Chapter 27: Chapter 27
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1st September, 2007
Hogwarts Castle, Scotland
"Firs' years!" A thick booming voice cut through the crowd. "Firs' years over here!"
Over the sea of heads, Harry saw a towering giant staring down at them. A big, hairy, 11 feet tall giant.
"C'mon, follow me." The giant waved. "Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
The first years stumbled after the giant through what seemed like a steep narrow path. It was too dark to see properly, but taking his center of gravity in consideration he concluded they were coming down from some elevated area.
They passed the entire march in pin drop silence. It was deep enough that he could hear Neville sniffing a couple of times, devastated at losing his toad once again.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec." The giant called out over his shoulder, "Jus' round this bend here."
The Narrow path finally ended upon the edge of a great black lake, and the sight in front of them elicited a collective gasp of awe and amazement from the children.
"Wicked!" Ron whispered in awe, with similar reactions being whispered throughout the group.
Even Harry had to admit, the sight that lay in front of him was certainly worthy of shock and awe.
Perched atop a high mountain on the other side of the lake, with its giant windows glittering and sparkling in the starry sky, was an enormous ancient castle with multiple turrets and towers.
It was beautiful, especially as its radiance stood like the sole mark of light among an ever ending darkness. Sitting on solid mountainous terrain, its lightened walls looked almost white.
Harry had never read a magic book in his life, but he wagered this was the castle everyone imagined when they uttered the words 'Straight out of a magic book'.
He nodded at his twin's incredulous laugh and exclaimed 'Wow'.
This...this truly surpassed all of his expectations.
"No more'n four to a boat!" The giant called out from the front, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.
Harry dragged Rose along with him, bullying his way through the crowd to book his rights on two boats. One was taken by Him, Rose, Ron, and Andrea. While he pushed Susan and her friend, Hannah, on the other boat, who were quickly joined by the buck-toothed bossy girl and Neville.
Harry ignored them in favour of checking on his own group. "You all are set?"
For some reason, he got affirmatives from both boats.
Then they were off, smoothly gliding across the unmoved water without a single ripple, almost like they were sliding on glass.
The crowd of children took in the looming castle in awed silence as it got more massive by the second.
"Heads down!" The giant bellowed as the first batch of boats approached a low cliff with hanging green ivy.
They all bent their heads down and the little boats carried them through the curtain of ivy, which hid a wide opening in the cliff face.
The opening pushed them into a dark tunnel which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle. Soon enough, they reached some sort of underground harbor, where they quickly dismounted from their boats and stood upon solid rocks and pebbles.
The giant began inspecting the boats as the children climbed out of them, before suddenly bending down to pick up something from the ground.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" The giant asked, dangling the poor frog between his thick meaty fingers.
"Trevor!" Neville cried out, scrambling forward to take the bullfrog in his hands.
"Now then, mind yer step'n follow me! Ye don't wanna get lost ove' here."
Harry quickly took stock of his group, taking hold of his ditzy twin's hand before she could wander off somewhere, and made to follow after the giant's lamp that looked like a bright star in the darkness. They climbed up through a rocky passageway, spiraling upwards until they came to stand upon damp green grass.
Continuing their path forward, they took another set of open stairs right underneath the castle's shadow, until they came directly in front of two massive oak doors.
"Everyone here?" The giant asked. "You there, still got yer toad? Very well."
He turned around to the oak doors and knocked three times, his massive hands making deep thumping sound as if they were a battering ram.
Curious, Harry quickly observed the giant now that he had some time to let his mind wander.
Rubeus Hagrid
Age: 63
Level: 61
Reputation: Liked
Affection: 72
Mana: 500/500
Health: 2200/2200
Stamina: 200/200
Stats
Strength: 146
Speed: 15
Dexterity: 8
Vitality: 112
Endurance: 98
Intelligence: 40
Wisdom: 12
His brows shot up in surprise as he took in the Giant's stats. Not only could the being easily lift over a ton, he could even sustain an incredibly heavy beating. Though his magic was quite weak for an adult wizard, balancing out his stats. And while Level 61 was still quite impressive, Harry knew that knowledge and Skill were a more determining factor in one's battle prowess. Knowledge and skill that he doubted a mere gatekeeper would possess.
The door soon swung open with a soft thud to reveal an immaculately dressed Lupin, quite unlike the first time he'd seen the man.
"Firs' years, professor Lupin." Hagrid the Giant announced.
"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take them from here."
Lupin then pushed the door open fully, revealing an entrance so big that he looked like a tiny speck in front of it. One could most likely fit an entire helicopter sideways in it and still have space to come and go.
Harry's eyes further scanned through the opening area: taking in the stone walls that held antique flaming torches which lightened up the entire passageway in a bright orange shade. Then the ceiling; which was so high up that he couldn't even make it out clearly.
Lastly, his eyes fell upon the pure white marble staircase; glittering under the flame's rays in a magnificent way as it led straight upwards, going deeper in the castle.
The place had a mysterious ancient look that couldn't help but pique his interest.
They followed Lupin up the marble stairs, which gave way to another straight corridor. There was an antique door to their right, through which Harry could hear the chit-chatting of a crowd.
It must've been the room where rest of the school was assembled, but Lupin paid it no mind, leading them even further in- inside a small closed chamber. His fellow students all crowded together, standing close to each other much to Harry's irritation, and nervously peering around.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." Lupin started, a comforting smile on his face. "I know it must be hard taking all of this in, but please bear with me. There is a start-of-the-term banquet waiting for you hungry students, but before you can join others in the great hall, you will need to be sorted into your houses. Keep this in mind children, the Sorting is a very important ceremony, as throughout your years in Hogwarts, your house will be like a family to you. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room. A home away from home, if you will."
"There are four houses in total; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Whatever House you may be in, you must take pride in it. For each House has its own noble history and has produced magnificent wizards and witches throughout the years. And you have the duty to continue making your house proud. How would you do that, I hear you asking. Well, Hogwarts follows a simple House points system, where your triumphs and merits will earn you points while Rule-breaking and foul play will lose them. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, declaring it the best of four. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House you join in."
Harry stifled a frown. He wasn't here to waste his time competing with children, nor was he here to follow any rules.
Suffice it to say, he will not be a credit to his house anytime soon.
"The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a few minutes, and shall be held in front of your teachers and other students. Take this time to tidy yourself up, you wouldn't want to go in front of your seniors looking shabby now would you?" He shot a sharp smile at Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear.
Beside him, Ron began rubbing off the smudge on his nose.
"I will return for you in a few minutes. Till then, please wait quietly." With a last nod, Lupin turned around and left the chamber.
"Do you think Uncle Remus was the one to welcome the first years because of us?" Rose whispered in his ears.
"No." Harry frowned, smacking the silly girl on the head. "Don't think so highly of yourself. He's the deputy headmaster, it must be his job."
She shot him a watery puppy-dog look while clutching her head.
Harry sighed. "Do you know how they sort us into Houses?"
"Some sort of test, I think." Ron answered, combing his hair down with his fingers. "Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."
A test?
"Great." He muttered, annoyed.
Just what he needed after a long and tiring ride.
'Why can't they have postponed it for the morning? When children were fresh and well rested?'
Unless this was some test of Will or stamina, it made no sense to take them now.
He looked around to investigate further, only to find the rest of the kids looking pale and terrified. No one dared break the silence as they readied themselves for this 'Test'. Except that Hermione girl who was whispering first year spells under her breath while swishing her wrist in mock wand motions.
Harry tsked, as even Rose started fretting nervously. "Be still, midget. It must be a truly simple test if everyone gets passed. I doubt you have ever heard of Hogwarts rejecting students."
"Yeah." Ron breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, you're right. Fred must've lied about that too."
At that moment, pale silvery figures suddenly popped out of the walls, passing through objects as if they were holograms. The translucent ghosts talked amongst each other, paying them no mind.
"They're Hogwarts ghosts!" Hermione whispered. "They're supposed to be house mascots I think."
They stopped around to greet some of the nervous kids but Harry ignored them. He'd seen stranger things to get surprised by anything anymore.
Or so he thought.
"Get ready now." Lupin announced as soon as he walked in. "The Sorting is beginning."
They followed after the man in a neat line, finally entering the double set of doors from whence the sound of chatter had come earlier.
The first thing Harry felt as soon as he entered through the door was, Magic.
Magic a trillion times stronger than anything he'd felt from those Dursley wards.
The second thing he noticed was multiple ringing sounds of system notifications, though he ignored them for now.
Because the third thing he noticed was simply too captivating; Thousands upon thousands of burning candles were floating in midair, covering the gigantic Great hall through end and back.
Below the candles lay four long rows of tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. All four tables glittered with empty golden plates and goblets, presenting an arrangement suitable for the royalty of Britain.
But the most spectacular view came when he glanced straight up.
A naked sky with twinkling stars stared back at him. If there was something more incredible than an open ceiling then he didn't know it.
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside." Hermione whispered. For some reason she was talking to him again. "I read about it in 'Hogwarts, A History'."
Well... that's a bit disappointing. And unbelievable, considering how real the sky looked. Nonetheless, it was still impressive.
At the very top of the hall was another, smaller, table where their teachers sat with the same golden plates and goblets arranged around them. He quickly spotted Lily waving at them with a wide smile, while also recognizing two others; One was of course, Sara Lupin. But the other made him grimace slightly. How could he forget the man who'd managed to survive his best attempts at elimination?
Harry activated his gamer's mind as the man turned to him. He knew about legilimency now, having read a book on mind arts in Potter library. And James had specifically warned him against this man, after Harry had described his meeting with the minister to his parents.
A good warning too, cause there was simply no way he will let any being enter his mind.
As the first years finally came to stand in front, Harry diverted his attention to the system notifications.
Quest [Hoggy Warty Hogwarts] Completed!
· Join Hogwarts (X)
· School Shopping (X)
· Start learning Magic (X)
· Learn to fly (X)
· Prepare for your new school (X)
Rewards:
5 Levels
Unlock complete Gamer functions
[Gamer's Trial Stage Over]– Complete Gamer functions unlocked
Rewards:
Inventory Unlocked
Dungeons unlocked
Skill Consumption unlocked
Gamer's Mind and Body upgraded
Bonus stats per level doubled
Daily Quest Updated
New perks Unlocked...
Harry blinked in surprise, not having expected such a long list of rewards. The 5 Levels by themselves would've been cause for celebration but a complete upgrade of his system was slightly overwhelming.
He didn't get to ponder upon them more however, as his vision was curtained by another set of notification.
[Dungeon Discovered: Hogwarts Dungeons]
Quest [Dungeon Hunter] in progress–
Find and clear all the dungeons in this castle.
Harry breathed out slowly, not even realizing he'd held it back.
'This...this is an extremely huge opportunity.' Even through Gamer's mind he couldn't help but feel a slight edge of excitement bubbling up within him.
From what he'd be able to learn through the internet, Dungeons were the main way for any RPG gamer to level up. Assuming his System worked in roughly the same manner, he may have just unlocked a clear cut way to the very peak of this world.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone