"Son of a bitch! Fenrir, you absolute mongrel! Why are you still chasing me?!"
Basil gasped for air, collapsing behind a heavy cast-iron door.
This house, built inside a winding tunnel dug into a hillside, usually gave him an immense sense of security. But right now, that security was shattering.
SCREEECH.
The ear-splitting sound of nails dragging across a chalkboard echoed through the tunnel. It was obvious—Fenrir Greyback was still clawing at the door.
Accompanying the scratching was his nauseating, filth-filled trash talk.
"Knock, knock. It's Fenrir, my little lamb..."
"Open the door and let Daddy have a taste. Slurp..."
Basil forced himself to stay calm, sucking in a breath of cold air through his teeth.
"Screw your mother! I don't have time for your crap!"
Today, the figure from the horror stories every British wizarding child grew up hearing had walked right out of a nightmare and into his life. The devil who attacks children, Voldemort's hunting dog, the cannibal demon, the Alpha of the pack.
And he was separated from him by only two doors.
Yes, two.
Beyond the cast-iron gate he was leaning against, there was one more barrier. It was the only physical entrance to this cave—a massive, circular door charmed with a permanent Disillusionment Charm, making it blend into the surroundings like a chameleon.
The door itself was goblin-made. It possessed properties only goblin-wrought silver could have: it was indestructible, repelled dust, and only imbibed that which strengthened it.
It was the core anchor for the Protection Charms covering the entire mountain. As long as that door stood, no outsider could tunnel around it. Hell, they could set the mountain on fire, and he'd still be safe.
It was, without a doubt, the most expensive thing the Granger family owned. Its existence was the only reason Basil hadn't lost his mind yet.
It gave him just enough time to sort through his memories.
He was a Transmigrator.
In his past life, he was a "Celestial Dragon"—a trust-fund kid from the capital, and an orphan to boot. After his parents passed, the government bought out their property, instantly turning him into part of the nouveau riche.
He dropped out of college as a freshman and started living the high life.
At the end of 2020, he managed to hook up with a pair of twin sisters he met through an online game. After experiencing the "Great Harmony of Life," he woke up, popped a performance-enhancing pill, and got ready for overtime.
Next thing he knew—blackout. He lost consciousness and transmigrated.
He had arrived in the magical world of Hogwarts, Voldemort, and Harry Potter.
He was now the descendant of a high-born, old-money London wizarding family that dated back to William the Conqueror. A distant, eight-times-removed relative of Hector Dagworth-Granger, the founder of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers.
But the "Curse of the Loner Protagonist" was clearly shining down on him.
His parents died in the First Wizarding War. He was raised by his grandmother, who passed away a month ago, making him officially an orphan.
God dammit!
He was an orphan before transmigrating, and he's an orphan now. Wasn't this whole trip a waste of time?
Even more ridiculous was that before today, his memories hadn't awakened. He had spent his whole life here with zero survival instincts, skipping around outside like Little Red Riding Hood picking mushrooms.
For a wild wizard with no formal training, he was nothing but a piece of tender meat to dark creatures like werewolves, vampires, and giants.
He should have just turtled up inside the bunker. Within the range of the blood-warded protection spells, he had nothing to fear.
But no, he just had to wander outside the perimeter. And he ended up attracting the notorious Fenrir Greyback.
If it weren't for the Hogwarts acceptance letter arriving today—which finally triggered the "System" (his cheat code) that came with him—he would be dead meat.
A cold, mechanical voice had rung out:
[Hogwarts, Hufflepuff House, 7th Year Student, Ryan Smith... Data missing. Unable to fully load. Confirm load? No response detected. Defaulting to: YES.]
That trigger finally unlocked his past life's memories. Otherwise, he would have been done for.
"Wait... I have a System?" Basil suddenly snapped back to reality.
He cleared his throat and stood up, a smug look crossing his face.
"Fenrir, you son of a bitch! I'm gonna go take a nap! Heh heh heh!"
"Just you wait! When I come back, I'm going to show you what a real Hogwarts student looks like!"
"I'll control you with the Imperius, mark you with the Cruciatus, and then hit you with the Killing Curse! A full-course meal of Unforgivable Curses!"
On the other side of the door, Fenrir looked confused. Who does this kid think he is? Voldemort?
Without waiting for a response, Basil turned and walked deeper into the tunnel.
Soon, he reached the living room. It was tube-shaped, emphasizing the tunnel architecture, but incredibly cozy. The soundproofing was perfect; Fenrir's disgusting voice was gone.
The walls were tastefully decorated, and the floor was covered in plush carpets and tiles. There were overstuffed sofas and chairs with black and yellow patterns and polished copper trim.
He needed a quiet space to think and figure out the most important thing right now—his System.
Basil collapsed onto the sofa, his blue eyes fluttering shut.
"What a rip-off!"
A few minutes later, Basil opened his eyes, looking utterly defeated.
"First, I get to transmigrate. Second, I get a System. Two happy things overlapping. These two joys should have brought me a dream-like happiness. But why... why did it turn out like this?"
Just a moment ago, when Basil focused his mind, a bird's-eye view of Hogwarts Castle appeared in his head.
However, he couldn't zoom in or move the camera. Everything was greyed out.
Only the [Magic Book] in the bottom right corner had color.
But when he clicked it...
The book had no cards.
How the hell am I supposed to play a card game without cards?!
Furthermore, his original Level 100 Magic Book was reset to Level 1. The attribute bonuses were tragic:
Health: +1400
Attack: +12
Exploration: +0%
He clicked [My Deck]. Empty.
The Echoes tab on the left? Blank.
The Wand tab? Same story.
The only thing left of the game was the [Magic Book] interface itself.
You have to understand, this game was made by NetEase (the "Pig Factory").
Tencent Games: "You pay money = You are my Daddy."
Indie Devs: "You pay money = You are my Grandpa."
NetEase: "Money + Grinding your life away = Schrödinger's Daddy." (Maybe you're the Daddy, maybe I'm the Daddy—it depends on your luck).
And Harry Potter: Magic Awakened was the king of this nonsense.
In the game, the player is a generic protagonist entering school the same year as Harry Potter. The game itself was his cheat.
NetEase marketed it as an open-world, dress-up, gacha, casual, social, RPG. No fixed storyline, high freedom. You could run for Minister of Magic or become a rural terrorist like Voldemort 2.0.
But to do that, you needed three things: Grinding, Money, and Luck.
But now? There are no daily tasks to whale on, no storyline to grind, no classes to attend, and no Forbidden Forest to raid.
isn't this System useless?
"Wait, actually... it's not all bad." Basil rubbed his golden hair.
When he inspected the System earlier, he received a piece of information.
The [Magic Book] in his mind couldn't fully function virtually. To work, it had to be "Realized"—brought out of his mind and into reality.
It just took a single thought.
And once realized, it would adapt to the rules of this physical world.
"Now... is the moment to witness a miracle!"
Basil held his hands out, palms up. A dazzling blue light erupted from thin air.
A vast, boundless power descended upon the room.
A heavy, black-leather book appeared in his hands.
At the same time, a flood of information surged into his brain.
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