothbrush and tissue paper. The rest of the shopping could wait for a later day, when I get some more muggle currency from Hermione later today.
With the free time that I now have, I looked into my trunk and picked up the first book that I saw. It was one of the standard books mentioned in canon: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, by Miranda Goshawk. The book had a dark cover with golden etching on the side, and the book title and author printed on the front.
I opened the book and began to read:
'''Cast magic is not solely a matter of pointing a wand and speaking a word.
The incantation and wand movement are only the visible portion of a spell.
Beneath every successful spell lies an interaction between the caster's intent, their magical power, a proper set of wand movements, pronunciation, visualization of the spell's effects, and finally the caster's control over the spell or mana.
A novice who memorizes a hundred incantations without understanding these principles will remain inferior to a competent witch or wizard who understands and has mastered ten spells.
The spells contained within this set of texts have been arranged according to their underlying principles rather than their apparent usefulness. The student who follows the progression faithfully should find that later spells become considerably easier once the foundations have been mastered.
A spell cast with excessive power is not necessarily a stronger spell.
It is often simply less controlled.
— Miranda Goshawk'''
I took a deep breath as I read through the opening excerpt of the book. In a few paragraphs, the author had broken down the core principles of how a spell is cast. Eager to learn my first spell, I moved on to the next page.
It had a long table of contents list, which I promptly ignored for now and moved on to the first spell.
'''The Wand Lightning Charm:
Incantation: Lumos
Classification: Charm
Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
Range: Depends on Mana
Duration: Needs a constant supply of mana
Prerequisites: None
The wand lightning charm creates a small sphere of magical light at the tip of the wand. The light produces negligible heat but can light up a reasonably large area.
Wand Movement: Raise the wand smoothly before finishing with a small upward flick.
Casting Method: The student should imagine a sharp light erupting from their wand. It is also helpful if you close your eyes to visualize being surrounded by darkness or trying to use the spell in a dark environment.
*Warning: Do not try to visualize a candle, as this can lead to producing a fire.
Common Failures and their reasons:
Dim glow: Insufficient intent on producing a light
Flickering: Poor concentration
No light: Incorrect wand movement.
Burst of light: Excessive magical output
A student is considered proficient in the spell when they can: Cast Lumos reliably, maintain it for at least a full minute, and adjust the brightness of the spell on command.'''
I read through the whole explanation of the spell two times before I grabbed my wand from my inventory. The sudden sensation of warmth flooded me again, and I closed my eyes. Before trying out the spell, I simply focused on trying to sense how the mana inside my body moved.
It was flowing along my veins with every beat of my heart, the source of my core. It also made sense why a Dragon's heartstring was a powerful conduit for making wands, but I pushed those wandering thoughts aside for now.
With my eyes closed, I took a deep breath to calm down my emotions and nervously twirled the wand in my hand. When I was ready, I first imagined what I wanted to happen: a bright light bursting from the tip of my wand, illuminating the room.
I flexed my wrist upward as I focused and immediately felt my mana rush from my fingers and channel into my wand.
"Lumos~" I almost shouted, and even with my eyes closed, I felt the change as the black darkness was replaced by the light brown/red of the blood under my eyelids. I opened my eyes, excited, and looked at the bright light that quickly flickered away as my concentration on keeping the spell active slipped.
'You're a wizard, Harry, ' I thought as the classic line from canon appeared in my mind. With excitement flooding me, I looked at the blue screen that had appeared in front of me.
...
[Spell Learned: The Wand Lightning Charm Lv 0(1/50)]
...
I focused on the spell name, and the window quickly expanded.
...
[The Wand Lightning Charm Lv 0(1/50)]
[Incantation: Lumos]
[Spell Cost: 1 MP/s]
[Spell success rate: 20%]
[Wand movements: Flick upward and point]
[One of the most basic charms and the modern version of the illumination charm that can be used to look at your surroundings when stranded in complete darkness]
...
The grin on my face slowly lessened as I looked at the additional stat listed in the spell: Spell success rate: 20%.
'Don't tell me this is a probabilistic game. I don't believe that a duel could be determined based on Luck.' I thought as I flicked my wand upwards once again and focused.
"Lumos~" I chanted once again, and another bright light appeared at the tip of my wand. This time, I focused on it, letting it glow for a while before I flicked my wand downward and said, "Nox~."
The light vanished, and I ignored the new window that appeared in front of my wand. I looked at my wand with a frown and cast the charm again, "Lumos~." A bright light appeared, and when I stopped my mana from flowing into the wand, it disappeared once again, without the need for the Wand-Dousing Charm that I had just learned.
As I got my mana ready to cast the charm once again, I paused as the tip once again glowed with a bright light without my need to chant or do the wand movement.
'Huh... I guess there is a reason Hogwarts exists,' I thought as I threw my ass into experimenting with the first two charms I had learned for a little while.
-x-X-x-
{Harry's temporary room, Leaky Cauldron}
"Nox~" I said with a downward wand movement, extinguishing the bright light glowing at my wand's tip. I had gained a lot of understanding about how magic works and why the whole canon revolved around wands.
'Strictly speaking, I'm nothing but the mana battery in the simplest terms,' I concluded. Whenever I focused on a spell and did the correct wand movements and enchantments, the wand took the mana I pushed through it to cast the spell, and it was like a black box that converted that mana into a spell.
So my wand movements, intent, and chant are simply instructions fed into a black box, and in exchange I get a spell. The only reason that the Nox spell exists and people don't just simply stop feeding the wand mana to stop the spell is that the previous instructions are saved in the wand, and the Nox spell is needed to reset the charm.
'Without the Nox spell, as long as I feed mana into the wand, it will forever generate a white light. But I could theoretically cast a different set of wand movements and enchantments to feed my wand a different set of instructions, and that was another way to cancel the spell.' I concluded.
As for the 20% chance of success, it was the chance the spell would work if I wasn't concentrating my intent and was just doing the wand movement and the chant. In case even one of those three instructions were missing, the chance for the spell to fail or even go wrong increases.
'So if I focus my intent along with the wand movement and say the spell incantation, the spell works almost every time. If I focus my intent and wand movement without saying the spell, it works only 20% of the time. If I only focus my intent to cast a Lumos but do not do any wand movement or say an incantation, then the spell hasn't worked once in the 10 or so tries.' I thought as I summarized my experiences, I had half a mind to write this down before I gave up on that.
'I was never really the note-taking kind of guy. Still, with my mana almost down to single digits, let's wait for it to recover. Then I'll try and learn the Levitation charm.' With my plan set, I shifted my attention to the new and improved Lumos spell that had leveled up during the experimentation session.
'What is annoying is that the failed casts still cost MP, but at least that tells me it should be possible to cast a charm with just intent. The odds of success, though, should be very low.'
...
[The Wand Lightning Charm Lv 1 (87/100)]
[Incantation: Lumos]
[Spell Cost: 0.5 MP/s]
[Spell success rate: 30%]
[Wand movements: Flick upward and point]
[One of the most basic charms and the modern version of the illumination charm that can be used to look at your surroundings when stranded in complete darkness]
...
...
[The Wand Dousing Charm Lv 1 (83/100)]
[Incantation: Nox]
[Spell Cost: 0.5 per cast]
[Spell success rate: 30%]
[Wand movements: Flick downward and point]
[One of the most basic charms and the counter charm to the modern version of the illumination charm that can be used to stop the Wand Lightning Charm]
...
It also made sense why only a few people were able to do wandless magic, and even if they did, why only with a few spells and not all the spells that they knew. Even if you managed to figure out how your wand translates your mana into a spell, learning that knowledge for every spell just doesn't seem possible.
'In the movies, Voldemort was able to make Harry bow with a hand gesture, but that could be attributed to theatrics. I have read the books, but I don't exactly remember if anyone overtly even performed wandless magic or not.' I thought as I looked at my status once again, confirming that my MP regeneration is very slow, around 2 per minute, so it would take me around one and a half hours to go back to full mana.
While I was debating what to do, I heard several hard knocks against my window. I looked up into Hedwig's beady eyes as she stared at me to hurry up. I quickly walked over and pulled up the window as she held out her beak, showing me a letter clasped in her mouth.
I took it hurriedly as I brought some of her snacks out of my inventory and placed them on the windowsill. Ignoring the bird, I looked at the neat handwriting on the front. As expected, it was written with a pen instead of ink. I tore open the envelope and quickly read through her response.
'''Hello Harry, Good morning.
I don't know if the letter can reach you, as you didn't give me a return address, but I'm currently in Diagon Alley because I brought my parents in to show them the magical world. We can meet at the ice cream shop at Noon if you have time. My father wants to talk to you about the money.
See you there,
Hermione'''
I looked at the old clock, which showed it was almost half past 11. Grabbing the change of clothes that I had bought, I quickly hopped into the shower.
...
...
Changing into clothes that fit my body, I looked down at my somewhat frail arms in wonder. How on Earth I managed to hold Adorabella up last night was a question I couldn't answer. Looking at the mirror, I waited for it to comment.
"You need to handle the mess on your head, scruffy."
'Yeah, I don't think that's happening,' I thought as I clawed through the front of my hair, not really intending to tame that mess, as I had already tried it in the morning and swiftly walked out of my room after closing the door.
...
I walked through the lively alley and noticed a fresh batch of students running around, rummaging for supplies, while I kept my eyes out for any familiar names as I arrived at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
I spotted Hermione with Mrs. Granger, animatedly talking about something. A middle-aged man with rectangular glasses sat with them, engrossed in reading through a magical book. He had that nerdy look about him.
"Hey Hermione," I greeted, and the brunette turned toward me with a wide smile, waving me to sit down excitedly. I checked her out briefly. She was wearing a dress like Susan's yesterday. Clearly, she paid more attention to detail than her canon counterpart and had learned to blend in. My eyes drifted briefly to her cleavage, but I didn't check her out for long and focused on what she was saying.
"Guess what I found, look." She pointed excitedly at the open book in front of her, to a page that mentioned my name.
'''Numer 21: Harry James Potter(1980- Present)'''
-x-X-x-
{Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, Diagon Alley}
"You are mentioned in the latest volume of the Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century." She elaborated as I read a few lines.
'''Harry James Potter, born to James Fleamont Potter and Lily Potter (née Evans), on 31st July 1980, was the sole survivor of the attack on their house in Godric's Hollow on 31st October 1981...'''
I gave the rest of the chapter a brief look, noticing that the book described the attack in little detail and then mainly focused on the fallout from Voldemort's downfall. In the movies and the books, October 31st is never really a good day for Harry, so I need to be very careful around Halloween, too.
"Where did you find this?" I asked, turning to look at the book's title. "Don't tell me you already bought the whole shop?" I teased as her face flushed slightly.
Mrs. Granger gave her daughter an amused look as she added, "Of course she used all of the remaining gallons that you have left her as emergency money on the books. And someone decided to indulge her without thinking about it." She turned a quick glare to Mr. Granger, who was oblivious to the world, completely engrossed in the book.
I checked her out briefly since she wasn't paying attention to me, and even Hermione wasn't looking my way. Compared to her more formal attire last night, she wore a floral sundress that made her feel lighter, more alive. Her face wasn't covered in obvious makeup, which gave her a gentle, kind aura.
I saw him flinch. I'm pretty sure Mrs. Granger just kicked him in the legs, because he looked up from the book and finally noticed me.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Granger." I smiled politely as I greeted the man. He wore a plain shirt and a loose blazer, with rectangular glasses framing his face. He stood out quickly among the more flowing dresses of wizards and witches alike.
"Oh no, the pleasure is all ours, Harry. Just call me Daniel or Dan, whichever you prefer." Daniel quickly extended a hand, which I quickly shook.
Gone was his earlier geeky look as he evaluated me for a moment before speaking, "Hermione told us about the real conditions that the bank pushed forward." He looked toward Gringotts, while I looked at Hermione, who blushed and looked away. It seemed she had come clean once the agreement was already signed.
"And Emma and I are very grateful for your prompt help. I know Hermione is legally an adult now and can make her own decisions regarding her life, but as her parents, we are still happy that she didn't sign a contract like that." Daniel continued, ignoring Hermione's look of guilt and shame.
"Not at all, Daniel," I replied, nodding at him. "I didn't exactly like that provision at all. I don't even know why it hasn't been voted against, but as we all know, politics can be complicated. Plus, it's not like you guys won't help me out. I don't know how much Hermione has told you about my situation, but I could probably use the money as well, so it's not a big deal."
"Yes, Hermione mentioned your 'Situation'..." Mrs. Granger replied to me and then hesitated before she offered, "If you have evidence, there is precedent where we can report your relatives for child abuse."
I paused, the image of Vernon emerged in my mind, him huffing and puffing with his face going purple in anger. The idea of sicking the muggle police on his ass was quite entertaining for a moment, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of any court proceedings.
"Thank you for the offer, Mrs. Granger," I replied, and she quickly cut me off. "Please call me Emma, dear."
"Well, thank you, Emma, but I would rather look for a brighter future. I was already looking for a job so I could move out of that house. Now I can just focus on my studies instead of slaving away at a grocery shop or something like that." I shrugged as the tense atmosphere that had settled on the table was lifted.
Daniel nodded as he replied, "A fine choice. Do you have a bank account that I can transfer the money to?" He asked, and I froze for a moment. He seemed to catch my indecision as he continued, "No worries, we can either get one made for you or get cash if you prefer."
Although I wouldn't mind cash, as I could keep it safe in the inventory, I'm sure Daniel, being a doctor, would have some connections that would make it easier for me to get an ID and even a passport, and although it would be pretty easy to just live in the magical world, having those documents would allow me to move through the Muggle systems if need be.
"I don't know if I would be able to get a bank account, I never had an ID or anything like that." I hesitated, and Daniel nodded in understanding. Emma and Hermione remained silent, simply observing, though their expressions ranged from anger to pity.
"Don't worry about that, I can get everything done. Just tell me where your family lives, and I can get everything settled for you by next week. Until then," He pulled out a wad of cash from her blazer pocket.
"Here is a thousand pounds. It should last you until I get everything in order." He gave me an encouraging smile as he slid the money towards me. I hesitated for a moment before I reached for it. "Number 4 Privet Drive. I used to live at Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."
Daniel gave me a nod as Emma distracted me from the stale topic by asking, "So did you try any spells, Harry? Hermione showed us a spell that could light up her wand, but a letter quickly arrived telling us that underage wizards and witches aren't allowed to use spells outside Hogwarts. And that there is a trace on your wand that could detect the use of spells, and repeated offenses could lead to expulsion from Hogwarts."
I saw Hermione shudder in horror at that, and I hid my smile at her reaction. I did a theatrical frown as I replied, "I tried the Wand Lightning Charm multiple times this morning but didn't receive a letter to that effect."
My words caused Hermione to whip her head around to stare at me with wide eyes as she asked, "Really? But then why did I get a letter?"
I pushed my hand down the table, pulled my wand from my inventory, and quickly cast the charm.
"Lumos~"
As my wand lit up, the three stared at the display of magic for a few seconds before looking around as if waiting for an owl to come and declare my expulsion from Hogwarts. Their reactions gave me an idea. An idea to get close to Hermione over the summer.
'Let's see if it works.'
-x-X-x-
{Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, Diagon Alley}
As everyone looked around and waited, I leaned casually towards Hermione. My eyes dipped, checking out her exposed cleavage for a quick second before I whispered, "What are you all looking for?"
Her eyes snapped to me as she looked confused and replied, "The owl carrying the letter usually arrives within a few minutes. You shouldn't have done that, Harry. Didn't you get the letter when you used the spell in the morning?"
'Shouldn't the letters take longer than a few minutes?'
"No, I did not," I replied, puzzled. As time passed and no owl arrived, Emma started the discussion on why that was possible.
"Maybe your letters are going to your family's house?" She guessed, which seemed like a reasonable conclusion, given that they had no idea how the trace works.
"I don't think so, given that our Hogwarts letter arrived at my and your homes, which shouldn't be registered anywhere in the magical system. The whole system clearly seems automatic." I replied as everyone at the table mulled over my words and then nodded.
"Plus, Prof. McGonagall just processed your application yesterday. The Ministry has no reason to know where you live if you refused to go to Hogwarts, so an address shouldn't be a thing. Unless..." I mused out loud.
"Unless what?" Emma asked curiously.
"...Well, unless magic, of course. We don't exactly have an idea of what it is capable of now, do we?" I replied, and Daniel nodded wholeheartedly as he followed along. "Well, this means we know where we are going next... to the bookstore, of course." He grinned at my questioning look.
'I would never do this well in a family that is so focused on academics, though I can kind of understand why Hermione in canon treated books as gospel.'
"Let's go." Daniel stood up excitedly, but Emma pulled him back into his seat with a sharp tug. "Let the children eat something before we go anywhere. Have you had breakfast, dear?" She directed the question at me, to which I nodded. I had eaten a quick bowl of tomato soup with peas, a house special for 5 sickles.
"Well, let's get some sugar in you before these two get themselves lost in the books again," she said as Hermione quickly scarfed down her dessert and shared a quick glance with Daniel while I ordered the same ice cream I'd had yesterday. It wasn't the best, but it was different enough that the novelty hadn't worn off yet.
"Why don't Dad and I go search for the book regarding the trace while you two eat?" Hermione asked, and Daniel, having reached a tactical decision with her, nodded. "Great idea, dear. We'll meet back at the bookstop."
And just like that, two whirlwinds of energy were gone, leaving me behind alone with Emma. She wore a strained smile as she tried to suppress a sigh. We shared a look before I chuckled, "That looks like it happens to you a lot."
"You have no idea." She shook her head and looked down at her own ice cream for a moment before picking up a scoop and focusing on eating.
"Yeah, I had a feeling that they were way too smooth with those looks and the quick getaway, with this being their first time." I suppressed a scoff as I joked with her.
"Well, I don't mind the company." I smiled at her as I looked into the distance. "It's been a funny couple of days. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it." I replied, honesty bleeding into my tone as everything was indeed happening too quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I'm sorry you had such a rough childhood." Emma replied as she put her scoop down and looked at me with concerned eyes. It seems like she had misunderstood me, reading too much into my vulnerability.
"Thank you," I replied softly as I avoided looking into her eyes; otherwise, she might see through my fake emotions. Instead, I sneaked another bite as I looked around. "It feels surreal, doesn't it... a magical world hidden away, like Alice in Wonderland."
"Well, from what I have seen, it's real enough, Harry." She smiled kindly at me. "Otherwise, I have had a very real daydream of a spoon flying around in my dining room."
I smiled, nodded, and took another bite of ice cream. I looked around and asked, "Do you know of any place to shop around for clothes near the exit of Leaky Cauldron?... I haven't really shopped for my own clothes before." I added after a brief hesitation, then looked away from her as I lied.
"Of course, dear, there is a shopping street not far away." She replied and then, after a moment, offered, "We can go there after these two come back. Based on the clothing style of witches that I can see, most of them prefer to wear dresses under those robes. So Hermione might need more variety when she goes to Hogwarts, even if it seems like they show too much skin." She muttered the last part, which caused my eyes to drop briefly down toward her breasts.
Unlike the pert and round breasts of a young woman, her breasts were hanging like teardrops and looked like her sundress had collected them together by the straps. My eyes widened as she leaned forward, her breasts pooling on the table, and as I looked up and noticed that I had been caught looking. I blushed and averted my eyes as Emma laughed.
"It's quite alright, Harry. You are a healthy, growing boy, so I can understand your curiosity." She winked at me, which did nothing to help with the embarrassment, so I took another bite of the cold ice cream, hoping it would douse the flame that had spread to my cheeks.
"I'm quite comfortable in my skin, dear. I'm an old woman, so I can be a little freer in how I dress. I just don't want Hermione to deal with unwanted attention as I did back in the day."
"You're very beautiful," I countered her self-deprecation almost automatically, my eyes locked onto her kind smile and gentle gaze. She had a very unique aura around her, maybe it was the confidence that she was talking about, very much like Adorabella.
'Too bad I can't see a number over her head that would tell me how low her inhibition is,' I thought before pushing it away. It shouldn't be too high, considering she was flirting with me.
"Aww, aren't you a charmer, dear? It seems like I have to warn Hermione to stay away from you. Otherwise, you might steal my babygirl away." She grinned as she teased me, and I focused on finishing the last couple of scoops of ice cream in my mouth.
"Let's get going," I mumbled, pulled out a couple of galleons, and left them on the table. "I don't think they have galleons left to buy any book that they might find."
Emma gave me an amused look, nodded as she stood up gracefully. The strap of her purse hugging close to her stomach emphasized her ridiculous curves, and I had to forcefully turn away so I wouldn't stare.
I heard her giggle at my antics as we stood up, and I shuffled to hide my discomfort, which she clearly noticed. "A growing boy indeed," she teased as I sped up, escaping her words and heading toward the bookstore.
As I reached for the door, a distracted Hermione walked out and collided head-on with me.
"Ahh~" she shrieked in surprise, and my reflexes saved her as I quickly grabbed her waist to make sure she didn't fall. It was a scene straight out of a movie script as she stared at me and I stared at her flushed face.
And then my worn-out glasses slipped from my face and smacked into her nose.
'That's one way to ruin a moment...'
-x-X-x-
{Outside Flourish and Blotts, Diagon Alley}
I heard Emma giggle behind me. My glasses had clearly slid down my nose and fallen off. I hurriedly pulled her up, using the hand on her waist to guide her to her feet, then leaned down to search for my glasses.
I hadn't noticed it before, but my eyesight was a blurry mess. I couldn't see where the glasses had fallen. As I tried to feel around for them, I heard someone pat my back as Emma said, "Let me."
I stood up and waited. A moment later, the white blob moved in my vision before she reached out and placed the glasses on my face.
"It looks like we should include a new pair of glasses on that shopping trip, dear." She smiled as I stared at her once again, and she just smiled at my reaction. Then she turned to Hermione. "And where were you going in such a hurry, young lady?"
Hermione looked at her mother with an aggrieved expression as she explained, "We found the book..." and then she mumbled something.
"And then both of you geniuses realized that you don't have any money," she finished with a raised eyebrow, and Hermione nodded. Sighing, she shook her head as I tried to move the conversation along. "So where is Daniel?"
"At the counter," Hermione replied, her excitement returning as she rolled her eyes, and we both followed the bouncing brunette into the shop.
"I guess this is her favorite shop," I commented as Emma scoffed with an amused smile. We shared a glance as we arrived before an anxious-looking Daniel.
"How much is it?" I asked Hermione, who replied, "3 Galleons and 7 Sickles."
I reached into my jeans pocket, used my inventory to pull out 4 galleons, and placed them on the counter. The boy in charge of the counter looked away from Emma's breasts and hastily processed the order.
I sneaked a glance at Daniel, who hadn't noticed the boy's gaze stuck to his wife's chest at all, as he read through the book. I turned to Emma, who noticed everything and simply rolled her eyes, no annoyance showing on her face.
'Clearly she had gotten used to her husband's attention being focused more on books than on her.'
I collected the remaining sickles that the attendant gave us and nudged Hermione and Daniel away from the counter. "Back to the ice cream shop?" I asked and got two nods in return, but Emma had other plans.
"No, let's go to the mall that's close by, you two can read your book in the back seat." She replied to my question and got another two nods in return. With a defeated sigh, she grabbed Hermione and Daniel's hands and herded them toward the Leaky Cauldron.
'I can understand the light flirting now. She's too used to being a mother to them,' I thought as I followed them, my eyes dipping down between Hermione and Emma's ass before I looked away, as I knew the consequence of staring too much.
'I need to buy something a bit more comfortable than jeans.' I thought. A downside of my enhancements last night was that it felt even more uncomfortable in jeans with a boner.
As we arrived at an old black car, I stared at it. I remembered the brand Ford, but the design felt so unfamiliar. Hermione and Daniel quickly piled into the back seats as I walked over to the passenger side and slipped in.
Emma started the car and started driving when Daniel finally spoke, "Ah, here it is. The trace was established to make it easy to detect when a spell is cast in front of a Muggle to deal with the problems that could ensue. In conjunction with the secret Magic detection wards deployed by the Department of Mysteries to track down all magic that is being cast in the Muggle areas of Britain."
"Combined with the trace that is able to detect whenever a spell is cast around the wand of an underage wizard, this arrangement has resulted in fewer than 100 breaches of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy since 1692." He finished reading the important points, and without my input, all three of them quickly reached the same conclusion.
"Where did you cast your spells, Harry?" Emma asked as she focused on driving, though she did give me a side glance when I answered.
"In my room at the Leaky Cauldron," I replied.
"So because you cast the spells in a magical establishment, they can't exactly be sure that it was you who cast the spell or someone else. Since the trace can't exactly track whether the wand user was responsible for the magic." Hermione concluded with an excited expression. I'm sure she was already thinking about sneaking into Leaky Cauldron for some spell practice.
While Emma focused on the other issue, "Did you sleep last night at Leaky Cauldron, Harry?" she asked, and when she saw me nod, she hesitated and asked, "And what about your family?"
"Well... they kind of threw me out," I grinned, trying not to make the situation awkward. I did not succeed.
"T-That's terrible," Hermione exclaimed after a bit, her eyes going a little misty.
"Trust me, I have never felt better," I replied with a bright smile, trying to console her and tell her everything was okay. It didn't really help, but thankfully we had arrived at our destination. I looked at the big building and the bustling crowd of families going into the mall.
'Right, the timeline is a bit messed up, because of the 18 years to start, it was now 1998 and not 1991. But why was I born in 1980? Surely everyone aged before me. Lily and James should have started school at 18, and the gap between generations should have been longer, so why had the timeline shifted by just 7 years?' I thought, but I had no good answer. I just chalked it up to weird logic for now before I could go deep-dive into some history books.
"Hey, look on the bright side, you can simply come to my room and practice spells. No expulsion for you that way," I nudged Hermione, breaking her out of her sad state. She immediately looked pleadingly at Emma and Daniel.
Before Emma could say anything or put forward any conditions, Daniel agreed to Hermione's pleading look. "Sure, dear, wouldn't want you to fall behind in your studies now, do we?" He grinned awkwardly and then wilted under Emma's stare.
"We can talk about it later tonight," she said as she closed the car, then turned toward Hermione and me. "Come on, let's get you all dolled up."
I heard Hermione groan in frustration, which confused me.
'What's wrong?'
-x-X-x-
{East London Shopping, Charring Cross Road}
'Okay, I kind of understand now what she was groaning about,' I thought as Emma dumped a handful of jeans and T-shirts into my hands and told me to go change and try them on. I looked through them briefly. They were from a collection of lighter colors that matched my preference, so I indulged her.
Hermione had a similar stack to mine, consisting only of different kinds of dresses, and Emma pushed her into the changing room beside mine. It didn't take me long to try on all three of the T-shirts with a pair of black jeans and show them to Emma, who nodded approvingly.
During my third trip showing off the black T-shirt, going the Matrix way, Hermione stepped out nervously. She wore a grey high-neck dress that fit her form. I stared at her as she looked at me and Emma nervously, clearly not used to wearing something that left her back and side boobs a little exposed.
Behind her, I could see she had to leave her bra in the fitting room because it didn't go well with the dress.
"How is it?" She asked nervously.
"Looks good on you," I replied, and Emma nodded, but she elaborated on my simple compliment, which made Hermione blush a little deeper.
"Hmm, the back is exposed a bit too much, and even the sides." She stepped up and adjusted the dress a little as she tucked in her breasts slightly. I simply stared and watched their interaction.
"Alright, now try the blue one," Emma said, nudging Hermione back in before turning to me with a raised eyebrow. "Had fun?"
"A little," I grinned, getting used to her teasing as she pointed towards the changing room. Obliging her request, I tried on the three different jeans she had picked: two different shades of blue and one dark black.
By the time I was done, Hermione was still struggling with her second dress. As Emma and I waited for her, I noticed her eyes darting over the dresses on display on mannequins.
"Why don't you go on and try on the black one? It would look pretty on you," I tried to make conversation as Emma focused her attention back on the black dress that had similar characteristics to Hermione's first dress from behind, but it had a deep, plunging neckline from the front.
"I thought you had enough eye candy to feed your imagination for a day, Harry," She teased me a little after thinking about it.
"Well, you can't sue me for trying, you would look beautiful in that," I grinned as her eyes widened for a moment. She blushed a little, turned to Hermione's door, and asked, "How much longer, dear?"
"Coming out, Mum," Hermione half-shouted from behind the door, and it slowly clicked open. I took a sharp breath as I took in her form. I hadn't noticed how voluptuous Hermione was before, but a dress that was perfectly augmenting her curves added to her allure.
"No, not this one. Go back and try the black one." Emma quickly ushered Hermione in, and when she closed the door, our eyes met.
"It wasn't that bad," I protested, as she glared at me playfully. Shaking her head, she looked at Hermione's door for a moment before swiftly heading to the black dress I had pointed out earlier. She talked with the helper roaming around, asked her something, and then quickly returned with a dress, likely in her size.
"Keep an eye out," she said, pausing briefly before ducking into the same dressing room I had used. So I waited patiently as I let my imagination run wild, which was not a good thing for my jeans.
It didn't take long for Emma to open the door, but she didn't walk out. I peeked in only to find her looking at the mirror nervously, her back exposed to me, and I was able to see the naked arch of her body because of the plunging backline. The dress ended exactly at her lower back.
I looked up, and my eyes strayed to her breasts as they were pooled together like raindrops and held by the straps of her dress. My eyes traveled up her elegant neck, her full lips, before finally meeting her gaze. A healthy flush stained her cheeks as she fidgeted slightly.
"Well?" She asked, anticipation shining in her eyes, as if she were fishing for compliments.
I didn't have to lie to her, at least. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on." I walked closer and whispered so Hermione wouldn't hear me. Her eyes searched mine before she blushed. She turned around, giving me a better look at her massive breasts.
"You are trouble." She whispered back, her full lips moving, gleaming seductively under the light.
"I could say the same," I retorted, feeling the discomfort in my jeans. I shifted on my legs as I tried to adjust. Emma's eyes went downward as they moved along the outlines of my hard cock that was pressing against my jeans.
She looked at me with narrowed eyes and opened her lips to say something, but we both froze when we heard the door next door open. She swiftly pushed me out of the dressing room and closed the door with a thud as I stumbled into the chairs lined up outside.
I didn't get much time to adjust as I sat up straight and Hermione walked out. Her black dress had the same shimmer as the last blue one, but it had the same high-neck features as her first dress, hiding her cleavage while exposing her back.
"Where's Mom?" She asked as she looked around.
"She's trying on a dress as well. This one looks nice," I complimented her, trying to distract her, and it worked.
"You think?" She asked shyly as she turned back to look at the mirror, exposing her naked back to me.
"Yes, you look gorgeous." I smiled as she blushed and nodded, her eyes going back as she turned around, appreciating her figure.
"I'm not used to wearing dresses," She commented offhandedly, trying to explain her nervousness.
"Well, you should. You look stunning in them," I complimented her again. This was the wisdom I had gained from a previous life: when not sure what to do, just stun them with compliments, and it usually works out.
"Thank you." Hermione blushed as she hurried in, her hands hiding her face as she slammed the door shut. I felt a dull thud as she leaned heavily against the door, likely trying to calm her nerves.
'That's one crisis averted,' I thought as the door next to her opened and Emma walked out in her sundress, eyeing me for a moment.
"It seems that I need to teach Hermione that boys don't mean everything they say," she whispered as she sat down next to me.
"But you did look like the most stunning woman in the world in that dress," I whispered back, noticing she was clutching it with no intention of putting it away.
"Shush, you," she said, shaking her head even as a pleased smile appeared on her face.
'Hmm, Daniel, you really should not ignore your woman.'
---
{Harry's room, Leaky Cauldron}
The shopping trip had been quite entertaining and revealing about Hermione's family dynamics. Still, with the book in hand, Hermione and Daniel quickly concluded that doing spells in the Leaky Cauldron wouldn't really hurt me as long as I practiced during the day. That way, the pub would be crowded, and the magic could be attributed to anyone.
I hadn't looked at anything else and simply selected the three jeans and T-shirts that Emma had suggested, while Hermione ended up taking the grey and black dress. Emma had also sneakily brought the black dress that I had complimented her on when Hermione and Daniel were busy.
'I can't really get a read on her. On one hand, she seems like she's fed up with her husband, but most of the time she seems content with her little family.'
Not like I was any expert at handling women, I thought, and stopped myself from thinking about my girlfriend from my past life. We were a new pairing, so it didn't really hurt that much, but I couldn't help wondering what happened to me.
Shaking myself out of depressing thoughts, I grabbed the common spellbook and moved on to the third spell listed in it. I expected it to be the levitation charm, but instead, the third chapter listed the Spark-Producing Charm.
'I think I have read about this in fanfiction. It's the red, green, and blue sparkly spells that are the most basic attack spells that you can learn.'
...
'''Red Sparks Charm
Incantation: Vermillious
Classification: Charm
Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
Range: 0-50m
Prerequisites: None
Effect: Produces a brief shower of red sparks that can cause minor burns on impact.
Uses: Signaling, Emergency Communication, Wand Testing, Illumination, Celebrations.
Wand movements: Raise your wand forward, then flick it in a circle toward the intended target.
Common failure reasons: Unfocused intent can cause the spell to miss its mark. Unfocused intent could also cause the spell to do more harm than common burns, so please keep your wand away from friendlies during practice.'''
...
'Can't learn this spell inside. I wouldn't want to burn anything,' I thought as I moved on to the next spell.
'''Levitation Charm
Incantation: Wingardium Leviosa (Wing-GAR-dium Levi-O-sa)
Classification: Charm
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
Effect: Causes the target object to rise from the ground and remain suspended in the air. The spell also gives the caster some freedom in how they can control its placement.
Wand Movement: Swish and flick toward the target.
The Levitation Charm was invented in 1544 by warlock Jarleth Hobart, who mistakenly believed he had at last succeeded in doing what wizardkind had so far failed to do: learn to fly. The spell lets you suspend inanimate objects in the air by continuously supplying it with mana.
Common Failures:
Incorrect Wand Movement: The most common failure that a new student encounters when learning the spell. The levitation charm requires smooth movement, so any movement that is too sharp, too wide, or improperly timed causes the spell to fail or produces an unstable levitation.
Insufficient Intent: The caster must clearly intend for the object to become lighter and rise into the air. A vague or distracted intention may produce only a slight tremor or no movement at all.
Poor Pronunciation: The caster must speak the incantation clearly. Incorrect pronunciation can distort the spell's magical structure and cause an incomplete casting, which could have a variety of different effects based on intent.
Breaking Concentration: Once the object has been lifted into the air, the caster must maintain focus. Looking away or becoming distracted could cause the spell to lose focus and the spell's magical structure to dissipate.
Attempting Excessive Weight: First-year casters should begin learning the spell with light objects. It is not only less taxing on your magical reserves, but it is also easier to imagine a feather lifting into the air because of its lack of weight rather than a table or a book.
A student is considered proficient in the spell when they can: Cast the levitation charm on a feather reliably, maintain it for at least a full minute, and move the feather in the air on command.
...
The chapter describing the levitation charm was much longer than the chapters on Lumos and Nox. This clearly shows that the spell is harder to learn and that there are many things you need to keep in mind. Reading the confusing description of the spell in the book, I thought of the scenes from the movie.
'Okay, Hermione and Flitwick showed in the first movie that they were able to easily move the feather around however they wanted. But in the second one, when Harry suspended those cupcakes in the air, he used the same charm, but not only does he hide. He doesn't control the spell at all.' I thought, obviously, the movie likely wouldn't be true to the source material, but I don't exactly remember how the spell works in the books.
'Well, the easiest way to figure out if the movie was right or not was to just learn the spell,' I thought as I grabbed a notebook I had stored in my inventory, for notes that I never took, and tore a piece of paper from the last page.
I put the notebook back in my inventory, set the torn paper on the bed, and grabbed my wand. I took a deep breath as I cleared my mind. I looked down at the piece of paper and imagined it floating in the air. I practiced the swish a couple of times before I cast the spell.
"Wingardium Leviosa~" I cast, the smooth, elongated 'U', shaped swish and flick ended with my wand pointed at the piece of paper before I lifted it up. The paper thankfully followed my wand movement and floated upwards. It didn't wobble in the wind like a feather would, instead, it floated up to about 4 meters before it stopped.
...
[Spell Learned: The Levitation Charm Lv 0 (5/50)]
...
'Interesting,' I thought as I moved my wand around and the paper moved with it like a drone in a horizontal plane. When I thought about lowering it and moved my wand around, it descended in a vertical plane. It felt less like free control and more like playing a game with up, down, and left-right controls.
Still, I grinned as I waved my other hand underneath it, as if I was proving to a real audience that this was real magic. My concentration lapsed and the piece of paper floated down, following a far more natural trajectory. I stared at my wand and fed mana into it as I pointed at the falling piece of paper, and unexpectedly nothing happened.
Unlike Lumos, the spell didn't resume just by feeding my wand with mana, which means the principles that I had discovered this morning weren't foolproof.
'Now I need a new theory...'
-x-X-x-