It had been one week since the failed possession.
One week since Harry Potter woke up with another person’s memories inside his head, a magical system attached to his soul, and the horrifying realization that most adults in his life were either incompetent, manipulative, or both.
Things had gone surprisingly well so far.
The tent had become their home almost immediately, though “home” was currently a very flexible concept.
Their first campsite along the coast had lasted exactly two days before a massive storm rolled in from the sea.
The enchanted tent handled the rain perfectly fine, but Harry eventually decided sleeping through what sounded like the apocalypse trying to tear open the sky was not ideal for his mental health.
So they moved inland somewhere south of London.
That location had lasted three days before Dobby discovered it was apparently a popular summer hunting ground.
Harry had decided that leaving before someone accidentally shot Hedwig was probably wise.
This led them to their current location: Eryri National Park in Wales.
The place was beautiful: Towering green mountains stretched across the horizon beneath drifting clouds while forests blanketed the valleys below.
Their tent sat hidden near a narrow river whose crystal-clear water flowed over smooth stones with a constant soothing murmur.
It was peaceful, quiet, and safe.
At least for now.
Harry shot through the air atop his Nimbus 2000 with a grin spreading across his face.
Wind whipped through his hair as the broom curved sharply around a cluster of trees before rising higher above the riverbank.
There.
A flash of gold darted through the air ahead.
The Snitch moved absurdly fast, zigzagging unpredictably between branches and over the water while Harry leaned low over the broom in pursuit.
Flying felt different lately.
Just yesterday, his Agility had increased by one point.
That was the result of his constant exercise and healthier diet.
Well, mostly healthy.
Given his build and low weight, all the snacks he had been munching on had not actually harmed him; if anything, he needed the extra calories.
And it was not just his Agility.
His Endurance had increased by two points over the last week, and honestly?
It felt great.
The improvement to his Agility, combined with the sheer amount of flying he had been doing lately—honestly, he had flown more in the past week than during an entire month of Quidditch season—made all the difference.
His reactions felt sharper, his movements smoother, his balance more instinctive.
Combined with the Nimbus’s speed, it created a thrilling sense of control Harry had never fully experienced before.
The Snitch abruptly dove downward, and Harry followed instantly.
The river rushed closer beneath him, branches whipped past his face, then something white appeared directly beside him, and Harry nearly fell off his broom.
“HEDWIG!”
The owl hooted smugly while flying perfectly alongside him, because apparently evolving into an Arcane Snow Owl had dramatically improved her already terrifying stealth.
Harry’s heart hammered violently while Hedwig radiated amusement through their bond.
“You are evil,” Harry informed her.
Hedwig looked delighted by the accusation.
The Snitch suddenly veered left, and Harry accelerated immediately.
The world blurred around him as the Nimbus surged forward.
He stretched his hand—
Missed.
“Come on…”
The tiny golden ball shot upward again before darting toward an opening between the cliffs ahead.
Harry grinned.
Gotcha!
He angled the broom sharply downward first instead of following directly, using gravity to build speed before pulling upward at the last second.
The acceleration slammed into him hard enough to make his stomach flip, then Harry burst upward directly into the Snitch’s path.
His hand snapped closed.
Tiny wings buzzed furiously between his fingers, and Harry laughed triumphantly while spinning the broom dramatically through the air.
A notification appeared immediately.
[Optional Quest Complete!]
[Catch the Snitch]
Description:
Flying is freedom.
Also technically exercise.
Objectives:
Capture the Snitch ✔
Beat previous completion time ✔
Rewards:
+10 EXP
Minor AGI Proficiency Increase
Completion Time:
4 minutes 12 seconds
New Personal Record!
Harry pumped a fist into the air victoriously.
Hedwig landed on his shoulder a moment later, looking deeply unimpressed by his celebration.
“You literally cheated,” Harry accused.
The owl gently bit his ear.
Over the last week, quests like this had become increasingly common.
Daily quests, minor optional objectives, small repeatable tasks that rewarded tiny amounts of experience.
Some appeared consistently: exercise, study, practice potions, eat properly, sleep enough hours…
Others were strangely specific.
One quest rewarded him for successfully cooking over a campfire without burning anything.
Another appeared after Harry spent twenty minutes organizing books by subject.
The System seemed weirdly invested in encouraging functional life habits.
Considering Harry’s childhood, that was probably necessary.
Harry guided the broom downward toward the riverbank while mentally opening the Quest Log.
The list of completed quests had grown surprisingly large over the week; still, the important quests remained unfinished.
One of the newer major quests sat near the top of the list.
[Freedom Under Law]
Description:
You are currently a minor under the authority of guardians deemed unsuitable for your long-term wellbeing.
True independence requires legal recognition, financial stability, and political awareness.
Objectives:
Obtain legal independence OR secure alternative guardianship
Gain stable residence
Establish sustainable income or financial autonomy
Rewards:
+5,000 EXP
Freedom
System Feature Expansion
Failure Penalty:
Loss of personal autonomyPossible forced return to hostile guardians
Harry grimaced slightly.
Yeah.
That one was currently his highest priority because, as fun as magical camping trips were, eventually someone would notice that Harry Potter had effectively vanished off the face of Britain.
At least he already had the financial side covered thanks to his inheritance.
Now if only the Ministry would accept camping with a house-elf and a magical owl as a perfectly respectable living arrangement…
Another newer quest sat beneath it.
One that had appeared three days ago while Harry researched the First Wizarding War.
[Main Quest]
[The Soul of Tom Riddle]
Description:
Tom Marvolo Riddle fragmented his soul multiple times to achieve artificial immortality.
As long as these fragments exist, Voldemort can return.
Known Horcruxes remain active.
Objectives:
Locate and destroy all Horcruxes
Current Progress: 1/6
Rewards:
+40,000 EXP???
Soul Integrity Restoration
Possible Skill Evolution
Failure Penalty:
Voldemort’s continued immortality
Harry exhaled slowly.
At least he had one advantage in this quest: he already knew where most of them were.
The Diary had been destroyed at the end of the last school year.
Slytherin’s Locket was hidden at Grimmauld Place.
Hufflepuff’s Cup rested inside the Lestrange vault at Gringotts.
Ravenclaw’s Diadem was concealed in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts.
Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring lay in the Gaunt shack in Little Hangleton.
And the sixth fragment was inside Harry himself.
That knowledge alone gave him a massive advantage over “canon”, but actually destroying them safely would be the difficult part.
Sure, most of them could probably be destroyed with basilisk venom, but obtaining them was another matter entirely.
The Cup was locked inside Gringotts, which left him with two options: go through legal channels and risk involving the Ministry, or attempt a heist.
The Locket was in the possession of that insane elf.
Convincing him to hand it over could either be incredibly easy or impossibly difficult; it was a gamble.
Then there was the Ring, along with a curse powerful enough to doom even Dumbledore.
So yes, this was definitely not going to be an easy quest.
Alongside that quest came the biggest quest of all.
[Main Quest]
[The Dark Lord Must Fall]
Harry closed the menu before reading further.
One problem at a time.
Harry descended toward the riverside clearing, slowing the Nimbus just before touching down smoothly against the grass.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Hedwig launched herself from his shoulder and flew toward a nearby tree with all the dignity of a queen returning to her throne.
Harry snorted softly and tucked the Snitch into his pocket.
“Show-off.”
Through the familiar bond, he felt smug satisfaction radiating from the owl.
Honestly, Hedwig had become far sassier after evolving.
Dobby stood near the tent beside a neatly arranged outdoor table already prepared for brunch.
There were sandwiches, eggs, fruit, tea, and fresh pastries laid out atop a white tablecloth.
Honestly, Harry still had not adjusted to this: being taken care of, that is.
Having a butler was deeply strange and also incredible.
“Welcome back, Master Harry,” Dobby said with a small bow.
Harry still twitched internally every time he heard that title.
Anything remotely ownership-adjacent made years of Dursley baggage immediately rise from the grave to haunt him, but according to Dobby, that was simply how butlers addressed their employers, and after nearly a week of hearing it constantly, Harry was slowly getting used to it.
Dobby himself had changed quite a lot over the past week.
His obsession with becoming “the greatest magical butler in history” had evolved into what Harry could only describe as a full-time research project.
The elf had apparently been reading every book remotely related to service etiquette, household management, hospitality, and formal conduct that he could get his hands on.
The results were noticeable.
Gone were the aggressively mismatched clothes Dobby had worn after gaining freedom.
Now the elf wore an actual tailored black suit complete with polished shoes, white gloves, and a silver tie.
The first suit had apparently been handmade through magic using recycled fabric.
Harry had nearly died from guilt upon learning that so he immediately informed Dobby that, as his employer, providing proper work attire was Harry’s responsibility.
Now Harry strongly suspected the elf possessed a larger clothing budget than he did.
Whether Dobby bought the outfits or somehow crafted them personally remained unclear.
Considering the elf’s increasingly alarming competence, either option felt plausible.
Even Dobby’s speech had changed for the most part.
The elf still occasionally slipped into third person or emotional squeaking fits, but overall he was trying very hard to sound more elegant and composed.
“Brunch is prepared, Master Harry,” Dobby announced proudly.
Harry sat down with a quiet sigh of appreciation, since flying always left him starving
“This is amazing.”
Dobby visibly brightened.
Honestly, Harry was beginning to suspect positive reinforcement worked on Dobby with approximately the same efficiency as rocket fuel.
As Harry started eating, Dobby stood nearby with the posture of someone taking royal guard duty extremely seriously.
Harry had tried more than once to convince Dobby to join him for meals, but the elf insisted it wasn’t proper for a butler.
That didn’t stop Harry from making sure Dobby actually ate properly, however.
“Your clothes are prepared for after your shower, Master Harry,” the elf informed him.
Right.
Today was important.
Harry had his first meeting with a lawyer.
Actually, several meetings.
After days of research, Harry decided consulting multiple solicitors was the safest approach before committing to anyone.
Magical Britain was small, politically messy, and apparently infested with old alliances and grudges.
Trusting the wrong person could end catastrophically.
Thankfully, arranging the appointments had been easier than expected: A written request delivered by owl usually sufficed.
Maintaining secrecy had worried Harry far more, but during his magical law research he discovered something extremely reassuring: Wizarding solicitors regularly used magically binding confidentiality contracts.
Essentially magical NDAs.
Once signed, the lawyer physically could not reveal protected information without consequences.
Honestly, Harry thought Muggle lawyers would probably kill for that system.
Which meant he could safely discuss emancipation, guardianship, and Dumbledore-related concerns without risking the entire wizarding world learning Harry Potter had apparently vanished into the wilderness.
After finishing brunch, Harry headed into the tent to shower.
The interior still amazed him every single time.
From the outside, the tent looked small enough for camping, but inside, it felt like a compact, magical apartment.
Harry washed away the sweat from flying before changing into the clothes Dobby had prepared: Short black trousers, a crisp white button-up shirt, a green tie, and a fitted dark jacket.
Harry stared at himself in the mirror afterward.
He looked like a rich kid.
Like one of those upper-class boys he occasionally saw on television while living with the Dursleys.
Or a young aristocrat from a period drama.
Definitely not “neglected orphan sleeping in a magical tent.”
It felt bizarre seeing himself look like that.
Besides his Hogwarts uniforms, Harry had never really owned clothes that were actually his, let alone ones that fit properly.
Most of what he wore growing up had just been Dudley’s old hand-me-downs.
Harry adjusted the tie awkwardly.
Somewhere along the way, his wardrobe had quietly expanded dramatically.
Harry genuinely had no idea when half these clothes appeared.
At this point, he strongly suspected Dobby either secretly shopped during the night or possessed a hidden textile empire.
When Harry exited the room, Dobby froze dramatically, his eyes sparkled.
“Oh,” Dobby whispered emotionally.
“Master Harry looks extraordinarily distinguished.”
Harry immediately felt embarrassed.
“It’s just clothes.”
“It is not just clothes,” Dobby said with seriousness.
Then the elf abruptly produced a camera.
Harry barely had time to react before—
Flash.
“You took a picture of me?”
Dobby looked completely unapologetic.
“For memories,” he declared proudly.
Harry opened his mouth to protest, then paused because, honestly… he did not really mind.
Especially after glancing toward the small desk near the tent wall, a framed photograph sat there: Harry, Hedwig, and Dobby, taken several days earlier.
Hedwig looked majestic, Dobby looked overwhelmingly happy, and Harry himself looked relaxed in a way he barely recognized.
His gaze lingered on the picture for a few quiet seconds.
Family.
The thought still struck Harry strangely every time he looked at the magical moving photo.
His family.
Not the Dursleys.
Not people tied to him out of obligation, but people who genuinely cared about him.
A tiny smile tugged at Harry’s lips despite himself.
And through their familiar bond, Hedwig returned the warmth.
***
[Status]
Name: Harry James Potter
Level: 3
EXP: 85/700
HP: 100/100
MP: 110/110
AGI — Rank E (15)
END — Rank F (10)
MNA — Rank E (11)
[Unasign Stat Points: 2]