Harry Potter and the Dice Roll

Finally, the date for the Dungeons & Dragons marathon was announced. “Mrs. MacMillan?” Harry awkwardly approached the plump, red-haired figure in a business suit, picking at a hole in his shirt. “Can you call my relatives? They won’t let me stay for anything, but if you ask…” Mother of Marta and Magda adjusted her glasses on the tip of her nose, surveyed the friend of her daughters, and nodded kindly. She didn’t just make a call. She personally visited Harry’s relatives. The conversation followed the best traditions of aristocratic families. Initially, Mrs. Dursley refused and advised to send her wayward nephew home. However, Mrs. MacMillan assured her that, as a certified psychologist, she approved of such gatherings. It instilled in children the ability to have fun without adults, improved their social skills, and developed imagination and strategic thinking. Besides, children were more willing to do their homework together. Mrs. MacMillan herself enjoyed it when kids sat quietly in the basement and entertained themselves. Impressed by such arguments, Petunia gave her approval, and Harry, absolutely happy, rushed to his friends in the basement. The adventure through the Abyss took ten days of gameplay. When the Demogorgon was defeated, and Garrett Thalieri, Malek Van Dart, Gunnloda Battle Hammer, and Ivor Silver Wind received countless treasures as a reward, they happily went to the tavern to celebrate this magnificent adventure. However, Magda reminded them of the bad news—she was enrolling in a day boarding college, and from the upcoming autumn, she would only return home on weekends. The kids were a bit sad for a while, but then Stanley decided: “Why act like little kids? We’ve been playing for over a year! Can’t we manage on our own? Look, Harry came up with such cool adventures! Harry, will you lead?” “Well, I don’t know…” Harry hesitated. “Sure, you can do it,” James adjusted his glasses on his nose. “I’ll even take a different character,” Martha promised. “Gunloda without Garrett just isn’t Gunloda!” Harry was impressed by the scale of his friend’s sacrifice and began to prepare. Magda enrolled in a literary college, went away, and only appeared on weekends. The increasingly close-knit “Adventurers” greeted her each time with a new enthusiasm. The first story that Harry came up with upon Magda’s arrival was based on his own memories. The thing was that Harry regularly had the same nightmare—a green light and someone’s sinister laughter. Harry even invented that the wizard Garrett had been reborn as a wizard, but in his past life, he was Archfey and died due to a conspiracy of sorcerers who wanted his protection. However, it was terribly interesting to find out what really happened to him. Harry already understood that his relatives knew something, but asking them was futile. One day, Harry couldn’t resist and rolled his lucky die on the story with the request: “I want to remember what happened to me that night when my parents died.” The die decided to play along and rolled a perfect twenty. In Harry’s memories, he understood little. Mother—a beautiful redhead, like Martha! —biting her finger, drawing a lightning-shaped mark on his forehead with her blood, whispering some incantations (Harry was sure they were incantations!). A scarecrow in a black cloak burst into the room, casting a binding and seemingly silencing spell on the mother, putting her in the corner, and then starting a ritual. After finishing, the scarecrow, sinisterly laughing (Harry honestly tried to portray this laughter in the game later, but the tactless Stanley claimed that Potter achieved only an incredible resemblance to a banshee), threw a ball of green light at little Potter. For some reason, the light reflected, mom screamed, and lifelessly tilted her head to the side, and the figure crumbled into ashes. A fat, unpleasant guy, resembling a rat, sneaked up to Harry, tried to stab him with a dagger, but recoiled and quickly shrank, actually turning into a rat and with a panicked squeak, fled from the room. From everything he saw, Harry concluded—he is a wizard. Although more like a sorcerer, James corrected him. After all, wizards acquire all their knowledge from books, while sorcerers receive the gift from Magic. Harry agreed with this statement, but then declared that he was used to playing as a wizard and wouldn’t change his class because of such trifles. Similarly, Harry concluded that Magic exists. His friends were a bit envious of their friend, but Harry skillfully used magic to be the Best Dungeon Master, and he was forgiven. What other master could announce, “You approach the innkeeper. He leans toward you and smiles conspiratorially…” and then roll the twenty-sided die and take on the appearance of the innkeeper you’re talking to?! The immersion effect was complete. The Adventurers decided not to inform Magda about Potter’s abilities. After all, she was an adult. What if she misunderstood something? The one-shot specially created for Magda deeply impressed her. The girl demanded the game text and carried it off to her college. Two weeks later, Harry received a whole ten pounds from her. The college newspaper published various interesting works by students and their friends, and Magda submitted the game text for printing. As an addition to the newspaper, her game was released. The Dungeon Club (of which, of course, the senior Miss MacMillan was the founder and head) chipped in for the author to buy candies. “Want me to get you something in London?” she asked before leaving. Harry gave Magda five pounds and asked her to buy him a new set of dice. The dice brought by the future journalist were carved from real wood and carefully polished. Harry decided to use them for magic and keep playing with the old ones.