Harry had crossed into a new world called Chinese Parents. It was somewhat different from the last world he had traveled to, but the process was the same: first, he was assigned an identity—then a brief period to adapt at the point of arrival—then a mission.
The ultimate objective in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire had been clear: Harry first drifted along with events, collecting attribute points, and everything felt full of chaos—killing, fighting, scheming—it was all a muddle.
Only after climbing the Ladder of Chaos to the Iron Throne did he realize it.
The ultimate goal was rather old-fashioned: to end the wars and save the living from the Great Other.
[Become the Savior of the Living]—that was his revelation.
Strangely, in the world named after himself—Harry Potter—the ultimate goal was full of omens and portents, likely tied to defeating Lord Voldemort and successfully graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Since he hadn't even arrived at Hogwarts yet, Harry also thought it might involve defeating Dumbledore and seizing control of Hogwarts instead.
He believed he must be the Chosen One of this world—the protagonist of the story. That would explain why the system labeled it with his name. Just like if he had crossed into an ancient English world annotated as The Legend of King Arthur, he would instantly know Arthur was the protagonist.
King Arthur's story was famous in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds.
The most renowned wizard in Britain—and the most powerful seer—was Merlin. He had made many famous prophecies. Wizards said he could use the power of prophecy to guide hearts and use the strength of people's faith to raise a king who would defeat the invaders.
Magic was intensely idealistic; will could twist reality. As long as people believed, it might come true.
In Britain's wizarding world, Merlin was practically a god. Most wizards' favorite oath—"Merlin's pants!"—was equivalent to "Seven hells!" for Westerosi, or Muggles saying "OMG."
Merlin had prophesied that the man who would defeat the Saxon White Dragon was the son of the Red Dragon, the one who drew the sword and became king—all pointing to Arthur.
Expanding on that, just as Arthur's story had many retellings, perhaps in other worlds there might be Harry Potter novels or films as well.
Could it be that even without the system, with his talent alone, he would still become a legendary figure?
Of course—he was himself, after all.
A Song of Ice and Fire also had similar prophecies about a legendary hero. In the ancient books of Asshai, it was foretold:
"After the long summer, when the stars bleed, Azor Ahai shall be reborn amidst smoke and salt, and awaken dragons from stone."
"After the long summer" referred to the end of a decade-long summer.
"The stars bleed" referred to the red comet streaking across the sky. After that crimson star passed, Harry's magic doubled; all spellcasters' powers grew stronger, and dragons returned to the world, symbolizing the revival of the arcane.
"As for 'reborn amidst smoke and salt, awakening dragons from stone'—people thought Harry himself was Azor Ahai reborn, for he wielded Lightbringer and could brute-force his way onto dragonback. But Harry thought it might point instead to Daenerys Targaryen, the Stormborn.
Having personally lived through those events, Harry felt Daenerys's role in destiny was heavy indeed—but as the protagonist, she seemed too marginal. She and the Iron Throne were separated by an entire sea.
Perhaps it was meant as a group saga? After all, the story wasn't called The Legend of Daenerys or The Mother of Dragons.
Or perhaps prophecies always had some wiggle room—always open to multiple interpretations.
Even the seemingly failed prophecy about Arthur couldn't be called a complete failure. Arthur had only retreated to Avalon; he had not died. If one day he emerged again to defeat the White Dragon and sweep through London, then Merlin's prophecy would still stand.
So… would this Harry Potter world also have prophecies about him? Would someone use prophecy to shape a savior?
In the cartoons he'd watched as a child, wizards always divined with massive crystal balls, rode broomsticks, wore pointed hats, and kept cats by their side…
…And those clichés turned out to be real.
At Hogwarts, Astronomy was a compulsory first-year subject; Divination and Arithmancy could be taken as electives from third year onward. Perhaps most wizards knew a little divination, just without much skill.
At least none of his followers were gifted in that art.
Could a truly talented seer have foreseen his world-hopping?
Back to this new world: here, the ultimate goal was clearer than in any other, with clear traces to follow.
Whenever his foster uncle and aunt joked about the subject, Harry felt something stir inside him.
By guiding their talk and comparing how that inner feeling shifted with each different hint, Harry concluded that the path was strict: no cheating, no arts-or-sports specialty admissions, no repeating a grade… Six years later, in The National Higher Education Entrance Examination, he would have to rely purely on academic ability to be admitted into Tsinghua or Peking University—and best of all, take the provincial top scorer spot.
That was the main quest of Chinese Parents.
Ha! He had saved entire worlds; what was a mere exam compared to that?
Not to brag, but back in his British primary school days, Harry's grades had always been about average.
After transmigrating, his mathematics had improved rather than declined. He could be called a Viserys-level math prodigy, merging the knowledge of two worlds. He had practically reached the terrifying level of a second-year in an average British school! Otherwise, why else would the system call him "a genius beyond compare"?
Now, with an adult mind after transmigration, and English naturally mastered as a native Briton, he had one subject less to worry about. The rest was just catching up on these kids' lessons.
Pfft—getting into those fancy universities "Tsinghua" and "Beida"? Simple as pie. With hands, it could be done!
Maybe only taking the top scorer spot would be tough.
So, he went to school.
As a transfer student, he entered a mid-tier local junior high, starting directly in the first year. His "parents" also hired a tutor to cram Chinese into him.
Excellent—his last weakness patched. From his experience, primary-level knowledge was easy to catch up on. The advantage was his!
Step one: ace the high school entrance exam in three years and get into a key high school.
Chinese.
"I don't understand—Chinese is too hard! I just learned these characters, why don't I get it? Damn it!"
Please explain the different meanings of the word "意思" in the following dialogue:
Harry brought his boss a red envelope. Their conversation went like this:
Boss: "What do you mean by this?"
Harry: "Oh, no special meaning. Just a token of regard."
Boss: "That's not very considerate of you."
Harry: "It's just a small gesture."
Boss: "You're really an interesting fellow."
Harry: "Actually, I didn't mean anything else by it."
Boss: "Well then, I'd feel awkward taking it."
Harry: "No, no, I'd feel awkward if you didn't."
"Bloody hell, what do you mean by this? You're just making things hard for me, Harry!"
Math.
"Seven hells! Is this insane? And why is the pace so fast here? We just finished primary school, and already in the first year of junior high my near-second-year British power is hitting a wall!"
English.
"Listening's fine, but what the hell is this reading comprehension? How am I supposed to know what he meant? What's with all this grammar—why add modifiers here, attributes there…?"
"How do I not know English has all this? Aren't I English?"
"…It's over."
"There's no way I'll get into Tsinghua or Beida the proper way."
Harry gave up.
He couldn't overcome it, no matter how hard he tried.
Six years of this would at best leave him at vocational-college level.
In fact, because he had fallen too far behind, he might not even make it past the high school entrance exams. Forget a key high school—he might end up in a technical secondary school instead.
Two and a half years later—
Harry's grades were not ideal. But in the end, he still made it into Tsinghua. At not yet fourteen, he had already won multiple world championships and was recruited under special admissions.
But the system refused to acknowledge it. It gave no ultimate quest reward—not a golden attribute point, not even a boost in Intelligence.
Harry didn't care. Studying? What a load of rubbish.
Compared to the impossible task of becoming the king of exams, he preferred to save worlds and raise his stats.
Harry seemed to dream a long, long dream. In that dream, he met countless people and went through many events.
When he woke, all that drifted away. His body was once again eleven years old, confirming his theory: each crossing let him grow normally, but returning always restored him.
A scarlet steam engine stopped beside the platform crowded with travelers.
The sign on the train read: Hogwarts Express, 11:00.
Harry turned around. It was only a barrier wall, marked: Platform 9¾.
His experiences in China now felt like nothing but a dream.
Only the flawless Mandarin he spoke, and the achievements recorded in the system—Chosen One, All-Round Sports King, Constant Goat, Star of Olympus—reminded him that it had not been a dream.
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