Starting at Hogwarts, Logging into Elden Ring

On a street lined with Victorian-style buildings, in the back seat of a late-20th-century car, Arthur slowly opened his eyes.

Looking at his small, childlike body, Arthur’s heart was filled with confusion.

"Where... am I? Why have I turned into a boy barely over ten?"

"Arthur, you’re awake? Son, we’ll be home soon."

The middle-aged man in the driver’s seat heard movement behind him but didn’t turn his head, just spoke casually to Arthur.

While Arthur was still wondering why he was here, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into his mind. That explained his current situation.

Before this, he had been at home playing Elden Ring. He had already cleared it once, and to challenge himself, he started a new run as the Wretch, giving himself the restriction of no sorcery and no incantations.

The result? He got stuck at the Tree Sentinel for four straight hours.

Then his four-year-old, overheating laptop finally gave out, exploded—and he died.

And now, he has transmigrated. The system had brought him to this new world.

Yes, he had a system.

The system had planted an identity for him: a half-Chinese, half-British boy. His father was Chinese, surname Qi; his mother was British, surname Granger. That gave him his current name—Arthur.

Last week, both of his parents had died in a car accident. Since there were no relatives on his father’s side, he had been taken in by his mother’s distant cousin—who was now the middle-aged man driving in front.

"Wait a second, that surname!"

"System, don’t tell me... this is the Harry Potter world?"

[Correct. The host is indeed very clever, guessing the world from just a name.]

Arthur looked at his tender, childish hands, feeling overwhelmed. He never expected such a bizarre fate. But he had read enough web novels in his previous life; crossing over wasn’t something he couldn’t accept.

"Since I’ve been given a second life, and I have a system... I might as well live freely."

"Son, are you all right? We’ll be home soon."

"Don’t be too sad. I’m sure your parents are living happily in heaven. You can treat me and your aunt as your family now."

"Oh, and I have a lovely daughter. She’s just eleven days younger than you. I’m sure you’ll get along very well."

Seeing Arthur remain silent for so long, Mr. Granger assumed he was still grieving for his parents.

"Uncle, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired. Please don’t worry—I’ll get along well with my cousin."

Arthur quickly replied.

In truth, he had just been busy exploring the functions of his system.

It was called the Game of Life System.

Its main function: allowing him to enter the worlds of the video games from his previous life. By completing in-game achievements, he could obtain the chance to materialize items from the game into reality. And every time he cleared a game, he could draw a new one. A tremendously powerful system, to say the least.

"We’re home." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Mr. Granger’s words pulled him back from his thoughts.

When they got out of the car, Arthur saw a middle-aged woman standing at the doorway with a cute little girl with rabbit teeth by her side.

At that sight, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

At least she wasn’t the "possible" Black Hermione that Rowling once mentioned. After all, since she was someone he’d be spending a lot of time with in the future, he couldn’t help his preferences—he just couldn’t tell Black faces apart. Not discrimination, just a kind of selective face-blindness.

"Welcome home, darling!"

Mrs. Granger warmly embraced him and pulled him forward.

"This is Hermione."

"Hello, cousin. I’m Arthur." He smiled and extended his hand toward her.

"Hello, cousin. I’m Hermione." She returned his smile, though Arthur could tell it was a bit forced.

Probably not too happy about having to call a boy only eleven days older than her "big cousin."

As a grown man at heart, Arthur didn’t bother fussing about it.

After a brief exchange, they didn’t talk much more. Arthur mainly had to deal with Mr. and Mrs. Granger’s overenthusiastic hospitality—likely because they feared he was still grieving. At the dinner table, they kept piling food onto his plate, which made the little girl beside him pout in jealousy.

Noticing Hermione’s expression, Arthur quickly stopped them, preventing the little loli from getting too sour.

After dinner, Arthur had just settled down in his room to study the system when there was a knock at the door.

It was Hermione, clutching a textbook and staring at him mischievously.

"Cousin, can I ask you some questions about my studies?"

Of course Arthur could tell—this little girl was trying to stump him, to make him embarrass himself.

"No problem, come in."

He stepped aside to let her in.

Hermione wasted no time, immediately bombarding him with questions. One glance, and Arthur realized—good grief, these were all middle school textbooks!

She had just finished primary school and was already diving into secondary-level material. Truly worthy of the studious Hermione from the original story.

But that wasn’t enough to stump Arthur.

Although he hadn’t been a top genius in his past life, he had been among the better students. Answering some middle school problems was child’s play.

Watching her "cousin" solve problem after problem with ease, Hermione was stunned. She never expected her convenient cousin to be an academic talent as well. She soon forgot her little ploy and earnestly focused on learning.

Just like that, the two of them spent over two hours together, until Mrs. Granger came in and found them getting along so well that she couldn’t stop smiling.

"Darlings, time for bed!"

Only then did they realize how late it had gotten. After a quick wash-up, they both went to sleep.

Lying on his bed, Arthur opened up the system panel.

[Host: Arthur]

[Talent: Extraordinary Aptitude]

[Physique: 8 (average adult: 10)]

[Spirit: 15 (average adult: 6–10)]

[Magic: 0]

[Current Game: None]

[Materialization Attempts: 0]

[Inventory: Beginner’s Gift Pack]

[Evaluation: You are ordinary for now, but your future holds limitless potential.]

"I actually have a talent called ’Extraordinary Aptitude’? I never felt extraordinary before. And why is my Magic stat zero?"

[System notice: The host’s transmigration was a physical one. Your body was bathed in the power of space-time, granting you the talent of Extraordinary Aptitude, and regressing your body to eleven years old.]

[However, since you originally possessed no magic, you must acquire it through training or special items.]

[But don’t worry—the Beginner’s Gift Pack will solve this problem.]

"Then hurry up and open the Beginner’s Gift Pack!"