Chapter 15. New Start
I supported my jaw with my hand on top of the table, trying to hide the excitement I felt over the recent developments.
I could finally get rid of the OOC Feature, my arch nemesis.
I also had new worries on my plate.
Hazel Hamilton.
It was beyond obvious that she had been really important to the previous occupant and might be to me as well.
I wasn't bothered about the details though, just grateful that her showing up granted me a shit ton of SP.
After a while, the desserts cleared out, leaving the tables sparkling clean.
Headmistress McGonagall got to her feet again to address the students. "Welcome! Once again students. There are a few things you should always remember."
"First, the forest on the school grounds is expressly forbidden to all students of Hogwarts. There shall be no use of magic in between classes in the corridors.
Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch." She listed out.
She finally concluded with. "While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to your respective Houses."
"Now let's sing the school song." She announced grimly.
I almost expected there to be changes to the tune now that there was a different Headmistress but no, everyone just picked a tune at random and began to sing.
The long golden ribbon spelling out the words even made an appearance.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
After the song was all done, Headmistress McGonagall dismissed the students to bed and then the hall cleared out.
Students in Slytherin made their way to the Slytherin Dungeon. Prefects directed the first years on where to go and what to do.
I slipped my hands into my pockets and joined the crowd of the Slytherin House members, we were making our way to the dormitories.
I was extra careful as we went down the stone staircase that led to the dungeons, I didn't trust that someone wouldn't try to trip me or worse.
In my past life I wasn't bullied and I, in turn, didn't bully anyone either, I didn't deserve it in my new life.
We got to the bare stretch of the stone wall that was the entrance to the Slytherin common room.
The password was Wolfsbane, I filed that information away for future use.
The wall parted to reveal a passageway, which led to the common room.
Sure, I was Gryffindor biased in my past life like the majority of Harry Potter fans but I've always thought that the Slytherin common room was the coolest.
It was also really cold. Damn.
The room was well lit but maybe it was because it was in the dungeons and halfway under the lake, it constantly had this dim green lighting about it.
The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains.
A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of me, the mantel was adorned with the portrait of a serpent.
The Slytherin Dungeon extended part way under the Black Lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge.
The common room had lots of low-backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas, skulls, and dark wood cupboards.
It was all green-themed which was expected as it was associated with the House colors.
The walls were decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins.
There were high windows which only showed the depths of the Black Lake.
There were no creatures passing by at the moment, only the greenish ominous silent waters.
Although, I really wanted to explore the Slytherin Dungeon, now was not the time,
I was exhausted and just wanted to retire to my dormitory so I could regroup and decide on my next move.
Finding my bed wasn't a difficult task, it was at the far end of the dorm room, practically isolated.
Somehow I wasn't surprised. It was great though because it meant that I had my privacy.
The dorm had stone walls and wooden floors, there was a green and silver carpet on the ground with the House's crest printed on it.
The curtains were green as well as the drapes on the four-poster bed.
My stuff was already brought up to the dorms so I just needed to change out of my uniform and get ready for bed.
I drew the drapes to block out the sights of my dorm mates catching up from the holidays. I wished the green drapes would block out their voices as well.
There was actually a spell to do just that, I thought deviously.
My wand was in a drawer on my bedside drawer, I should consider keeping it under my pillows.
It was the hood out here, who knew who else would try to jinx or hex me?
I held my wand steadily, after practicing non-stop throughout the duration of the train ride, I had gotten used to using it, somewhat.
I tried to recall the spell used to quieten sounds, who said studying never helped in real life?
We would be learning how to use non-verbal charms in this new semester.
I didn't try it now even though I tried it with the Summoning charm, I didn't want to fuck it up.
I waved my wand and pointed it through the drapes at the gathering of my dorm mates on the other side of the room.
"Quietus!" I ordered in a low voice.
Thankfully, this spell didn't emit light so I could be stealthy with it.
The noise immediately considerably lessened, I could hear no more of them discussing the article that featured my family's death.
They had been very obvious about it too so it was evident that they wanted me to hear them.
I couldn't be bothered though, I had far more important things to do, like check my stats and get rid of a particularly annoying feature,
=========
[Audric Albeline]
<SP: 435>
<Health: 98/100>
+ Physical Stats
[Strength: 70/100]
[Stamina: 65/100]
[Speed: 60/100]
+ Non-Physical Stats
[Magical Power: 70/100]
- Sub-stats
[Charms: 80/100]
[Dark Charms: 50/100]
[Knowledge: 89/100]
- Sub-stats
[Intelligence: 70/100]
[Information: 90/100]
+ Skills
[Animagus - -]
<Locked> this feature can be unlocked with 500 SP
[Legilimency - -]
<Locked> this feature can be unlocked with 500 SP
[Bloodline Magic - -]
<Locked> this feature can be unlocked with 2000 SP
=========
I proudly stared at my stats.
Ever since I got into this new world and was thrust into unexpected occurrence after unexpected occurrence, I had been ultimately careful.
It was clear that the system wasn't a sentient type.
It wasn't even halfway sentient so I had to carefully choose my steps because if I didn't, I would most likely get sent back to my world without the opportunity to even lodge in a complaint.
it wasn't fair but I couldn't complain, I had been granted a new life for free after all.
It was a bit ungrateful for me to be demanding customer care as well.
I didn't want to get sent back, obviously, because I'm dead in my previous world. Anything, anything at all, beats being dead.
In my past life I wouldn't say I was very ambitious, well I was, but being ambitious didn't hold any weight if you didn't achieve anything.
But if I was being honest with myself, I didn't believe that I could surpass J.K Rowling. After a while, I didn't even want to anymore, I just wanted to achieve something.
I wanted to write a good book, it didn't need to be awesome and surpass J.K Rowling, it just needed to be good.
It also wouldn't have hurt to be able to make a decent living from writing, then maybe my mom wouldn't have been constantly disappointed in me.
Now, I had the chance at a second chance at life, I could bundle all the ambitions I ever had and use them to fuel myself.
I wasn't even surprised that I had wound up in the Harry Potter world after I died, it seemed natural for things to turn out this way even.
Getting a chance to rise to the top in the world of the book that I had looked up to my entire life.
I definitely wouldn't have wanted to transmigrate into the world I created in 'Titan Wars: Rise of the Destroyer'
If I had transmigrated into my own book, I would have unalived myself.
The plot holes, inconsistency, and the overall imbalance of the book would have killed me anyway, I was just choosing the easier death.
There was no motivation to surpass J.K Rowling in this new world, she was basically the creator.
It was redundant to hold on to a slight from a past life.
Besides, there was magic. That was all, there was magic.
Why would I want to be a writer when I was given a chance to be the character?
"Hey, loser! Not going to join the conversation?" An annoying voice intruded in my thoughts.
I glared to the side to find Sawyer's annoying face staring down at me, his black eyes glittering with malicious intent.
I truly didn't have the time or patience for him, so I ignored him as usual, turning to my side so that my back was to him.
Sawyer didn't take this well, I could literally hear the steam coming out of his ears.
"You little shit." He snarled. "I don't know why you were allowed back in school, you should have just died with the rest of your family."
His words were vicious and cutting and even though I didn't have the memories of the previous owner, I couldn't help but be irritated.
I would have ignored him if he left after that but no, the annoying bastard had to drag me off the bed, uncaring that I smacked into the wooden panels and the hard ground.
"Sod off, Sawyer!" I bit out, pulling my legs from his hold.
"Aw, don't want to be friends anymore, crybaby Audric?" He bent over to taunt me.
I was still seated on the ground, my back against my bed.
The rest of the dorm kept their distance but Blythe and Crawley weren't too far behind, ready to give assistance to Sawyer whenever he called for them.
I remained calm, Sawyer seemed even more irritated by this.
It seemed like the previous owner was very susceptible to bullying.
Well, I wasn't the previous owner and it was high time I made that known.
"I'll say it one last time, Sawyer." I drew my knees closer to myself and settled my elbows on them. "Leave me alone."
Sawyer kicked my side in response, barely contained rage on his face. "And If I don't? What can you dare to do abo…"
I didn't let him get all of his words out, shooting to my feet and socking him right on the jaw.