On the evening of July 7th, 1991, the lawn outside Number Fifteen, Privet Drive echoed with the wails of a devastated child.
"Waaah! Give it back!"
A blond boy no older than eight stood sobbing in the grass, clutching empty air where a lollipop had once been. His tears flowed freely, his cheeks red with outrage, while the culprit behind the tragedy calmly walked away down the pavement without the slightest trace of guilt.
Ethan Norton, aged eleven, licked the stolen rainbow lollipop with complete satisfaction. His neatly combed black hair shifted slightly in the evening breeze, and the oversized white T-shirt and faded jeans he wore made him look like any ordinary suburban child. Unfortunately for the rest of humanity, Ethan was not remotely ordinary.
"Desserts really do make life happier," he muttered thoughtfully. "And they're even better when you don't have cavities."
The pain of tooth decay meant very little to a boy who was still losing baby teeth every few months. Since arriving in this world, Ethan had discovered plenty of reasons to enjoy childhood again. Mischief was one of them.
At the same moment, a familiar electronic notification rang inside his head.
[Ding! Goodwill +1, Sin +1]
[Reminder: Giving candy to a child and immediately snatching it back is immoral behaviour and should be condemned by your conscience.]
Ethan automatically ignored the second half.
The so-called Redemption System had been furious ever since discovering he could exploit loopholes for double rewards. If he did something nice before immediately ruining it, the system had no choice but to award both Goodwill and Sin points. It had spent the last month passive-aggressively insulting him during every notification, which Ethan considered deeply entertaining.
Still licking the lollipop, he strolled casually back toward Number Five, Privet Drive.
More than a month ago, Ethan had died in a car accident in another world. Then, for reasons he still didn't understand, he had woken up in the body of an eleven-year-old British boy living beside the Dursleys.
Yes. Those Dursleys.
Number Four Privet Drive contained Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley, Dudley Dursley… and Harry Potter himself.
Once Ethan realised where he was, the panic arrived immediately afterward.
As somebody who had reread the Harry Potter novels countless times in his previous life, he understood exactly how dangerous this world truly was. Dark wizards, giant spiders, soul-splitting lunatics, genocidal snake-men — Hogwarts practically qualified as a yearly death tournament disguised as a school.
Unfortunately, Ethan had already displayed obvious signs of accidental magic. Objects floated around him occasionally, vanished without explanation, or moved when he merely thought about them. Receiving a Hogwarts letter was practically guaranteed.
That meant involvement with Harry Potter was inevitable.
And involvement with Harry Potter usually shortened life expectancy.
At first, Ethan considered fleeing Britain entirely. After all, Voldemort mostly terrorised Europe. But then another problem appeared.
His parents.
Edward and Rose Norton had raised this body with unbelievable warmth and affection. They spoiled him shamelessly, worried over every scrape, and treated him like the centre of their universe. Ethan might not have inherited their blood, but after living here for a month, he genuinely cared about them.
The problem was simple.
Muggles tended to die horribly during wizard wars.
So Ethan had narrowed his future choices down to two possibilities.
Option one: flee Europe forever.
Option two: kill Voldemort before Voldemort killed everyone else.
Unfortunately, before he could properly consider either option, the Redemption System had appeared.
"Open panel," Ethan muttered quietly.
A cracked black-and-white interface materialised before his eyes like a damaged hologram. The circular display flickered faintly around the edges, looking less like advanced magic and more like something assembled from leftover rubbish.
At the centre sat Ethan's status panel.
Ethan Norton
[Race: Dementor/Human/?/?/?]
[Soul Integrity: 11%]
[Special Ability: Locked]
[Soul Strength: 11]
[Goodwill Points: 1250]
[Sin Points: 250]
Every time Ethan saw the word Dementor, he experienced the same psychological trauma all over again.
He looked completely human. Aside from pale skin and slightly cold hands, nothing about him resembled the floating nightmare creatures from Azkaban. Yet the more he explored his abilities, the clearer the horrifying truth became.
He really was some kind of human-shaped Dementor.
He could see souls.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
Every living creature possessed a visible numerical value hovering above them whenever Ethan focused his attention. More importantly, he possessed an overwhelming instinctive hunger toward those souls. When standing near people for too long, he constantly fought the urge to drain them from a distance.
He had nearly proven that theory accidentally.
One night, shortly after arriving in this world, Ethan had subconsciously attempted to feed on his sleeping adoptive father. Edward hadn't even noticed what was happening. Ethan only stopped because the sensation terrified him.
Something had definitely been extracted.
Perhaps part of Edward's soul.
Perhaps happiness itself.
Whatever it was, it tasted sweet.
That incident explained Ethan's growing addiction to sugar. Sweets produced a vaguely similar sensation and helped suppress the hunger. He carried candy constantly now, partly for survival and partly because British desserts were genuinely excellent.
After reluctantly accepting his status as a potential soul-eating monster, Ethan began investigating the Redemption System itself.
The system's most useful ability allowed him to measure Soul Strength. Every person possessed a numerical value representing the durability of their soul. If Ethan's own Soul Strength exceeded theirs, he could theoretically devour them completely.
Edward Norton possessed a Soul Strength of 10.
Rose Norton possessed a Soul Strength of 20.
Ethan himself sat at 11.
That meant he could accidentally consume Edward, but not Rose.
Which raised deeply uncomfortable questions.
His Soul Integrity and Soul Strength appeared linked together, and both values were absurdly low. According to the system, increasing Soul Integrity would strengthen him overall. The primary method involved purchasing Soul Fragments from the Sin Store.
Meaning, in practical terms, devouring souls.
Ethan refused to consider that option seriously.
Mostly.
The Redemption System contained two separate shops: the Goodwill Store and the Sin Store. Performing kind acts granted Goodwill Points, while cruel or immoral acts granted Sin Points. Ethan had rapidly discovered ways to exploit both.
The Goodwill Store mostly sold harmless or uplifting magical items. Educational books, magical creatures, potion ingredients, useful charms — everything looked bright, cheerful, and painfully moral.
The Sin Store looked like the inventory of a serial killer with magical hobbies.
Dark Arts tomes.
Forbidden ingredients.
Cursed artefacts.
And souls.
Actual human souls.
One listing in particular still haunted Ethan whenever he opened the menu.
[Tormented Human Soul]
[Collected from another world. Suitable for crafting various evil magical artefacts including Horcruxes, cursed puppets, and dark enchantments. You can always hear the soul screaming. Perhaps next time it will be yours.]
[Price: 7000 Sin Points]
Seven thousand points.
That equated to robbing approximately seven thousand children of lollipops.
A truly horrifying thought.
Despite his increasingly questionable morality, Ethan had only purchased Soul Fragments so far. Even then, the results were disappointing. After accumulating more than a thousand Sin Points over an entire month, his Soul Integrity had risen from 10% to 11%.
One percent.
At this rate, becoming a complete being would take decades.
Fortunately, low Soul Integrity didn't appear to affect his daily life. Aside from soul hunger and occasional existential dread, everything functioned normally. Ethan had therefore decided to enjoy the remaining peaceful weeks before Hogwarts arrived to ruin his life permanently.
Unfortunately, the moment he stepped into his living room, peace immediately vanished.
A small grey owl flapped wildly around the ceiling light while screeching in irritation.
Ethan froze.
There was only one reason an owl would appear inside a suburban British house.
His Hogwarts letter had finally arrived.
Today happened to be his eleventh birthday. Ethan had already spent the entire morning waiting nervously for the acceptance letter, but nothing came. That disappointment had directly inspired his afternoon campaign of emotionally traumatising nearby children for system currency.
Now the letter had finally appeared.
Before Ethan could react, a middle-aged man rushed toward him holding a curled parchment envelope.
"Ethan!" the man shouted excitedly. "You got into Hogwarts!"
Edward Norton looked perpetually disorganised. His messy blond hair pointed in several directions simultaneously, and his jumper carried suspicious traces of flour from cooking dinner earlier. Ethan had known him for only a month, yet he already associated Edward with home-cooked meals and endless enthusiasm.
Which made his current reaction deeply suspicious.
Why would a supposedly ordinary Muggle know what Hogwarts was?
Over the past few weeks, Edward and Rose had repeatedly discussed preparing Ethan for secondary school. They had even planned to send him to Smeltings, claiming it was one of the best private schools in southeastern England.
Edward had spent nearly twenty minutes praising the food alone.
Now suddenly he was celebrating Hogwarts like a football supporter watching England win the World Cup.
That left only one possible explanation.
Edward Norton was a wizard.
Ethan's expression nearly cracked.
Hold on.
If Edward was genuinely magical… then why was his Soul Strength only 10?
A fully grown wizard had the spiritual durability of an exhausted office worker?
That made absolutely no sense.
"Edward, lower your voice," Rose called sharply from the staircase. "The Dursleys next door will hear you. Have you forgotten Dumbledore's warning already?"
Ethan looked up immediately.
Rose Norton descended the stairs wearing a violet jumpsuit, her long brown hair tied loosely behind her shoulders. Her pale blue eyes looked remarkably gentle when directed toward Ethan and absolutely terrifying when directed toward Edward.
Edward visibly shrank under her glare.
Despite being the same age as her husband, Rose looked far younger. Beautiful, elegant, confident — she carried herself like somebody entirely out of place on Privet Drive.
And unlike Edward…
Her Soul Strength was 20.
Twice as high.
Interesting.
Rose walked over and kissed Ethan gently on the forehead.
"Mum's very proud of you," she said warmly. "Your father will explain everything properly. I have to attend a meeting at the newspaper office tonight, so I may miss your birthday party, but I'll bring you a present afterward."
Then her expression turned icy again as she looked at Edward.
"And don't scare him."
The front door slammed moments later.
Edward waited several seconds before finally relaxing again.
Then he grabbed Ethan by the shoulders and guided him dramatically toward the sofa like somebody preparing to reveal state secrets.
"Right," Edward announced seriously. "Now that your Hogwarts letter has arrived, it's time we told you the truth."
Ethan resisted the urge to answer, I already know about Horcruxes, Basilisks, and wizard racism, thanks.
Instead, he sat obediently.
Edward took a deep breath.
"Son… your dad is a wizard."