Level Five: "Team Battle"
First thing to do, Harry decided after catching up with Neville in the first of the undoubtedly many freight cars, was he had to find out exactly what his 'team' could do. Team Bonus stuff aside, which was all kinds of great for his own stats, for all he knew none of them except Zatanna and Hermione had any spells equipped, and they may even have extra abilities that he didn't know about and wouldn't know to use because he didn't know about it. So when it was obvious there was going to be a 'battle' right out the gate, he Paused again, but this time while the others stood like living statues around him, he pulled his Grimoire from his Utility Belt.
Sure enough, there was a new 'chapter' entitled "Team (Mage)". 'Turning' to that page in the book, he soon was presented with all those in his team in a list, including himself up at the top. Just to be sure, he selected his own name first. Beneath it, a list of options appeared.
Harry Potter
- Stats
- Abilities
- Skills
- Inventory
- Equipment
- Bonus
He selected Equipment, and sure enough saw all that he had equipped, including his two familiars. He went through each of them one at a time, but halfway through he noticed a little note, like an Alert or an option selection of some kind. It just said "(*) Show All". Just to see what would happen, he pressed it. Instantly, all the things under his name were listed out in one giant list, even the stats of his Familiars!
"Useful," he commented, noting that the same option now said "Hide All". He backed out of his option and then one by one went through each of his teammates and did the Show All option, perused what they had or could do, and moved on to the next. Once he had all the information, only then did he go back and make changes, pulling things from their Inventory and equipping them appropriately. So that in the end, when he was ready to Start things back up, they looked like this;
Hermione Granger
- Stats
Level 12
HP: 310
MP: 320
Stamina: 300
Charisma: 30
Stealth: 27
Intelligence: 85
- Abilities
Photographic Memory, Skill Bonus: Spells, Puzzler:3, Spell Effect: Minor Protego (+), Fast Caster (+)
- Skills
Bookworm Bonus, Speed Read, Fast Learner, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Trivia, ...
See More?
- Inventory
Money Bag, Wand, Clothes: Daily wear, Clothes: School Uniform#1, Bookmark of Protection,
Slim Bracer, Utility Belt: Lady's Purse, Books:...(See All?), Materials:...(See All?), Practical Shoes,
HP Potion, MP Potion.
- Equipment
Clothes: School Uniform#1 (+10% Defense, Spell Protection, Hogwarts Protection*)
Wand: Vine Wood and Dragon Heartstring
Utility Belt: Lady's Purse
Slim Bracer (Grants Ability 'Fast Caster', increases spell casting rate by 5%)
Bookmark of Protection (Grants Ability 'Spell Effect: Minor Protego', -10% to all spell or magic based attacks)
Practical Shoes (Permits 'Running' and improves movement with 1% less drain on Stamina)
(* Only when on Hogwarts grounds, or in Hogwarts Castle)
- Bonus
+5 Intelligence Bonus
Xander Harris
- Stats
Level 12
HP: 325
MP: 380
Stamina: 310
Charisma: 70
Stealth: 30
Intelligence: 35
- Abilities
Link, Magic Immunity:1, Natural Occlumens, One Who Sees (*), Spell Effect: Minor Protego (+)
- Skills
Quick Friend (Can raise RL with others more easily), Twinkee Grandmaster, ... (See More?)
- Inventory
Money Bag, Wand, Clothes: Old, Clothes: School Uniform#1, Utility Belt#1, Family Heirloom, HP Potion
- Equipment
Clothes: School Uniform#1
Wand: Willow and Dragon Heartstring
Utility Belt#1
Family Heirloom (Grants Ability 'Spell Effect: Minor Protego', -10% to all spell or magic based attacks)
Practical Shoes
- Bonus
Balanced Team Bonus: +1 HP, +1 MP, +1 Stamina, +5 Charisma, +5 Stealth, +5 Intelligence
Willow Rosenberg
- Stats
Level 12
HP: 310
MP: 410
Stamina: 300
Charisma: 25
Stealth: 30
Intelligence: 87
- Abilities
Link, Photographic Memory, Puzzler(*), Hacker(*), Spell Effect: Minor Protego (+), Artillery (+).
- Skills
Bookworm Bonus, Speed Read, Fast Learner, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Trivia, ...
See More?
- Inventory
Money Bag, Wand, Clothes: Daily wear, Clothes: School Uniform#1, Bookmark of Protection,
Slim Armlet, Utility Belt: Lady's Purse, Books:...(See All?), Materials:...(See All?), HP Potion, MP Potion.
- Equipment
Clothes: School Uniform#1
Wand: Birch and Phoenix Feather
Utility Belt: Lady's Purse
Slim Armlet (Grants Ability 'Artillery', increases Attack range from 'Mid-Range' to 'Long-Range')
Bookmark of Protection
Practical Shoes
- Bonus
+5 Intelligence Bonus and +5 MP Bonus
Sabrina Spellman
- Stats
Level 12
HP: 310
MP: 415
Stamina: 300
Charisma: 70
Stealth: 20
Intelligence: 50
- Abilities
Natural Witch, Finger-Casting, Puzzler: 1, Skill Bonus: Transfiguration, Spell Effect: Minor Protego (+),
Salem Mischief
- Skills
Familiar Master (9), Bookworm Bonus, Transfiguration: 3, Charms, ... (See More?)
- Inventory
Money Bag, Wand, Clothes: Daily wear, Clothes: School Uniform#1, Bookmark of Protection, Utility Belt: LP
Grimoire: Spellman Family Magic Book, Books:...(See All?), Materials:...(See All?), HP Potion, MP Potion.
- Equipment
Clothes: School Uniform#1
Wand: Maple and Unicorn Hair
Utility Belt: Lady's Purse
Bookmark of Protection
Practical Shoes
Familiar: Salem
- Bonus
+5 MP Bonus
Ron Weasley
- Stats
Level 12
HP: 345
MP: 340
Stamina: 310
Charisma: 60
Stealth: 30
Intelligence: 35
- Abilities
Pureblood Bonus (+5 HP, +1% Attack, +10 Charisma), Spell Effect: Minor Protego (+)
- Skills
Chess Grandmaster, Fast Feaster(*) (Regenerate 5 points of HP for any food consumed), Quick Friend.
- Inventory
Wand, Clothes: Used, Clothes: School Uniform#1, Utility Belt#1, Ring of Protection, Packed Lunch, MP Potion
- Equipment
Clothes: School Uniform#1
Wand: Ash and Unicorn Hair
Utility Belt#1
Ring of Protection
Practical Shoes
- Bonus
Balanced Team Bonus: +1 HP, +1 MP, +1 Stamina, +5 Charisma, +5 Stealth, +5 Intelligence
Zatanna Zatara
- Stats
Level 12
HP: 310
MP: 400
Stamina: 305
Charisma: 45
Stealth: 47
Intelligence: 50
- Abilities
Zatara Trait: Reverse Casting, Extra Sense: Magic (Able to detect and track magical effects), Magic Imunity,
Magic Affinity: 1, Spell Effect: Minor Protego(+), Spell Effect: Minor Allure (+), Spell Effect: Minor Flight (+)
- Skills
Bookworm Bonus, Showmanship: 2, Speed Read, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Trivia, ...
See More?
- Inventory
Money Bag, Wand, Clothes: Daily Wear, Clothes: School Uniform#1, Clothes: Costume#1, Utility Belt: LP,
Costume Pieces*: Top Hat, Jacket, Vest, Bow Tie, Fishnet Stockings, Slim Heels. Protection Flower: Plastic
(*Can only be worn with Clothes: Costume)
- Equipment
Clothes: Costume#1 (Grants +10 MP, +15% Defense, Spell Effect Minor Allure, Spell Effect: Minor Flight)
Wand: Teak and Dragon Heartstring
Utility Belt: Lady's Purse
Protection Flower: Plastic (Grants Spell Effect: Minor Protego)
- Bonus
+5% Attack Bonus and +5 MP Bonus
Once that was all squared away, Harry Started the Game back up, after witnessing his Team's change in attire that is, (Zatanna... just Wow!). It was a very good thing that he'd equipped them all when he did, because their stats beforehand had been... well not good. Not to mention he was right in that only Zatanna and Hermione had any spells equipped, and none of them had been what you might call 'Battle' spells. The moment they were past the first crate, some gnomes had appeared from the nooks and crannies of the crates packed there. Pulling his wand, he prepared to banish them with the Flippendo spell, but a screen popped up before he could.
*You Are About To Enter Battle!*
"There are 3 different Battle Modes available for the Game. Please Choose From The Following:"
Free-For-All: Based on fastest reaction time and who does the most damage soonest, just like in life.
Turn-Based: Based on the Character Stats to determine order and damage, everybody takes a turn.
Strategy-Based: Based on the Stats and Character Positions on the Field, more like chess.
Harry was stunned. He actually had no idea what it was asking him about here. He'd only ever been involved in real fights, nothing about this Turn and Strategy thing, and he knew from playing against Ron that he was horrible at chess! He quickly chose Free-For-All, since it said that bit about it being just like in life. Moments later, the screen disappeared and the gnomes started to swarm. Quickly getting over being surprised by something like that, Harry used his Omnilens ability to target and reverted to his original intention of using the Flippendo spell.
"Flippendo!" he cast, and moved to cast again, but to his surprise, from the end of his wand came seven streams of gold and red sparks of the Flippendo spell, hitting each of the gnomes he'd targeted. The rest of his Team, which remained 'behind' him and nearly invisible, took care of the rest, each firing their own Flippendo spell.
"Whoa!" Neville cried, standing in front of him rather than behind. "That was amazing Harry! You're powerful!"
"It's... nothing Neville. Come on, let's keep moving," he said.
They encountered another five gnome swarms by the time they'd gotten to the other side of the current freight car. Each time, when Harry had multiple targets highlighted, when he cast the spell, it was like he'd cast it for each and every one of them, rather than just the first one. If he hadn't said it already, he would be preaching it non-stop, he LOVED his Omnilens!
At the door to the next car, they came across their first true obstacle. The door seemed to be warded somehow, as there was a visible energy barrier over it, preventing them from even trying to open it. Suddenly, Hermione, Willow, and Sabrina appeared right beside him, looking at the ward/lock. All those with the 'Puzzler' Ability he realized when they each reached out one hand to touch the warded door.
"It is a Team Lock ward," Willow pronounced after a few moments. "I agree," Hermione said a beat later, while Sabrina just nodded her head.
"That means," Salem spoke, appearing at their feet, "that you'll have to cast the Unlock Charm, Alohomora at it, but not just one of you, but however many locks are needed for this ward, and it has to be done simultaneously. You'll have to use the Command spell to do it right."
Getting over the fact that Sabrina's talking cat was giving him instructions, Harry turned his attention toward the problem at hand. "How many locks are part of this ward?" he asked the three Puzzlers.
"Three," they answered simultaneously.
Checking his Grimoire real quick, he saw who did and did not have the spell Alohomora. As luck would have it, Hermione, Sabrina and Willow each had learned and equipped the Unlock Spell. Quickly making sure that this Team Spell: Command was equipped, as well as reading through how to use it real quick, he nodded and pulled his wand, holding it at ready and then speaking the same way he did when making selections for Screens, he said, "Command: Hermione, Sabrina, Willow; use Alohomora on the ward, now!"
The moment he said the word 'now', the three witches raised their wands and incanted the Unlock Spell, "Alohomora!" The spells hit the ward at the exact same moment and the ward disappeared and the door flung open, allowing them to proceed.
"Hm, good job," he said, but they'd already disappeared from his view. With a sigh, he briefly turned back and switched to X-Ray to see if he'd missed anything. There was a Skill Point hidden behind one of the crates, but he silently sent Midnight to gather it quickly, pleased to see that once it was acquired, it spread to every Team member. He'd been worried that he would have to pick and choose who got the Skill Points, but like with his Level and EXP, the Skill Points were applied evenly across the board.
"Come on! Hurry!" Neville repeated his earlier sound bite as he went through to the next car.
With a sigh, Harry and his Team followed. The next car, they were assaulted by Doxies, Fire Crabs and Fire Salamanders. Unfortunately, the best spells for dealing with the fire-based creatures, Harry did not have equipped, and the rest of the team didn't have at all. So he Paused real quick and pulled out his Grimoire and changed his Equipped Spells around a bit, as well as Hermione's and Zatanna's, the only other two that new water and ice based spells. The rest he tried to get them to use Flippendo on the Crabs, and the Stinging Jinx on the Doxies, but he saw no way of doing that. Then he remembered the Command spell.
He Started up again and then shouted, "Command; Everybody use Flippendo on the Crabs and the Stinging Jinx on the Doxies, leave the Salamanders to me, Hermione and Zatana! Then..." he suddenly lost his voice and an Alert appeared out of the corner of his eye.
*You can only issue (3) commands with the Command Spell per use!
He sighed and focused back on the fight, making sure to target the Salamanders before hitting them with the Glacius spell, covering them in frost. Hermione used Aquamantia, and Zatanna used a Reverse Spell entitled "Ezeerf!" They all had to dodge the Doxies and fireballs flying, and mysteriously Neville had vanished entirely. He was just about to ask whose bright idea it was to have Fire Crabs and Fire Salamanders on a train made mostly of wood, when the creatures they were fighting got reinforcements from somewhere.
Harry hit upon a new strategy once he saw a number of the overturned Fire Crabs and ice statues left of his and the girls work on the Salamanders. Once a Salamander was frozen solid, and the Crab was on its back, he used a simple pushing spell to send the Crabs shooting at the Salamanders, where they collided and shattered. Ironically, both the Crab and the Salamander were shattered by this move, against all logic and facts of magic. Harry just blamed it on the Game and moved on. Once the Doxies were out of the air, they were easily dealt with and vanished the moment they hit the ground. With the occasional surge of reinforcements, it took longer than Harry felt it should have, but eventually they got them all, and just as soon as they did, Neville reappeared and shouted out his same sound bite.
Only to be met with another puzzle of a different nature the moment they rounded the corner.
Hermione, Sabrina and Willow appeared the moment they were confronted with a wall of crates with no visible way past it. Again, it was Willow who had the solution first, probably because out of the three of them, her Puzzler Ability was fully leveled up.
"We need to find some way of opening the passage back up. Look for a lever or switch or magical artifact," the redheaded girl instructed.
"We could try blasting our way through," Sabrina suggested, fingering her wand.
"No, Willow is right, we need to find some way of opening the passage, whether by moving boxes or by opening them in the right order," Hermione said.
"Hm," Harry mumbled and switched his Omnilens back to X-Ray mode. Xander was right, despite not being what it was advertized as, the feature was dead useful. It was tempting just to leave it on all the time. Sure enough, there right next to the wall of crates was a 'visible' stone gargoyle statue sitting in one of the side-craters. An Unlock spell cast at it had the statue revealed and the three Puzzlers congratulating him on finding it.
"I think this is a Lumogoyle," Hermione said after examining it closely.
"Right, you cast Lumos, or some other light spell on it and it shows the way to the next area!" Willow exclaimed.
"Lumos!" Harry cast at the statue. Sure enough, it lit up with some inner golden light and then shined that light onto the wall of crates, which somehow became translucent, showing Neville on the other side already.
"Stupid game," Harry sighed and lead the way through to the next compartment. There were more Doxies waiting, alongside what could have been Acromantula, but they were too small to be full grown. Regardless, there were cat and chiuaua sized spiders were on the floors and walls and hanging from the ceilings. Harry had them all use the Stinging Jinx and Flippendo mostly, as his first choice of Stupefy or Incendio were not among any of their spell options.
It took them twice as long as the last set of creatures, but that was because there were just so damn many of them, no need for further reinforcements. After the fighting was finally over, Harry checked everybody's stats, and distributed healing where necessary, thankfully not having to use up any of their collection of Game potions, as Harry and Zatanna both knew and could use healing spells.
In the third and final section of the second car, they faced the toughest creature challenge yet. Doxies, Pixies, Haunted Books that fired razer sharp pages at them that could probably cut steel! Harry kept everybody dodging and used the strongest offensive spell he had available, while everybody else used either Stinging Jinxes or Rictusempra at them. Also, if it could be said as such, Harry was abusing the hell out of his multi-target abilitiy, and he felt no guilt about it whatsoever. He kind of wished he could share or even give his Omnilens to everybody in the Team all at once, but without actually purchasing one each and giving it to them individually, that wasn't going to happen.
He took out the Haunted Books first, as those flying pages of theirs counted as Enemies on their own and did lots of damage if they hit. Once the last of those were finally out of the picture, it was easy for him to help the rest in cleaning up the other flying menaces. He sent Midnight and Hedwig both to look for any hidden treasures once the fighting was actually complete, and got a couple Chocolate Frog Cards, and some other candies that made it so nobody needed healing spells this time around.
"OK, they should be through here," Neville indicated the door leading to the next freight car. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
The way Neville asked the question actually made Harry Pause and double-check everybody's stats. He was glad he did so because apparently in the middle of the fight he'd gotten the Alert about being able to Level Up, but had missed it because he'd been too busy at the time. He quickly leveled himself up and applied Skill Points, and when prompted about it, he allowed everybody else to 'Auto' Level up, basically letting them choose for themselves where they wanted their Skill Points to go and everything. He also enabled Hedwig and Midnight's Battle Companion Abilities. He had a feeling that their addition was going to be needed in the upcoming fight. He wasn't surprised to see that Salem had no Battle Companion ability, instead something called Salem Mischief. When he checked to see what it was about, apparently in real world terms it meant that he always got into some kind of trouble and had to be bailed out by Sabrina in one way or another. In Game terms, however, it meant that he would show up randomly and either offer bits of advice, whether it was helpful or not wouldn't be known until after the fact, or in a fight he would drop some random item or run by and cause a chain of events in the environment that would cause significant damage to whoever was hit by it. So if Harry was observant, he could probably push the Enemy into being caught up in it rather than his Team.
"Yeah, let's go get Trevor back for you, Neville," Harry said once he'd Started things again.
"OK, I'll wait out here. Good luck!" Neville said, stepping to the side of the door, which opened on its own.
*BOSS BATTLE*
"You Are About To Enter A Boss Battle. Are You Prepared?"
YES/NO
Taking a deep breath, he selected, "Yes."
Just like that they walked into the blackened door and when Harry could see again, he and his Team mates, Hedwig 'hovering' above him with wings spread, Midnight crouched before him, all stood in front of three Third Years. Three very familiar Third Years.
"Fred? George? Lee?" Harry called. "What are you doing taking Neville's toad?"
"Toad? What toad?" Lee demanded. "I just wanted to trade that ickle Firstie my giant spider for his chimera!"
"Oh, look Fred," George spoke up, a dark and mischevious smirk on his face. "More Ickle Firsties, and Won-won is with them too."
"Has Won-won gone and made some friends?" Fred teased. "Get lost Firsties. Guess that scaredy Firstie went and tried to renig on our agreement. Well too bad, Lee's keeping the chimera. Here, you can give him Lee's spider."
All three Third Years laughed derisively and moments later an actual full grown Acromantula crawled out from behind the Thrid Years. It hissed and raised up on its legs, moving its forelegs menacingly.
Looking up at it, Harry could not help commenting, "Lee's spider was not that big the first time around. Stupid game!" Harry gave the Commands to spread out, dodge the legs, and to use the same spells that had worked on the smallers spiders previously. Then he proceeded to fight an Acromantula on the Hogwarts Express as a First Year.
What made it worse was that the three Third Years did not stay out of the fight. They would often shoot distracting or debilitating spells on his Team, potentially enabling the giant spider to damage them further, but Harry was having none of it, either reversing or countering the spells, or attacking the spider enough that it couldn't take advantage of the disabled member of his Team. The only thing that gave them a respite from this was Salem occasionally going for a stroll across the luggage rack right above the Third Years, and they would be too busy digging themselves out and putting the luggage back up in the rack to continue harrassing them, allowing the First Years to do serious damage on the giant spider with no interference. Then, right when his Omnilens told him that the spider was on its last bit of HP, instead of harrassing them, the trio of troublemakers started casting Protegos on the spider, keeping them from ending the fight!
"Fine, be that way!" Harry then adjusted his stance and instead of shooting off one spell, he poured on the magic and turned one attack spell into a continuous attack beam that kept up for as long as he had the MP to keep it up for. The others mimicked him, and soon enough the Third Years couldn't keep their shields up under such pressure and three cycles of this later, the spider was knocked out and Lee was crying over his injured pet while Fred and George were teasing their brother rather mercilessly.
"All right, the ickle Firstie can keep his stupid 'Trevor'," Lee finally relented, putting his now 'normal' giant spider back into its cage and turning another, much larger cage over to the Team of First Years. "Come on, Fred, George. Let the ickle Firsties have their win."
"Well, they did play fair," Fred said.
"And they did let Ronniekins play with them," George agreed.
"Very well then," they said together. "Enjoy your Reward!" the two of them then handed over a treasure chest that soon was pouring out Skill Points, Cards, candies, and other Game assorted items. They got another Level Up out of it, and whats more, Harry found himself with a strange opportunity when they were left with just the caged box containing 'Trevor'. The moment Harry approached it, a screen came up in front of him.
*FAMILIAR: Chimera*
Name: Trevor
"Chimera are a mix of different creatures in one. You have an open slot for a Familiar. Would You Like To Acquire This Familiar?"
YES/NO
Harry was about to jump at the chance, but a niggling little voice at the back of his mind stopped him. If he claimed 'Trevor' as his Familiar, then... then he would be stealing him from Neville. This is what the Quest mission talked about, returning the Familiar to Neville, not claiming it as his own. He figured the only reason he got a prompt about this was because he was a Familiar Grandmaster. If he'd only had Hedwig, or if all his slots were filled with just Hedwig and Midnight, then he was sure he wouldn't have even been offered this opportunity. He selected, "No."
*Are You Sure?*
YES/NO
"I'm sure, stop asking, give Trevor back to Neville, confirm, whatever!" Harry shouted at the screen. Yes was selected and then Neville raced forward from behind him, screaming, "Trevor!"
*Your Relationship Status has Changed!
Harry smiled, glad he'd made the right decision.
*QUEST COMPLETE*
LEAPING LONGBOTTOMS
"Rewards: Neville RL(8), 110 EXP, +5 Charisma, 1 Skill Point, 50 Galleons."
Then came another chime, indicating another Level Up. Harry sighed and almost regretted keeping the Game on Easy, but he was still new at this, and the chance for easy leveling was worth having to deal with it so regularly. Something else to get used to, the moment the Quest was done and the Rewards handed out and the Leveling up completed, Harry blinked, just blinked, and found himself back in the same compartment, with everyone exactly where they'd been when Neville had first knocked on the door. Except, now Neville was inside and seated next to Ron.
Stupid Game.
*HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY*
*HOGSMEADE STATION*
The moment they arrived, Harry found himself standing on the Platform alongside the other First Years, shuffling towards Hagrid who was calling for them, standing a fully body length above them. The moment after they arrived, Harry walked smack dab into a new Quest Screen.
*QUEST*
THE WRONG SORT
"This is the Final Quest for the Tutorial. After this, the Real Game begins. Choose your House Alignment, attend the Sorting Feast, and feel free to explore to your heart's content! Rewards: House Title, 1100 EXP, Reset to Level 1 on 'Normal' Level, where each level takes 1000 EXP times the number of the level on top of what has been added already, Keep current Spells, Abilities, Skills, and Items."
*CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE TUTORIAL!*
"Wait, what?!" Harry screamed out loud as the screen disappeared and he was left on the Platform with the other First Years and Hagrid. There was no answer.
END Level Five.