Draco, who had never tried role-playing before, naturally used his real name.
As the train arrived at the station, the Draco on the screen picked up his suitcase and stepped off.
The transition was another flash of white light.
But after this flash, the realistic train interior and shifting camera angles were gone.
The camera settled into a fixed bird's-eye view, with no objects appearing larger up close or smaller farther away, only items laid out one after another.
The character he had created also became a little blond figure three heads tall.
Though he had turned into a block of color, Draco could still make out traces of the clothes he had chosen.
Draco found the sudden change in art style perfectly reasonable. He even made excuses for the creator in his mind-the fact that the creator had thought of stringing a series of photographs together to create the opening train scene, and had even included a clothes-selection sequence, was already ingenious.
At that moment, the genius himself, Lorne, lay dejectedly on his bed, his eyes unfocused and dull.
A whole day had passed, and he still had not recovered his energy.
Over the past week, he had not only planned four challenges for the four houses, written the script for the award ceremony, and worked solutions to everyday problems into the event, but also finished making a game.
Although it was only an early version without online multiplayer, Lorne had implemented a great many features.
To catch people's attention, Lorne had deliberately made the CG realistic, incorporating character selection and changing clothes into it. If time had not been limited, he could even have made a more detailed face-customization sequence.
For the main game, Lorne had followed the classic openings of countless RPGs, developing the story through quests.
On top of that, drawing on memories of his previous life, he had added soothing music and painted character portraits to the game.
"This music's pretty good."
As the character advanced across the screen, every flower and blade of grass in the scene swayed rhythmically, and soothing, relaxing music quietly began to play. By the time Draco noticed it, he was already immersed.
The train had stopped near a small village. Draco guided the little figure on the screen upward and came to a three-way junction with no signs.
Draco was not confused. If anything, he was a little excited. The more content the game had, the better. He had finally found a game he could immerse himself in, and he did not want to finish it in a single day.
"The left's a dead end, and the right takes you back to the start," Goyle spoiled. "Go up."
Draco nearly ground his teeth to pieces.
He really wanted to draw his wand and hit Goyle with Densaugeo so he could never speak again.
No longer in the mood to explore, Draco went straight up. The screen went black and loaded briefly, then switched to another map.
Draco was about to take a good look at the new map when the background music suddenly grew intense.
"What's happening?" Draco was a little panicked.
He had barely asked when the camera suddenly moved upward on its own. Three black wild dogs were hurtling toward his character.
Draco tried to make the little figure run back, but he could no longer pass through the spot where he had entered the map.
He really wanted to ask why he was running into wild dogs right outside the train station.
Still lying like a corpse on his bed, Lorne sneezed. Had he heard Draco's complaint, he would definitely have answered, "Never mind that."
RPGs from later years, whether Pokémon Emerald, Ultimate World, or even Elden Ring, all featured commonplace yet ferocious enemies like wild dogs at the start.
To help players quickly understand the combat system and gain a clear sense of combat strength in the game, wild dogs, which often played the villains in real life, served well as that bridge.
Three black, blocky dogs appeared on the screen. Although the pixelation made the four-legged creatures look as though they were hopping when they ran, which was quite comical, the background music, combined with the barking in the scene, still made Draco tense up.
An exclamation mark appeared above his little figure's head.
A wand appeared on the screen and slid toward both sides. This was Lorne's localized transition style.
After the transition, the overhead view became a side view, and the map changed into a scene with the two sides facing off.
Draco himself stood on the left, while the three wild dogs were lined up from top to bottom on the right.
The system began the combat tutorial, which amounted to the basic attacks and ultimate moves of a turn-based card game.
Draco learned quickly. Although this style of combat was dull, it was also quite novel to him.
Through the character's muttering during combat, Draco learned that the little figure he controlled was a young wizard who had yet to receive any systematic instruction. He had happened to acquire a case he could not open among his family's inheritance, and had come to this town by following its maker.
So far, the story could be said to have nothing to do with the Wizarding World, but Draco could spot hints in the finer details. For instance, the little figure's ultimate move closely resembled a wizard's accidental magic, and the patterns flashing on the leather case looked much like an Undetectable Extension Charm.
Draco guided the little figure through more of the story. He accepted a quest from the village chief to tell someone in the village to prepare something, helped an old woman tidy her flower beds, and went to the eastern side of the village for an old man to call home his granddaughter, who was picking herbs...
Draco was having a wonderful time. He had always lived in the Wizarding World, and these things from the Muggle World were nothing short of an entirely different worldview to him.
Before he knew it, two hours had passed.
Crabbe and Goyle had gone out in search of food because they were too hungry, finally giving Draco room to play on the phone by himself.
He discovered that lying down was the most comfortable way to use a phone after all.
Draco reclined comfortably on his bed and accepted a quest called "Find the Master Smith."
This master smith was the maker of the case. Draco guided the little figure along the quest directions into an abandoned mine, and the background music turned eerie and frightening.
Why did Crabbe and Goyle have to leave now?
Draco's character had already gained several levels while taking quests and could put up a fight against the swarms of bats in the mine. The sound effects when the bats were hit and died suddenly had Draco hooked, and he could hardly wait to encounter more swarms.
The only trouble was going back to the village to recover health.
He headed deeper into the mine.
The map changed, and the scene paused again. Draco was already used to this routine. Wasn't it just because he had encountered the target character?
Sure enough, in the deepest part of the mine, a white-bearded old man was leaning in a corner, and an exclamation mark appeared above his head when he saw Draco.
Just as Draco was about to move forward, the screen suddenly shook.
His hands began to tingle along with it.
Countless pieces of rubble fell from above in the mine map, and Draco lost control of the little figure.
While he was wondering what was happening, a foul stench hit him in the face.
Yes, lying on his bed, Draco could actually smell that stench as though he were right there.
Draco instinctively wanted to cover his nose, but remembering that he was still playing, he continued looking at the screen.
It was a huge green foot.
That foot alone was as big as Draco's little figure.
The view kept moving, and a massive, slime-dripping Troll appeared before Draco.
Draco's little figure fell to the ground. The screen was still shaking, and the stench grew stronger. Draco deliberately increased the magic he fed into the Magic Mobile Phone, but he still could not control the little figure.
The Troll raised its club.
Draco had never imagined that a map built out of pixel blocks could make him feel so immersed. He even closed his eyes in despair.
-Just then, the case opened.
A flash of magnificent color swept past, and the foul stench abruptly became the fragrance of plants.
Draco stared at the screen as countless vines shot out of the ground and bound the Troll, which had been about to wreak havoc, into a zongzi. A woman dressed in green descended ethereally from the sky and came to stand beside the little figure Draco controlled.
Draco: "!"
His heart seemed to beat like a drum, and he could not help growing excited.
The scene changed once more, this time entering combat, and the goddess who had just saved Draco's life now had a name.
Ella Thornwood.