The Corrupted Gamer: Harry Potter

Friday had Charms as first class and Flitwick was there, to the disappointment of the other students. Harry accepted the reference book and stored it and took it back out again. He felt the massive amount of information filter into the right spots and he opened the book to pretend to read it.

When Flitwick started teaching class, Harry saw that the other students were trying to pay attention and some were distracted enough, so he stored each book on Flitwick's shelves to gain the information inside and put them back. Having Gamer Mind completed and the damage repaired to the system made such a huge difference from what it had been before.

For the first time since his mind was fixed, Harry thought the word that never worked before. Status.

Harry's mouth dropped open at the sight before him. He stared at the unbelievable numbers and he immediately worked out that it was because of harvesting both Voldemort's and Dumbledore's magical knowledge. He had gained quite a bit more than just that knowledge, though. He had somehow also gained their level bonuses.

Using math, he easily deduced Voldemort's level was 200 and Dumbledore's was 210, because you started at level 1 and didn't get points for it. That meant he was extremely low level in comparison... then he realized that both of the men were old. Voldemort was 72 when he put that soul piece in his scar and Dumbledore was 128. Harry was only 11 and he was already level 49.

Harry smiled and dismissed the status window. He didn't bother bring up his skills window, because most of them were maxed out anyway. Even his Assistant Professor had upgraded to Professor (Uncredited) and there were no more levels to be gained from it.

Charms class soon ended and Harry left with his friends and they went to Herbology class. Pomona Sprout greeted Harry warmly and taught a great lesson about potting and caring for a dirigible plumb bush. Harry even pretended to inhale one and spoke in a squeaky voice for the rest of the class, which made Padma giggle almost constantly.

After that, they all enjoyed lunch in the Great Hall, which was a rare occurrence, because they usually ate lunch outside so they could all sit together and talk. When they went to their scheduled Potions lesson after lunch, the entire class sat there for several minutes and waited for Professor Snape to show up. He didn't.

“I think we're supposed to do what's on the board.” Susan said and pointed.

“That's not much different from a normal class, except we don't have Snape breathing down our necks.” Terry Boot said and a few people laughed and the rest nodded.

Harry chuckled as he received the reward for completing the quest about Snape and the Legilimens attack he had performed. The reward, which was the knowledge of the art and the Mental Prowess skill, didn't matter. He already had both from harvesting Voldemort's and Dumbledore's magical knowledge and he almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

“This is no way to teach a class this important.” Harry said and stood up.

“Do it, Harry!” Anthony Goldstein exclaimed and a few people clapped. “Show us how it should be done!”

Harry chuckled and chose the Favorite Professor option from the drop down menu in his Supreme Actor skill as he walked to the front of the room. “How many people read ahead for this potion in the book?”

Nearly everyone put up their hands.

“That's good! I'm glad you're taking this a little seriously.” Harry said and waved his wand to increase the lighting in the room to a normal level before he turned to the chalk board and erased three of the lines of directions and put in the proper ones.

“Can anyone tell me why I just changed these lines?” Harry asked as he looked back at the class.

Susan put up her hand. “You reduced the danger of overheating the potion and reduced the preparation time for those ingredients.”

“Exactly! Ten points to Hufflepuff.” Harry said and Susan smiled widely. “We can check the Hourglass in the Entrance Hall later and see if that counted.”

“Okay!” Susan said, happily.

“Before we start gathering the ingredients and start brewing, I want to go over some basic safety precautions.” Harry said and everyone listened as he informed them about cleaning their cauldrons properly between each potion, because any residue could affect the new potion by either poisoning it or exploding.

“That seems to always be the reactions.” Padma observed.

“It proves conclusively that actual magic is going on, since these ingredients by themselves are inert.” Harry said and continued to give great tips and then gave them permission to start brewing. He told them better ways to prepare the ingredients for certain uses and everyone had a great time making the basic cleaning and polishing potion.

Harry gave them vials to pass the potion in with and then handfuls of vials for them to take for themselves. It was a useful potion to have and everyone left the class with a few vials each. They had all made it perfectly, too. Harry also made sure they were marked with the student's names and sealed them, then put them on the teacher's desk in the display.

Before he left, Harry changed the potion directions on the board to be a copy from the book once more and left the class with a smile on his face.

I wonder if whoever is marking the potions will figure that out. Harry thought and went to hang out with his friends.

Supper was a great meal as well, because Susan actually received the ten points for Hufflepuff. When everyone had eaten, because they already had their homework done, it was time for relaxing and playing games. They all agreed to go outside and made it almost like a festival, because it was Friday and they had the entire weekend free to do whatever they wanted.

As it became dark outside, people started leaving and saying they were turning in early. Harry gave Padma a pointed look and she nodded. They made their own excuses to their friends, with one of them making jokes at their expense about hiding and making out.

“That's a great idea, Terry! Thanks for the inspiration!” Harry said and took Padma's hand to lead her away.

“H-Harry.” Padma whispered with a blush. “Are we really...”

“I won't deny it's a great idea.” Harry teased. “You know what's going to happen tonight, so I need to get my kisses in beforehand.”

Padma's blush deepened and she nodded in agreement. Harry put his arm around her waist as they entered the castle and left it there all the way up to Ravenclaw Tower.

“I follow you all the time and copy everything you do; but, you can't touch me or capture me, despite me being attached to you. What am I?” The eagle head knocker asked them.

Harry nodded to Padma and she looked thoughtful for a moment. Her eyes widened when she got it.

“You're my shadow!” Padma exclaimed.

“Correct.” The eagle head said and the door clicked open.

Harry took Padma inside and all the way up to the boy's dormitory. Harry wrote a quick note out for her friends to not worry, Padma was with him, and he switched it with the air over Padma's bed.

“You have to teach me how to do that.” Padma said as she climbed onto his bed.

“I'm going to do much more than that, my future wife.” Harry said and smiled at Padma's returned blush. “I've trusted you with my deepest secrets and now I'm going to trust you with the same thing I've already told you about.”

“R-r-really?” Padma asked. “I thought... tonight you were going to add me to your party and we were going to do more things together.”

“I am and we are.” Harry said and switched her clothes with her nightgown and he switched his with his pyjamas. He climbed onto the bed with her and they laid down together and embraced. “I'm also going to spend a bunch of magic to also grant you a Gamer Mind and a Gamer Body.”

“You can do that?” Padma asked and she puckered her lips for him as he gave her a soft kiss.

“Yes.” Harry said and kissed her twice more. “Normally, it would only count when you're in a party with me and we are doing a task. I don't want to take the chance that something could interfere with the party system and you'll lose any progress you make until the next time we party up.”

Padma kissed him again and she really liked that he was so nice and gentle with her and not like those older guys when they kissed their girlfriends and it looked like he was trying to chew her face off.

“Can you really...” *kiss* “...make it permanent...” *kiss* “...and I can be like you?” Padma asked.

“Mostly.” Harry said and she gave him a confused look. “It's based off of me. You won't be able to make your own party or invite other people to join us. That power will remain solely with me.”

“Is that all?” Padma asked and he nodded. “That's okay, then. I wouldn't invite anyone to join us anyway.”

Harry had to smile at her. “Not even your identical twin sister?”

Padma opened her mouth to deny it, then let out a little laugh. “You know she's going to bug me to death about it.”

Harry laughed, too. “I'm only level 49, so I might get another party invite when I hit 50. I won't be adding anyone else until we're both at a high enough level to protect them. The more people that join, the harder the tasks and missions are.”

“The rewards are increased too, right?” Padma asked and he nodded. She gave him another kiss. “Will we share everything equally?”

Harry nodded again. “It's great practice for when we're married.”

Padma blushed again and pulled him in for one long single kiss. “Okay, I'm ready.”

“Lay back and relax.” Harry said and she did so. He opened his notifications and scrolled back to where Padma first made the offer to join him and he was asked to add her to the party. He chose it and a popup appeared.

Do you wish to add Padma Patil (Bones) to your party?

Yes, please. Harry thought and had to smile at the name it displayed.

Installing Party System... installing... installation complete.
Congratulations! You have gained access to the Party System! Current Party Limit is (2).
Sending party invite...

“Yes!” Padma gasped.

Padma Patil (Bones) has joined your party!
Temporary versions of Gamer Mind and Gamer Body have been granted.
Warning: Temporary versions are only applicable when in a party or in a dungeon.

Upgrade temporary status to permanent. Harry thought.

Warning: This action cannot be undone when completed. Do you wish to proceed?

“Padma, are you sure you want this?” Harry asked.

“Yes, Harry. More than anything.” Padma said and looked into his eyes. “We're going to be together for a very long time.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Harry asked.

“My culture doesn't have a word for divorce, Harry.” Padma said with a crooked smile.

Harry barked a laugh. “I knew I chose right when I chose you.”

“Darn right.” Padma said, smugly.

Proceed with the upgrade. Harry thought and agreed to the 2,000 magic point cost. He had it back two minutes later, because of his 1,268 MP regeneration per minute. He benefited quite a lot from harvesting both old men's knowledge.

Installing upgraded version of Gamer Mind and Gamer Body. Installing... installing... done. Gamer Body and Gamer Mind set at default Level 20.
System settings saved. Entering sleep mode. Initiating recharge of HP and MP. Time for completion: 18 hours, 29 minutes.

Padma's eyes closed and she started lightly snoring right away. Harry quickly silenced his curtains and then cast the disillusionment charm on her to make her disappear. If anyone checked his bed, they wouldn't see her. He switched his clothes back to his school robes and disillusioned himself before he left his bed and the dorm.

Harry snuck out of the tower and made his way up to the seventh floor and to a bare stretch of hallway with a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls how to dance the ballet. He walked back and forth in front of the door three times and mentally asked what he wanted. A large door appeared and he opened it and entered.

The Room of Lost Things was gigantic. It was at least twice the size of the Quiddich pitch, if not larger, and it was full of junk that was stacked in piles that nearly reached the very high ceiling. Harry wasn't discouraged by this, though. Even if the important thing that had been left here had been moved for some reason, he didn't have to worry about it.

You see, his inventory was practically empty and only had a few things inside. Harry took those things out and shrunk them, put them in a conjured bag, and hung it on his belt. With his inventory completely empty, he selected auto-loot and chose 'everything not nailed down'.

Everything within a hundred feet of him disappeared.

Harry chuckled, because with his Gamer Mind maxed out, he barely felt the weight in his mind. He walked along the room and his loot option stored everything. As he progressed across the room, his inventory automatically sorted out everything for him, just like it had for the library books.

When Harry reached the other side of the now empty room, his mind felt the immense weight of the room's contents. It was bearable, though. His pain resistance didn't register, so he knew he wasn't at his maximum inventory capacity. The thing was, he knew that both his inventory's capacity and weight would increase as he grew in levels, as well as his base stats. He hadn't touched his extra points, either.

Harry smiled as he thought of how he could make himself extremely powerful with magic by dropping a good portion of those points into both his Intelligence and Wisdom. He would be on par with Merlin himself, if the rumors were true about him being one of the most powerful magic users on the planet.

Of course, Harry immediately thought that perhaps Merlin was the first Gamer, which would explain why the magic system was so out of balance with the Health Point system. There was nowhere near the same dynamic if Harry chose to go the fighting route and concentrated on Strength and durability instead. Not that he would. Why would he give up his best advantage and stop himself from being the best magic user? Right, he wouldn't.

Harry was still only eleven, though. He had some time to work on things if he wanted to. He also had a new partner to share everything with, so he was going to make the most of it. Why rush now? He had so much to share with Padma to help her level that they would be busy for quite a long time.

It was definitely worth giving her the upgraded body and mind, so she wouldn't be starting from scratch. With that pleasant thought in his head, Harry closed his eyes and started sifting through all the junk in his inventory.