Harry Potter and the Dice Roll

Magdalena — an adult, a whole fifteen years old! — a girl, as red-haired as her younger sister, willingly welcomed another boy into the company. Actually, Magdalena used to play with an older group. But after the move, maintaining communication became difficult. And she wanted to play because she couldn't live without adventures anymore. Especially since her sister and cousins, though shamefully young for a Real Journey, had mastered the rules and played, albeit simply, with all their childish hearts. And, truth be told, Magdalena enjoyed being the adored Master, whom the little ones looked at as a living deity. She even joked once: "Interesting, could you claim the title of the youngest players in Dungeons and Dragons?" Now, right after classes, Harry rushed to the outskirts of Little Whinging, where in the basement of a small house stood a large table cluttered with cards and Dungeons and Dragons books, and played... Played... Played... Journeys through the Deepwaters turned into strolls through a vampire city, and after that, the best friends, simply calling their gang "Adventurers," ventured into the Abyss, where they spent several months. Potter only returned home to sleep — the friends studied in the same basement, all together, until Magda returned from her senior school. The Dursleys were quite satisfied with this situation — the annoying nephew didn't bother them, didn't eat extra (Harry had learned to wake up earlier than his aunt and make himself a few sandwiches to take with him, and his friends, knowing about his difficult situation, never asked him to chip in for chips and candies, which were supposed to feed the Master in the name of Saint Random). Gathering courage, Harry even brought and showed Magda his notebook with adventures he had made up himself. The Master, after reading it, was thrilled. She immediately ran two adventures from Harry's notebook and advised him to come up with more. "Do you know, Harry, that some people make good money by creating modules for the game and hosting campaigns?" "Now I know," mumbled Harry, deciding that when he grew up, he would become a Great Master.

***

And in the spring, Dungeons and Dragons saved Harry, if not his life, at least his backside. He always carried his set of dice in his pocket — the twenty-sided die had long become his talisman, thanks to which he found his friends. And now, Harry was returning home after another session, dreaming of how, at the next game, he would finally open the door (almost the entire day, they spent solving a riddle and decided to stop after solving it). And... "Hey, catch the idiot!" Dudley's shout echoed. Harry immediately instinctively rushed forward at full speed, but quickly realized that he was in the alley with no second exit. Dudley was triumphant. In winter, catching the weirdo was more challenging, but with spring, he found an excellent way to ambush his cousin. The lilac bushes provided him with a good opportunity. "Caught, freak! Found others like himself and decided everything was fine, huh?" Harry glanced left and right. The alley in his mind automatically divided into a grid of battle; the initiative rolls were clearly on his cousin's side, and they had about twice as many hit points. Dudley grabbed Harry by the collar and shook him vigorously. "Spent his action performing a grapple," surprisingly calmly noted Potter's mind. "If I were Garrett, I would use invisibility, and they would have had disadvantage on the attack, and I would have escaped..." Dudley threw the lightweight Potter to the ground. From Harry's pocket, a bag with dice flew out; they made a tinkling sound on the asphalt, rolling... Harry watched them somewhat detachedly. The twenty-sided die stopped... A CLEAN TWENTY! Harry felt a strange tingling in his fingertips and unexpectedly shouted: "Invisibility Spell!" A strange feeling. It seemed to Harry as if he had been covered in raw egg yolk. "Oops... Ouch-ouch-ouch..." Pierce whimpered, nervously hiccupping and looking around. For verification, Harry glanced at his hands and, for some reason, was not surprised to find nothing in front of his eyes. He quickly gathered his dice, put them in the invisible pocket while the attackers were disoriented. "He just hid somewhere!" Dudley came to his senses. "Search!" The hooligans rushed to search the alley, but Harry preferred to hide in the corner and quietly rolled the lucky twenty-sided die for stealth. Sixteen came up; Harry reckoned his ability was enhanced and waited calmly. The opponents did not find the wizard Garrett and decided to retreat. "I'll complain to Mum!" Dudley cried plaintively towards the alley and led his gang away. Only then did Harry dare to move. After all, movement always interferes with a stealth roll... At home, he was already waiting for reprimands for using THAT and a locked cupboard for the night. Harry did not dare to ask what exactly THAT was. But he remembered it well. Fortunately, they couldn't keep him out of school, so in the morning, the cupboard was open. Right after classes, Harry ran with Marta, Stanley, and James to his favorite basement. "Look at what I can do!" Harry exclaimed, pulling out the dice, panting. "Invisibility!" The die disagreed; a five came up. Nothing happened. "And?," Martha skeptically raised an eyebrow, attaching a red rhinestone to her papier-mâché axe (yesterday they found a ruby in the dungeons, which Gunnloda inserted into her axe). "Once again... Invisibility!" The die clearly didn't want to grant Harry invisibility today, so it rolled a critical one. Therefore, the only thing Potter achieved was spilling a glass of sweet soda on his pants. "Well, there you go..." Harry scratched his cheek disappointedly. "It worked yesterday..." James reassuringly patted him on the shoulder, adjusting his glasses. "I understand, buddy. Yesterday, while weeding the garden after the game, I kept mentally casting spells for blooming and withering. I blinked, and all the weeds were gone!" "Really?!" Harry exclaimed. "Really," James nodded seriously. But Stanley chuckled and, pulling a lollipop out of his mouth, informed them: "Yeah, he just fell asleep in the garden. His older sister felt sorry for him, dragged him into the house, laid him on the couch, and finished weeding herself." Harry sulked. "That's true, we, older sisters, are always in bondage to you little rascals," Magda descended into the basement with these words. "Hello, kiddos!" "Magda!" The children jumped up, smiling happily. "I have two pieces of news, a good one and... Not so good," the girl scratched her nose, looking a bit guilty. "Start with the good one...," Martha requested, tugging at her sleeve. "Mom allowed us to have a ten-day session this summer!" Magda stroked her sister's head and messed up Potter's hair. "Can you imagine? Ten days without leaving the basement! Ice cream, soda, sleeping in sleeping bags..." "Hooray!" Martha, Harry, and Jamie shouted in unison. Stanley just grinned contentedly. He was five months older than James and six months older than Potter, while Martha went to school a year earlier and was the youngest. So, "tiefling" portrayed himself as the smartest and most grown-up. The bad news was forgotten immediately. A couple of weeks later, the eight-year-olds finished the fourth-grade beginners' course and began preparing for ten days of uninterrupted "Dungeons and Dragons." Harry did manage to roll an eleven for invisibility, so he shimmered and regularly manifested, but that was enough for a puppies squeal from all his friends, including the usually imperturbable Stanley. "Maybe you're a hypnotist?," James asked, adjusting his glasses. "And the dice are just a distraction?" Harry shrugged. "Unlikely!," he replied. "Once, my hair grew five centimeters in one night when my aunt shaved me bald in horror. And my relatives seem to know something but won't tell." "Then maybe you're a superhero?," Stanley loved comics, he had a collection that he had read through to holes and regularly pushed to his friends for study. "If there are so many comics about it, maybe there's some truth to it?" "The truth is out there," James nodded seriously. "Then we need to keep it a SECRET from everyone!," Martha emphasized the word with her voice. "Otherwise, they'll take our wizard Garrett to the laboratory and experiment on him! Cut out his brains! And sew on a third hand." "On his backside," Stanley chuckled. "No, don't!," Potter got scared, but the brunette nodded ominously. "Yes! All superheroes keep their identity a secret! Don't show your abilities to others!" "Alright," Harry obediently agreed. "I'll keep it. But you guys, swear that you won't tell anyone! Pinky promise!" "And we'll be the hero's sidekicks!" Stan proposed, and Harry nodded. "Of course!" "Let's swear!" Martha urged everyone. The friends, all four of them, pleased with each other, crossed their pinkies and, in unison, said, "I swear, I swear, I'll keep Harry's secret, and if I don't, my hand will fall off!" For a moment, a rainbow flash sparkled around their connected fingers, eliciting enthusiastic cheers from the children. "That's it! We're bound now!" Stanley dramatically mimicked a noose around his neck. "Anyone who spills the beans will face a boycott until the end of school. And they'll be a disgusting rat! And we won't let them into the basement!" Everyone was impressed by the level of the oath and mimicked sealing their mouths shut. "Know what?," Martha declared to Harry. "You'll be the best dungeon master if you learn the Concealment spell! You talked about hair—try other spells from the wizard's book! Maybe it'll work?" The task seemed interesting, and Harry actively began rolling dice for a change of appearance. At first, he managed to change hair color only at twenty, but by summer, Potter was able to lower the casting threshold to fourteen, figured out how to change height and weight, and even considered whether to try a change of appearance to a girl. The main thing was not to take on Martha's appearance. She might hit him with an axe! Other spells and incantations of the first level also worked if the roll favored. However, there were very often critical failures, due to which Harry fell, hit himself, spilled, or scratched. But everything is possible for a determined person, and the spells gradually gave in.