Matt woke up with a pounding headache and laying on cold hard pavement. I don't remember getting mugged? Something felt off with his body, and after some quick examination his body turned out to be a few sizes shorter. Almost like he had been as a kid before the years and lack of exercise had gotten to him. A dream then.
He stood and looked around, noticing that he was in an alley that he didn't remember ever being in. Huh, it's weird to dream about places I don't recognize. As soon as he thought that, a bunch of floating blue screens out of sci-fi popped up in front of him, adding a surreal feel to the dream.
Villainous System Activated! Novice Package Granted! Tutorial Movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Easy)
Primary Task Steal the sorcerer's stone Reward: 5000 pts and C-level ticket Penalty for Failure: Death
Optional Task 1 Go undiscovered by all characters during theft Reward: 2000 pts Penalty for Failure: N/A, but may include failure of Primary Task
Optional Task 2 Place first in the end of the year exam Reward: 2000 pts and D-level ticket Penalty for Failure: 1000 points
Optional Task 3 Help your chosen house win the House Cup Reward: 3000 pts and D-level ticket Penalty for Failure: 1000 points
What? Just as I finished a memory hit me and I was sure it wasn't mine. It was an abridged version of a messed up childhood going from orphanage to orphanage and eventually running away to live in the streets as a petty thief. Heavy stuff for an 11-year old. Luckily this other me had a tough streak and strange things happened around him to help him through things, like food randomly appearing when he was starving and a bum who wanted to beat him tripping and breaking his leg while chasing after him.
He recognized it as signs of a yound wizard, which wasn't that strange if this is supposed to be Harry Potter's setting. Adults had realized the strange things only happened around other-him and had shunned him for it, doing just about everything they could legally get away with to make him as uncomfortable as possible. This had led to him running away and his inability to take any under the table small jobs.
He felt a bit indignant at the memories even though he knew logically that this was a fake history. Matthew idly realized this couldn't possibly be a dream, or if it is it's the strangest dream he had ever heard of. Pinching himself yielded nothing but pain, so he decided to think back on to the last things he could remember. Right, the popup! Dread sunk in as everything started looking familiar. He'd only read the first arc of Infinite Terror but this looked somewhat familiar.
Okay, be calm. Let's think, what can we do if this is real? Presumably I should be getting a letter from Hogwarts soon, but I don't know exactly when. I need a place to stay and get some food first.
After checking his pockets he discovered about 100 pounds in assorted bills, which he supposed was part of the "novice package" mentioned. Mighty nice of that asshole god. He didn't really know much about currency exchange, but consulting his fake memories let him know a pound had the purchasing power of roughly 2 dollars in 1991. Still not a lot if I need to live more than a week here, but I doubt it will leave me hanging for long.
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By the time had bought a decent set of clothing and booked a room at a nearby hotel for 1 week(the guy barely balked at his story and lack of I.D.) he was starting to get hungry. He went to a roadside stall he had seen in the park on the way here and bought 2 hot dogs along with a bottle of coke from the vending machine. 40£ gone already. He resolved to be a bit more financial minded in the near future, but he needed the comfort now.
After finishing his awesome food he found an open bench and sat down. Time to get to work. He brought out a pad of paper and pen he had found in his hotel room and started jotting down everything he could remember about the first Harry Potter movie. It had been almost 4 years since he read the book or saw the movie so his memory was a bit rusty. Nevertheless, he thought he remembered all the major points even if the names weren't all there.
Matt felt getting past all the traps on the stone would be child's play, but the bigger problem was that he was pretty sure those traps were deliberately made easy so that Dumbledore could train Harry. Both Dumbledore and Voldemort would rather violently object to a third party barging in and taking the stone out from under their noses, and either could squish him with ease.
He brooded over things for hours with no good solution presenting himself. Stealing it from Gringott's or Hagrid as he transported it was obviously out of the question with the time he had, which left only getting past dozens of alarm magics and stealing it without anybody noticing in some kind of Ocean's Eleven stunt. Wonderful.
The only thing that he had come to terms with was that he couldn't be Gryffindor if he wanted to pull this off. Making friends with the main cast had some appeal to make this easier, but it was drowned by the extra scrutiny he would be subjected to. Dumbledore wouldn't be so easy to fool and Matt had no occlumency to protect his thoughts. He had to be as unassuming as possible and strike where it was least expected.
He had the beginnings of a plan, but he needed to see if it would be feasible or not. It depended on magic he wasn't even sure existed, but he had no better ideas at the moment. He would train like his life depended on it (it did) and see where it took him.
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He stayed until the sky turned dark brooding, but after making his way back to the hotel he was surprised to find he had a letter. Damn, they work fast. The letter was addressed to a Mr. M. Forrester, 1045 Browning Street, Star Hotel, Room 8. After opening he got the expected message.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Forrester,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress
Inside was a book list and an extra note that a representative would be showing up next Sunday to talk to him and go with him to get a wand should he agree. Books would be loaned by the school in light of his circumstances. That's unexpectedly...modern.
He resolved to get some more money somehow tomorrow and went to sleep early.