Becoming A Crazy Fugitive
When I came to, the first thing I noticed was my system belting out a notification that Pyrokinesis had just become level 9.
The next thing I noticed was that everything was burning.
There was fire everywhere. Consuming the walls, the floor, the roof...
Dazed, I walked outside, into the front yard.
Petunia's, well, petunias were now extra-crispy. The grass was dry and shriveled. The wooden fence was just beginning to light up and join the blazing cacaphony.
Holy shit. What happened?
I couldn't remember anything. I just remember getting shoved into the cupboard yesterday, and then trying to stay awake. Last I remember, my Sanity score was about 30% or so...
I checked my status in a panic.
Name: Harry Potter
Titles: Hardened Rock, Arsonist, Unhinged
Race: Wizard
Level: 14
HP: 230/950
MP: 100/1130
SP: 260/860
San: 50%
Vit: 30 (Emaciated: -6) (Burned: -6)
Str: 17 (Emaciated: -6)
Dex: 27
Int: 33 (Sleep-Deprived: -6)
Cha: 16 (Emaciated: -6) (Burned: -6)
Skills:
-Mana Manipulation Lv.4
-Pyrokinesis Lv.9
-Telekinesis Lv.3
-Teleport Lv.2
-Cooking Lv.6
-Gardening Lv.5
-Cleaning Lv.6
Resist:
-Heat Resistance Lv.9
-Cold Resistance Lv.7
-Cutting Resistance Lv.3
-Blunt Force Resistance Lv.9
-Pain Mitigation Lv.2
-Fear Resistance Lv.8
-Poison Resistance Lv.7
-Hunger Mitigation Lv.1
-Suffocation Resistance Lv.4
-Faint Resistance Lv.8
Buffs:
Debuffs:
-Emaciated (-6 to Vit, Str, and Cha)
-Sleep-Deprived (-6 to Int, -20% to San)
-Claustrophobia (-50% to San when in enclosed spaces)
-Major Bruising (-10% HP)
-Cursed (Horcrux)
-Burned (-6 to Vit and Cha)
Whoa! Arsonist? Unhinged?
These titles made me out to be some kind of... asylum patient!
I wasn't crazy!
The status did make things a little clearer though. Pyrokinesis, Heat Resistance, Pain Resistance (now Pain Mitigation), and the Burned debuff all painted a clearer picture. I must have started this fire and gotten burned.
But why was my level so much higher than before? I only leveled up when I killed something...
Actually, maybe I didn't want to think too hard about it.
But one thing was abundantly clear. I needed to get out of there.
A house on fire tended to get the authorities' attention. And not just the non-magical ones.
All kinds of people I didn't want to deal with would notice this. From cops with guns to wizards who could torture you and then wipe your mind about it later. And I wanted no part of it.
It was a good thing I had a decent method of travel. Hopefully, Teleportation didn't cost too much MP.
---------
I teleported nine times. Each teleport cost 10 MP and took me 500 meters away from my previous location. Since I'd teleported in a straight line nine times, I'd gone 4.5km from Number 4 Privet Drive.
<Teleport Lv.2 -> Teleport Lv.3>
My system helpfully supplied my new level. Awesome.
I had ended up in a grassy park. It was about noontime, so the sun was pleasantly shining on my back.
Struck with a sudden nostalgia, I laid down on the grass, put my arms behind my head, and closed my eyes.
Number 4 Privet Drive had burned down. The Dursleys were probably dead. I'd probably killed them, by setting their house on fire with them still in it.
I wondered what it said about me, that my first thought was: 'They deserved it.'.
I couldn't bring myself to feel bad about it. Sure, murder was wrong... but was it really?
Was it wrong to kill genuinely evil people? Was it wrong to kill the people who had most likely driven you literally insane? Honestly, given Vernon's violent tendencies, I'd probably done it in self-defense.
I didn't know what to think.
So I put it out of my mind, and just relaxed there, on the grass.
I was no longer with the Dursleys. No more dark, cramped, silent hell. No more dust and bruises. No more yelling and screaming and being terrified whenever I was within my Uncle or Aunt's arm's reach.
No more. I was free.
But then I thought of something. I was Harry Potter now. Didn't that mean that Dumbledore had a vested interest in controlling my life to a degree?
My eyes shot open with alarm, as I realized how much shit I was in.
Dumbledore would have heard of Number 4 burning down within ten minutes of it happening. He was probably hunting me at this very moment. And if he or his allies found me, they would...
They would stick me somewhere. I didn't know where, but it was probably somewhere I didn't want to be.
An Order member's home, or a new family. Maybe Dumbledore would put me with some new relatives who were somehow tangentially related to the Evans, to see if my 'mother's' protections extended through them.
And a new family would just be the Dursleys all over again. Controlling and abusive.
I couldn't do that. I refused.
I shot to my feet and checked my status.
MP had regenerated to 150. Good.
I needed to find the nearest airport. Or a compass. Anything that could help me get the hell out of dodge.
I needed to get out of the country. No more Britain. No more worrying about Dumbledore or Voldemort or being controlled. The wizarding world could go fuck itself. I didn't want to be Harry Potter. I wanted to be myself.
Besides. I'd just killed my 'family'. Becoming a fugitive wasn't unreasonable.
Soundlessly, I disappeared.
It was time to find some maps.
---------
The year was 1990. A year before Harry was supposed to get his Hogwarts letter.
I supposed that it didn't really matter anymore, since I didn't plan on going to Hogwarts even if I did get my letter.
And given where I was going, it would be particularly hard for an owl to reach me.
I wanted to vomit though. It was dark and cramped again. I knew I had to bear it if I was going to escape this hellhole of a country, but that didn't make it much better.
<San 53% -> San 51%>
I was currently inside of an airplane's cargo-hold. An hour ago, I'd teleported inside it right before the plane took off. I didn't know where the plane was going, but I didn't care so as long as it was out-of-country.
Seriously. Fuck Britain.
Luckily, I was doing a bit better. My MP and HP had mostly regenerated, and the Majoor Bruising and Burned debuffs were gone. Less-luckily, they were almost immediately replaced with the Hungry debuff, which depleted all of my stats. Every single one.
Vit: 24 (Emaciated: -6) (Hungry: -6)
Str: 11 (Emaciated: -6) (Hungry: -6)
Dex: 21 (Hungry -6)
Int: 27 (Sleep-Deprived: -6) (Hungry: -6)
Cha: 14 (Emaciated: -6) (Hungry: -6)
It was the weakest I'd ever been, Str-wise. And something told me that my Hunger Mitigation skill wouldn't be enough to help me this time.
<Hunger Mitigation Lv.1 -> Hunger Mitigation Lv.2>
Hm. Convenient. Still not enough, but it would let me last a little longer. At least until I could find some actual food.
I just had to hope that this plane ride wouldn't take too long.
My stomach growled.
---------
The cargo hold was very, very cold.
My Cold Resistance was increasing as a result. It wasn't enough either though.
Teeth chattering, I curled up tighter and tried to wriggle into the piles of luggage. Anything to preserve some body heat from the frigid air.
<HP: 890/950 -> HP: 880/950>
My HP was slowly trickling away. The cold was no good.
The air was thin too. Desperately so.
Before now, I never thought I would ever do this, but in my mind I thanked Uncle Vernon for choking me all those times. Thanks to him, my Suffocation Resistance was barely high enough for me to survive this damn plane.
I couldn't see in the cargo hold's dark, but I just knew my face was blue.
<Suffocation Resistance Lv.4 -> Suffocation Resistance Lv.5>
Mmm...
By the time this ride was over with, I'd probably be unkillable, just because of all my resistances leveling up.
<HP: 880/950 -> HP: 860/950>
It would all be over soon.
---------
I fell asleep not long later. The low-temperature and air pressure must have gotten to me, not to mention I was already deprived of sleep.
I dreamed of strange things.
~I was on a cliff, staring out to sea. On a rock below was Vernon, angrily shouting something at me.
I had a choice. Did I consider his words, or did I ignore him?
I chose to ignore him.
He faded away and was replaced by a swirl of multicolored fire. The ocean's waves became fire, and the fish within began burning and sizzling, wafting the scent of cooked fish to my nose. I grew hungry, and my stomach rumbl-
-I woke up. Still hungry.
My dream had made me hungry, but I was just grateful it hadn't been a nightmare.
I realized that the plane had stopped moving. We had landed.
Wonderful...
I realized something. I was delirious from lack of food.
Damn.
I teleported out of the plane, into whatever place it had landed.