It is the first day of December and Christmas is steadily approaching. Right now, Sol was traversing through the castle halls trying to reach the forbidden room on the third floor. He determined this to be the perfect time to check out the three-headed dog and to find out if it has any weaknesses. The professors were hurrying around to decorate the castle and the other students were packing their luggage to visit back home. Thus, both students and teachers were busy. But just to be safe, Sol snuck out when everyone was sleeping.

He climbed the shifting staircase a lot the way to his destination. After the last set of stairs, Sol came across the door to the right-hand side corridor on the third floor. Sol opened it a smidge before peeking through the crack. Once he determined that there was nothing there, he entered and closed the door behind him. The room became pitch-black with nary a light source in sight. Sol brought out his wand and cast Gloria Mediocris. Immediately, orbs of multicolored lights started flying out of his wand, lighting up the room.

The room being illuminated showed that it was a corridor rather than a room. It led to a single door on the far end of it. Sol started heading towards the door cautiously. Even though Dumbledore said that only going through that door will lead to a painful death, you would be nothing but an idiot if you really believed that the corridor didn’t have something in it. Especially if that three-headed dog is guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Sol's vigilance had been dialed up to an eleven as he snuck through the corridor. Suddenly, a light source appeared from the walls. He snapped his head to face it only to find that one of the unlit torches had been magically lit. Sol narrowed his eyes in suspicion and activated Mana Eyes. All he could see were traces of magic which was used to light the torch and nothing more. Sol searched around the whole corridor and found some unlit torches lined up on the walls. Those torches also had magic on them to light up when someone walks by. However, he didn’t find any traces of traps using Mana Eyes. He deactivated Mana Eyes but didn’t let his guard down. Even if there were no magic traps who knows if there are physical traps? Right now, Sol's body was strong but he would not survive getting hit with a trap if he let his guard down. He continued down the corridor with his eyes darting around trying to search for traps and his nerves were stretched taut. Torch’s lit up as he walked by them. Seconds felt like minutes as he finally reached the door at the end with no real being triggered. He turned around to view the corridor again.

W-Why wouldn’t you trap the corridor when you have a fucking Philosopher's Stone here? No, wait, why would you keep a Philosopher's Stone here? Inside a fucking school?!

Sol's kept falling deeper and deeper in his thoughts as he sat down on the corridor floor with his back leaning on the door.

Come to think of it…why is it this year that all the weird things are happening? There has to be a good reason as to why the Philosopher’s stone is being stored here. Nicholas Flamel, himself is over 600 years old now. He kept on using the Elixir Of Life from the 14th century to keep himself going along with his wife, Perenelle. I would’ve honestly pitied him had he lived all these years alone. But immortality with the love of your life doesn’t sound bad. Though, all the others you cherish will be dead. Haah~ just like I thought, immortality is a curse through and through. Shit, I got sidetracked. If he lived for over 600 years with his wife, I don’t think he’d be too opposed to living a bit more. So why is it that the Stone is here? Even if he got bored, there’s not a single reason that he would send the stone here. Better yet, if he got bored, he should’ve just destroyed the damn thing instead of giving it to others. I don’t believe the dude doesn’t know what would happen if the stone got into the wrong hands. He’s been alive for more than 600 years. It wouldn’t even take you 35 years to understand that a world is a fucked up place where people pursue their own wants, fucking over others in the process. Because that’s just how the world is. Achieving your wishes means someone else with the same wish gets fucked over…

…I think I know why they call it the ‘Philosopher's’ stone. Point is, the Stone shouldn’t be here for any reason. Also, how did Quirrell or whoever it is that’s possessing him, know that the stone would be in Hogwarts this year? If Hogwarts storing the Stone was something not done secretly and is public knowledge, then I’d really look down on Dumbledore. But why this year? This year has been a bit too noisy for my taste. I can understand the troll since Quirrell let it out to get the Stone. But why would he jinx Harry's broom? I can’t find a single reason to do so. Though I don’t know what he wanted to achieve, I understand why he targeted Harry. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the chosen one, the first first-year to be a seeker. No doubt, he'd be a nice target. Haha! Harry became famous as soon as he was born. He killed Voldemort, the Dark Lord, the cause of the Wizarding War. He's the very first seeker who is just a first year. With so many achievements under his belt, it’s almost like he’s a novel…protagonist…

Sol paused. “No…”, he groaned as he hugged his knees, burying his head inside them.

Harry being the protagonist of this story world makes a whole lot more sense. But the question is, where does the story start and when does it end? Was it his parents' story? The Wizarding War would make a great story if it was adapted into a novel. I mean, Voldemort is already dead. But is Voldemort really dead? Fuck! It makes sense… how can a fucking baby kill a wizard? What? Did Harry throw his milk bottle at Voldemort or something? The milk bottle was the great artifact of the late Josephi Krakowski, the boss ancestor of all babies. Fuck, this really sounds like a shitty 2-star novel. Haha…

Sol let out a long sigh and stood up, “No use thinking about it. I just need to do things one step at a time.”

He reached out to grab the door handle and pulled on it. The door however did not open as it was locked. He looked at the lock holding the door in place, a flimsy lock that even a child could open.

“Haah~ there's an alchemical product in there which can potentially possess a great threat to this world. And the door leading to it has a lock even a five-year could open. I can’t even…”

Sol lifted the lock and opened the door. What awaited him was a huge black dog with three heads. It was sleeping on the ground. All three of its heads were on the ground, their eyes closed. Sol quickly looked around the room. There was a trapdoor on the ground! It was blocked by the dog’s paw. Suddenly, the eyes on one of the heads snapped open and looked at Sol. Immediately after, the other eyes opened and the three heads rose. It stood upright, standing at 4 meters tall. 6 brown eyes were glaring at him. Sol whipped out his wand and flicked it at the dog.

Bewitching Sleep!

The head at the middle started hanging, it found out that keeping its eyes open became very hard and it felt a bit drowsy. It felt that if it just closed its eyes, it would drift off to dreamland. Soon, the head closed its eyes and started breathing softly as it fell asleep. The remaining heads looked at the middle one. The left head nudged it but it showed no response. The right head licked it on the nose but again there was no response. Both heads then looked at Sol and growled at him. Sol understood that they were ready to attack. He quickly shut the door and locked it. The dogs barked and bashed at the door but the door remained firm.

Sol looked at the door before activating Mana Eyes. The door was reinforced with magic. Sol let out a sigh and left for where he came. He had no longer exhibited the vigor or energy he had when first coming here.

He walked out the corridor and made his way back to the corridor.

The trapdoor might lead to some more traps. I have no clue what that is. This was just a test for the dog. He can be put to sleep. But after tonight, I doubt the other heads would try to wake the asleep one up. They’ll just lunge straight at me. I’ll need to make some strong sleep potions. I have to test them on the dog as well.

Sol reached the Fat Lady and got an earful of scolding from her for disturbing her sleep. But he didn’t care about that. He gave the password and listlessly made his way through the common room.

I don’t suppose I can get home for Christmas. It would be a good time to test my potion. I need to ask my mom to get me some ingredients. I’ll write a letter to her tomorrow.

Sol got into the sleeping quarters. As it was late at night, he was already wearing his pajamas before he so he didn’t need to change. Sol fell on the bed on his back and covered his eyes with his arm.

What do I do now that I know this is a Story World? Since my actions do seem to cause effects, this is a Parallel one. Then, by all means, I can’t start viewing them as puppets with no will of their own. Everyone here is real. But still, their wills are somewhat affected by the World Laws. Do I leave them be for the World Laws to correct their characters? What should I do about the story? I don’t want to actively change it. Then, if it needs my intervention or it becomes forced on me, I’ll have to take action. How should I live here? Should I live like I remember or should I change who I am?

Sol let out a long sigh.

I wish there was someone to give me the answer to these questions. I don’t know…what…to do…

Amidst all his worries, Sol fell asleep, hoping that all will be right.

Dear mom,

How're things at home? Has father properly learned sign language? Is Faye still as adorable as ever?

Speaking of returning home, I won’t be. The Headmaster has stored a Philosopher's Stone here in the castle and I plan to steal borrow it. I will, however, return for Easter. Thank you for understanding.

P.S. Could you send me the ingredients listed below? Thanks and love you.

Sol.

“Yeah, that should do it.” Sol was writing a letter to his mother about why he wouldn’t be going home this Christmas. It had been a few days after his meeting with the dog and Christmas was a week away. He put the letter in an envelope and wrote down the address on it. After he had finished closing it, he whistled. Soon a snow-white owl came flying towards him. Elaine perched herself on his shoulder and looked at him with her amber eyes. Sol stroked her belly with his finger to which she closed her eyes, immersing herself in the good feeling. Sol stopped stroking her as he handed her the letter, “Would you send this to my mom, love?”

Elaine took the letter from his hands with her talons and flew off, presumably to Sol's house on Privet Drive.

Next Day

Sol sat at the great hall, his eyes listless as he watched Ron and Harry play a round of Wizard's Chess. The atmosphere was filled with Christmas spirit as the students talked about their plans for the vacation. The professors were seen decorating the castle, the paintings had a bit of a festive theme within them and even some of the ghosts participated by singing Christmas carols(wizarding world version).

Katie was talking with Angelina, Alicia, and some of the other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team in the great hall. Hermione was in the library as she often was. Cormac was in the washroom. Sol was… speaking of Sol, it was very apparent that he had something going on. He had been like this since the beginning of the month. His friends did not know what was found on with him but kept observing him. Even now, Katie kept an eye on the dazed Sol whilst talking to the team. All of Sol's friends noticed his change. He would no longer actively join or drive conversations. He'd no longer joke either. Even though Sol would often times have something on his mind, he would still talk and interact with the others. He always kept his thoughts to the side when talking to his friends. Even though Katie would call him a bully when Sol joked with her, she was really missing the ‘normal’ Sol. He would nowadays talk rarely with his friends, and even Katie, who he was especially close to. The Weasley twins tried cheering him up but to no avail.

The man in question, Sol right now, was unhappy. After coming to the realization that this was truly a Story World, he had agonized for a few days on what to do. Would he continue to be present in the lives of the people here and disrupt the plot or would he erase himself from their lives and let the plot go on as it was intended? In the first place, Sol wasn’t sure what kind of ending the plot would lead to. Had it been a bad end, he would’ve chosen to interfere without hesitation. But upon thinking of the happenings of this world, he decided that that might not be the case. After all, Harry who was the supposed protagonist had a fairy tale beginning. A young orphan, abused by his relatives became loved and famous after enrolling in the magic school Hogwarts. He went through endeavors and made friends who would help him on his journeys. To that point, he, Ron, and Hermione became best friends after their encounter with the troll. After that Sol thought that if he didn’t interfere, the three would’ve taken care of the troll themselves. He had reviewed the events of that night, Ron made Hermione sad which led to her crying all afternoon in the bathroom. If Sol was not to do anything, the other two might’ve learned about her on their own. With Harry's personality, he would’ve surely tried to warn Hermione about the troll, though he wasn’t sure if Ron would tag along. Sol thought back to his battle with the troll. He saw the troll coming down the corridor which was straight down the one with the girl's bathroom where she had been crying. If he hadn’t intercepted it, it might’ve headed straight to the bathroom. And in the process of warning Hermione, the other two might battle it out with the troll. Thus, deepening their friendship. Even in Harry's first match, it was Hermione who had spotted Snape ‘jinxing' his broom. If Sol hadn’t interfered, maybe it would lead to another conclusion or reveal something. Sol understood that the results of him interfering in events had been nothing but good(unless you count him killing the troll) but he couldn’t say for sure that it would be the same in the future. He hoped that the ending of a story whose beginning was so fairy-tale-like would be nothing but happy(which was a bit optimistic for him). As such, he determined that to achieve the happiest ending, it would be better to cut ties. He knew that the Laws Of The World still had a little bit of control on Parallel Story Worlds. He hoped that by minimizing contact with them would lead them to revert back to their original personalities and set the plot straight. However, what he did not know was that Laws Of The World were far more looser on Parallel Story Worlds than he thought. He was already changing the world as soon as he was born.

Not knowing this, Sol reduced his contact with the others, barely talking with them. Always avoiding them by being cooped up in the library or the room. Even though he felt, that this was the right course of action, he didn’t feel happy. He felt isolated and lonely. Rather, this feeling had increased. Even if he didn’t notice, there was a vague feeling in his heart that there was a wall between him and the others. It felt like that they lived in a different world than him. It felt as though matter how much he tried he could never be a part of their world. No matter how much he tried he could never bridge the gap between them. These feelings had intensified and he became more and more detached from the world. He would aimlessly walk around. Whenever he would train or make potions, he wouldn’t have his heart set in it. He felt utterly bored. He would look forward to the day ending and loathe tomorrows.

As he sat around in a daze, two owls flew in. One white and one grey, the white one perched itself on Sol's shoulders and the grey one dropped a package on the table in front of him and left. He took the letter from Elaine and the package from the table. He then shooed off Elaine, telling her to return back to her cage. This greatly shocked Katie, Ron, and Harry who had been secretly keeping an eye on him. All three of them knew that Sol cared very deeply for his owl. They can’t even count how many times he bragged about Elaine's cute appearance. Yet, he shrugged her off like that?

Elaine having sensed her owner's mental state, flew back without making a fuss. Sol stood up and left with the package and envelope in hand. Seeing him go out the door, Katie hesitated for a bit before saying her goodbyes to the others and running after him. Harry had the same idea as her but seeing her go, he decided to let her handle this.

Sol went to the main stairs and headed towards the seventh floor, to that room. As he was walking up the stairs, Katie called from behind him, “Sol!”

He turned around to see Katie panting and looking at him with a worried look on her face. Sol asked, “Is there anything wrong, Katie?”

“That!” She pointed at his face, “This is what’s wrong!”

Sol was a bit surprised and it showed on his face, “What do you mean?”

“What's wrong with you?! What happened to you?”

“N-Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind,” Sol faintly smiled, trying to shrug it off.

“Stop trying to avoid me, stop trying to avoid us! What kind of worries do you, a twelve-year-old have that it would change you this much?! You better tell me the truth!” Katie cornered him. She was determined to change him.

Sol sighed, “Do you really want the truth?”

“Yes!”

“Fine. Here it is, this is a 『•••』.So I’m not sure

if I should change the plot.”

“Plot…? What are you talking about?”, Katie was confused. She felt as though Sol had made a sound he should be physically unable to.

“See? You didn’t catch what I said, right? If I could tell you, I would’ve.” Sol muttered, “『Creator』knows I’m in need of answers right now.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Katie.” Katie stared at him for a while before shaking her head.

“If you can’t tell us, that’s fine. But when you can, we’ll be right here. All of us are worried about you.”

Hearing her response, Sol was stunned. He revealed a bitter smile, “Yes, thank you.”

Hearing that formal reply, Katie smiled before leaving. After she went out of his sight, Sol continued upwards. He smiled, but this time it was a genuine one.

Huh…she really gave out a mature response. Is that what she would be like if I hadn’t met her? At least, now I know it’s working.

However, that smile soon vanished and was replaced with a sullen expression as he thought that whatever he did was really working. As he walked, he took out the letter from his robes and opened it. It was from his mother. It read:

Sol,

I won’t ask if you’re sure because you’ve always done things your way ever since you were born. Giving birth to you was one of the happiest moments of my life, and seeing you become a genius also filled me with pride. So, I won’t ask what you'll do with the Philosopher's Stone or why you need these herbs for. All I want is for you to have fun. You’ve always kept to yourself. I was honestly worried about you. But after your first year at Hogwarts, my worries were unfounded. You've made friends, friends who you’d talk about at home. And you were happy talking about them. It seemed like you were having fun. And your feelings reached us through the letters as you described your life in school.

So why is it that I feel no joy from this letter? It felt empty. I don’t know how to solve your problems. At these moments, I wished I was a Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Book knowledge does nothing for emotional problems. So I won’t ask what’s wrong nor will I give you advice. I know you’ll find the answer on your own. Now that we’re raising Faye, we understand that you are and were quite the peculiar child. You were independent, you didn’t rely on us unless it was necessary. And we took advantage of that. I don’t know what to say or what advice to give. So, I’ll give the advice my grandmother used to give me, “If you do as your heart wants, there will be a myriad of challenges. At times, it will be hard and cumbersome. But the result will undoubtedly make you happy.”

I hope you can find your answer. I want you to start relying on people more. Humans are social beings, are they not? Who knows? You might find your answer in the most unlikely place. Also, don’t steal. Ask the Headmaster first. Be happy and stay healthy. Love you.

Merry Christmas,

Mom.

Sol read the letter and folded it before putting it back into his robes. He reached the seventh floor and headed towards the room.

Mom, can they really solve this problem when not even I who has read the『Akashic Records』know the answer to this?

Sol wished for a brewing room and went inside. Within the room, Sol lit the fire underneath the cauldron and grabbed a couple of beakers and vials from a cabinet. He prepared the ingredients for the sleep potion into the cauldron and started making the potion. He tossed the ingredients one by one and stirred.

Making a sleeping gas would be better. I don’t think I could administer the liquid one. It’ll take a bit more time. At least an hour or two more.

Sol prepared the potion and started the last step, turning into gas. He put a collector over the cauldron. He left the cauldron as the heat would take care of things. He sat down nearby as he had nothing to do. He sat doing nothing for a while. Having been bored, he took out the letter and read it again. This time he stared at his great-grandmother's advice for a while. He folded the letter and kept it on the table next to him. He buried his head in his arms.

Do what my heart wants, huh? What does my heart want? What...do I…want?

It’s not known if Sol was just tired or if the gases from the sleeping potion, escaped the cauldron but Sol soon fell asleep within the room.