Basil felt a strange, profound connection forming between his body and the black leather book floating before him.
It went deeper than blood, deeper than a simple merging of souls.
It felt like the book had become... another part of himself.
Without any wind, the book flipped open to the first page.
[ID: 000000001]
[Magic Book Level: 1]
[Name: Ryan Smith / Basil Granger]
[Race: Wizard]
[Enrollment Date: 1991/07/27]
[Health: 10 + 5]
[Mana: 7 + 3]
[Luck: 3 ~ 7]
[Family Trait: Plant Affinity (Awakened), Potions Mastery]
In the top right corner, a 3D hologram of a blond, blue-eyed boy rotated slowly.
"Hmm, so this is where my personal stats are. And they've changed."
"Leaving aside what's missing, 'Attack' has become 'Mana.' The 'Exploration' attribute is gone completely."
"Health has changed the most."
"And Luck is now a dynamic range instead of a fixed number."
"Plus... I gained a Family Trait."
"Makes sense." Basil looked towards the Devil's Snare growing in the corridor.
Before his memories awakened, he just knew it was Devil's Snare—a dangerous plant that could extend snake-like tendrils to strangle anyone who got too close, causing injury or death.
Yet, even before he awakened his "Family Trait" via the Magic Book, the plants had never attacked him.
Now, he felt like he could control them just by infusing a little mana.
"And..." Basil touched his own eyes.
It felt like his eyes had merged with the System component [Magic Camera].
He now possessed eidetic memory.
Everything he saw from now on would be stored in his brain like a photo album. Spells, magical creatures, magical artifacts—he could record them all instantly and later spend energy to replicate them as cards.
Just like right now. He heard a shutter click—Snap—and the sound of gems draining away—Clink. Only he could hear it.
Gems: 1000 (-500)
A moving photo of the Devil's Snare appeared on the second page of the Magic Book.
[Magical Plant: Devil's Snare]
[Level: 1]
[Mana Cost: 2]
[Effect: Summons Devil's Snare. When an enemy unit enters the fan-shaped area in front, the Devil's Snare extends tendrils to bind them and pulls the bound unit toward itself.]
[Health: 130]
[Damage: 10]
[DPS: 2]
[Weakness (Fire): -50% Defense]
[Attack Interval: 5s]
[Range: 10m]
[Target: Ground]
[Movement Speed: Immobile]
[Magic Book Level: 1 (900/100 EXP)]
"Summon Card... GET!"
Basil put his hands on his hips, feeling a surge of confidence about the future.
The game wasn't just the [Magic Book]. The other components weren't gone; they were just inactive because they were damaged, missing, or the conditions weren't met (like actually becoming a Hogwarts student).
The damaged parts could be repaired with energy.
The missing parts could be retrieved by spending energy to travel to other worlds.
And this "energy" could come from anything.
Sunlight from the physical world. Mana from the spiritual plane. The accumulation of knowledge from the conceptual realm. Even the deviation of timelines on a cosmic scale could be converted into energy.
In this realized game world, collecting energy was the equivalent of "Whaling" (spending real money). The more Gems he had, the more energy he possessed.
"It seems... just being alive increases my Gem count?" Basil mused.
He noticed the Gem counter in the top right of his vision ticking upward.
Gems: 500 (+0.001/s)
"That's 0.06 per minute. 3.6 per hour. So, 86.4 Gems a day."
"Makes sense. Without the System, I'd be dead. Just by surviving, I'm causing a slight deviation in the timeline."
"Plus, even though I'm in a cave, there's still light. The [Magic Book] is exposed to the sun, absorbing some energy."
"So that 0.001 Gems per second comes from a mix of timeline deviation and solar energy."
"But traveling to another world costs 30,000 Gems..."
"Merlin's Beard! That's gonna take me about 342 days!"
"No, I can't just daydream." Basil shook his head.
Since the System wasn't going to save him immediately, he needed to figure out how to survive right now. Especially with Fenrir Greyback camping outside his door.
Basil left the living room and walked down the winding corridor.
He spent the afternoon taking stock of the house. He checked the storage rooms, dressing room, kitchen, wine cellar, entertainment room (a place for eating, playing cards, and storing books no one had read in centuries), bedrooms, and even the bathroom.
The inventory was bleak: some smoked meat, eggs, and flour.
His wallet was light: 2 Galleons, 17 Sickles, and 40 Knuts.
Sure, outside the cave-house—which looked suspiciously like a Hobbit hole built into the hill—there were free-range chickens and a vegetable garden.
But right now, this bunker was his only safe zone.
"I have enough food for seven days. I have clean water thanks to the groundwater purification system."
"Today is July 27th. School starts September 1st."
"Since I'm from a wizarding family, no professor will come for a home visit."
"But if I don't reply to the letter, Hogwarts should send someone to check on me within a week."
Basil paced around the kitchen, strategizing.
"No! I need to be proactive!"
Before the sun fully set, Basil left the kitchen.
He opened the heavy cast-iron door and entered the Entry Room. It was empty except for a golden sculpture of a book. This was the second, magical entrance to the cave.
Basil walked over and placed his hand on the book's cover with practiced ease.
A blue halo flashed, and the blond boy vanished.
A mile away, high up in a giant redwood tree, a warm light flickered on inside a treehouse.
Basil placed the Permanent Portkey—the book sculpture—on a bench.
He glanced around the room, skimming over the self-lighting fireplace, a small pot of Floo Powder, and his snowy owl, Fanta, who was hopping excitedly on her perch. He walked straight to the desk.
He pulled out a piece of parchment, dipped his quill in ink, and began to write furiously.
> Dear Professor McGonagall,
> I urgently need your assistance.
> I am an orphan; both my parents have passed. My grandmother died last month.
> She once mentioned a name to me—Fenrir Greyback. She warned that he might target our family.
> I didn't take it seriously before, but today, as I tried to leave my home, he attacked me.
> Luckily, I managed to retreat inside just in time. Our home has strong protective wards that prevent him from entering.
> However, my food supplies are running low.
> I hope you can come as soon as possible to drive him away.
> Sincerely,
> Your future student,
> Basil Granger
"Haha! Eat my Righteous Report!" Basil sighed in relief.
He patted Fanta's small head as she nuzzled up to him, fed her a piece of dried mouse, and sent her flying out the window with the letter.
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