….

The studio's conference room on the eighteenth floor had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

Across the polished black table where fifteen people now sat, their laptops open, notebooks scattered about, a single projection screen at the head of the room displaying–

LIE Studio.

However, this logo isn't of film production, but–

Gaming Studio.

Right, LIE Studio had officially announced they will produce a game on [Harry Potter].

The green light for production had been given just three weeks ago.

The budget was approved.

The contracts were signed.

Today was the official kickoff meeting for what would be the most ambitious game the studio had ever attempted.

Marcus Chen - the Creative Director, stood at the head of the table.

He was in his mid-forties, with the kind of confident presence that came from successfully shipping three AAA titles.

"Thank you all for being here." Marcus began. "Today is the first day of something that I genuinely believe will change this industry. Before we dive into specifics, I want to introduce everyone."

He gestured around the table.

"On my right!" He said dramatically. "Is a man who technically doesn't need an introduction. But I am going to give him one anyway, because watching him be embarrassed is the best part of my day."

The team chuckled as Regal gave him a look that could've peeled paint.

Marcus continued, grinning wider. "Regal Seraphsail. Author of [Harry Potter] Books, and multi-award-winning filmmaker, creative visionary–

"Basically the guy who makes the rest of us look lazy. He is also our Narrative Director and the brain behind this entire project.

"I mean, if we fail, it's his fault. If we succeed - well, I take full credit."

A ripple of laughter went around the table.

Regal responded dryly. "Marcus–

"I swear, if you add one more adjective, I will walk out."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. "What? You don't like being called 'visionary'? Should I go with 'genius' instead? Or 'the man single-handedly redefining modern storytelling'?"

"Stop flattering me and start the meeting." Regal muttered, though the hint of a smirk betrayed him.

Marcus chuckled and turned back to the others. "Alright, alright–

"As I was trying to say before, my co-director's modesty interrupted.

"Regal is the creative architect behind the game we are building. The story, the tone, the systems - it all started with him. Months of design and planning."

He looked back at Regal with mock sincerity. "Anything you would like to add, oh humble one?"

Regal sighed, stood up, and addressed the team. "Yeah. Don't listen to this bearded clown. He has been overselling me since day one. But he is right about one thing–

"We are in this for the long haul. If things go as planned, we will be working together for years."

He looked around, his tone softening. "So let's skip the formalities and make something worth remembering."

Marcus clapped once, smirking. "See? Even when he tries to sound humble, it comes off like a closing line from an Oscar speech."

Regal shot him a look. "Keep talking, and I will make your character die in the first act."

The room erupted in laughter - the easy, genuine kind that comes from knowing this was just the beginning of something special.

Once the atmosphere became light, Marcus continued.

"Next, Yuki Tanaka, our Technical Director. Yuki has shipped games on five different platforms and understands the architecture we need for PS3, PS4, and PC simultaneously."

Yuki was Japanese, in her late thirties, with short black hair nodded slightly, her expression businesslike but warm.

"Thank you." Still her accent is clearly notable. "I have reviewed Regal's framework. The systems he designed are technically ambitious, and might require pushing 2013 hardware - which is a challenge I am looking forward to."

"James Richardson, Lead Level Designer." Marcus continued. "James has spent the last month mapping Hogwarts in three dimensions. He has created over 200 individual rooms, all interconnected, all with purpose."

James was younger, perhaps thirty, with enthusiastic energy. He raised a hand in greeting. "Three hundred and forty-seven rooms, actually. I may have gotten a bit obsessive about it."

Several people smiled.

"Amara Okafor, Art Director. Amara leads our art team and will be responsible for the visual direction - making Hogwarts beautiful and horrifying simultaneously."

Amara was striking, with dark skin and an aesthetic presence that immediately conveyed design sensibility.

"Dr. Elena Volkov, Audio Director and Composer. Elena studied under Hans Zimmer and has designed soundscapes for immersive theater installations. She understands how sound creates psychological states."

Elena was older, perhaps sixty, with greying hair and an almost meditative quality. She smiled warmly at the group.

"David Winters, Senior Horror Systems Designer. David's role is to translate Regal's narrative structure into interactive systems - pacing, tension mechanics, enemy behavior frameworks."

David, the uncle from the theater visit, stood briefly in acknowledgment.

He was in his early forties, with a thoughtfulness in his eyes that suggested someone who had spent years thinking deeply about interactive design.

"Thomas Park, AI Programmer. Thomas will head a small team dedicated to creating intelligent, adaptive enemy behavior systems."

Thomas was quiet, in his thirties, with the kind of focused energy common among specialists. He nodded once.

"Sofia Reeves, lead Programmer, Marcus Lawrence, lead Character Artist, Patricia Gonzalez, Environment Lead, Michael Zhang, Technical Art Director, and Connor McHale, Senior QA Lead."

Each stood or raised a hand as Marcus introduced them.

In total, there were fifteen people in the room - the core team that would expand over the coming weeks and months.

Marcus took a breath and gestured to Regal.

"Today, we are here to listen to Regal's complete vision for this game. Everything from the story, the mechanics, the world, the features. Regal has spent months designing this."

Regal stood again, and this time he approached the projection screen.

He pulled up a single image: Hogwarts Castle, rendered in digital form, but something was subtly wrong about it.

"This is Hogwarts." Regal began, going into more details. "But it is not the Hogwarts you might have wasted in the film. This is a Hogwarts in transition. A Hogwarts where something fundamental has broken."

He clicked to the next slide. A timeline appeared.

"The game takes place during Harry's third year. But it does not follow Harry. It follows a new character: Thomas Garrett, a seventh-year Hufflepuff who has attended Hogwarts for six years without particular distinction. He is neither famous nor obscure. He is the everyman of the wizarding world."

The screen showed concept art of Thomas - a young man with an ordinary face, ordinary robes, ordinary everything.

"Thomas begins his seventh year as usual. But within three days, everything changes. The Dementor guards stationed at Hogwarts - guards that are meant to be controlled, disciplined, and supervised - break from their constraints. They become independent predators."

Regal paused, letting this sink in.

"But here is where the design becomes interesting. The game is structured in two distinct modes:

"Story Mode and Free Roam Mode.

"These will be the main distinguishers that offer completely separate experiences."

He gestured to the screen, which now showed two distinct sections.

"Story Mode is the narrative experience. It is survival horror. It is Thomas navigating a deteriorating Hogwarts, discovering what has gone wrong, uncovering a conspiracy at the highest levels of the Ministry, and attempting to survive.

"And it should be approximately thirty hours of gameplay across five in-game days and nights. The player has limited freedom - they must progress through specific locations, complete specific objectives, and make meaningful choices about who lives and who dies. It is intense, it is dark, and it is narratively driven."

The screen shifted again, showing different imagery - students in common rooms, a character customization screen, flying over the castle on broomsticks.

"Free Roam Mode is the counter-balance. After completing Story Mode, or simultaneously alongside it, players enter Free Roam Mode.

"They create their own character - choosing their house, their appearance, their personality. They are not Thomas Garrett. They are whoever they want to be in the wizarding world."

Regal's hands moved expressively as he explained.

He began detailing Free Roam features.

"When a player creates a Free Roam character, they are establishing their own identity in the wizarding world. They choose their house, their year(from first to seventh), their appearance, and their personality archetype. This archetype affects how NPCs interact with them.

"They are placed in their house's common room where they have been assigned a dormitory. The dormitory is a small but fully customizable space. Players can change wall colors, add furniture, place magical items, arrange their belongings. This is their personal space.

"From there, they can navigate the full Hogwarts Castle. Every room is accessible. Every corridor is explorable. The castle is rendered in high detail - you can enter classrooms, the library, the kitchen, the Forbidden Section, the Astronomy Tower, everywhere."

He clicked to show the castle layout.

"The Free Roam Mode features include:

"Academic Engagement: Players can attend classes. A Transfiguration class involves the player practicing actual transfiguration spells on objects. They begin with simple tasks - turning a matchstick into a needle - and progress to complex transformations. Success is rewarded with house points and personal magical growth. These classes are scheduled throughout the week. A player can attend or skip; attendance and performance affect their standing and relationships.

"House Relationships: NPCs in Free Roam Mode have daily schedules. They attend classes, eat meals, study, and socialize. Players can interact with them, build relationships, and form genuine connections. Repeated positive interactions with a student might lead to friendship. Certain friendship progressions might lead to romantic storylines. The game tracks these relationships and makes them feel meaningful through dialogue changes and social recognition.

"Housing Customization: Beyond decorating their dormitory, students can display achievements, trophies, and personal items. They can change robes and appearance at will. They can adopt magical pets that follow them around the castle. They can display house pride through various cosmetic options.

"The Academic System: Students earn house points through performance in classes and competitions. These points contribute to the House Cup, which is tracked across all players on a server. At the end of each in-game month, the house with the most points is celebrated in the Great Hall (where all players gather). This creates ongoing incentive and community feeling.

"Spell Duels: Players can challenge each other to turn-based magical duels. These are strategic, not action-based. Each spell has cooldown times, energy costs, and effectiveness ratings. Duels are short (typically 5-10 minutes) and resolve through strategic spell selection. Victories are tracked and contribute to personal rankings and house points.

"Collaborative Dungeons: Beyond the main castle, Free Roam players can venture into dangerous areas in groups. The Forbidden Forest, the Chamber of Secrets, the Horcrux Vault - these are dangerous locations where groups of 4-6 players face magical challenges, solve puzzles, and combat magical creatures. These are not Story Mode missions; they are persistent challenges that generate different configurations each time. They reward loot (cosmetic items, magical artifacts, house points, and currency).

"Shops and Commerce: The Hogsmeade village exists as a hub where players can purchase items - clothing, room decorations, magical books, pets, potion ingredients. Currency is earned through academic performance, Quidditch matches, Spell Duel victories, and Collaborative Dungeons. There is no real-money spending option in Free Roam Mode; all transactions are in-game earned currency.

"Clubs and Groups: Players can form clubs within their house or across houses. They can create group study sessions, organize Quidditch teams, and form research groups. These are player-driven social structures.

"Social Spaces: The Great Hall, Common Rooms, the Hogsmeade village, and the Library are social hubs where players encounter other players. They can see each other, chat, form friendships, and socialize. The game feels like a persistent online world.

"Multiplayer Instances: When a player enters Free Roam Mode, they are placed in a world instance with a limited number of other players (perhaps 100-150 per instance). This prevents overcrowding while maintaining the sense of community. Players can join guilds or friend groups to ensure they're in the same instance. Instances rotate regularly so the population stays fresh.

"Progression and Achievement: Unlike Story Mode, Free Roam has no ending. It is ongoing. But it has progression in the form of academic achievement, relationship milestones, championships, and personal customization goals. A player might pursue becoming the top-ranked Spell Duel competitor, or the most decorated Quidditch player, or having the most impressive dorm room, or collecting every magical item in the game. Progression is self-directed."

"And finally the most interesting aspect.

"Engage with Multiplayer Features: Here is where the vision truly expands."

Regal paused for effect, and several people leaned forward.

"Free Roam Mode includes online multiplayer functionality. Players can - with permission - appear in other players' instances of Hogwarts.

"Imagine: you have created your character, decorated your dormitory, and you invite friends to visit. They appear in your version of the castle. You can attend classes together, fly Quidditch together, explore together. You can form clubs, study groups, or simply socialize within the castle."

Regal clicked to the next slide, which showed multiple players interacting in the Great Hall.

"More than that: Multiplayer Quidditch is a structured competitive experience. Players form teams, develop strategies, and compete in matches. Rankings emerge. Tournaments form. It becomes a genuine competitive environment.

"Similarly, players can challenge each other in Spell Duels - one-on-one magical combat that is turn-based and strategic, not real-time. Think chess, but with magic.

"House Competitions become player-driven. Different houses compete for the House Cup, with points awarded based on player performance in various challenges.

"Collaborative Dungeons allow groups of players to venture into dangerous areas of the castle where they face magical puzzles and threats together. These are mini-experiences separate from Story Mode, designed for cooperative play."

He sat down, and the room was silent for a moment.

Marcus spoke first.

"So we are, in essence, creating two games that exist in the same space."

"Exactly." Regal replied.

"Story Mode is a single-player narrative experience - intense, linear in its progression, but offering meaningful choice. Free Roam Mode is a persistent online multiplayer world where players live their fantasy of being a Hogwarts student.

"They complement each other. Players who want deep narrative play Story Mode. Players who want social interaction and fantasy fulfillment play Free Roam Mode. And many players will experience both simultaneously."

David leaned forward. "The Story Mode mechanics - the survival horror systems - they don't bleed into Free Roam?"

"Correct." Regal said. "Free Roam is fundamentally safe. That is its purpose. It is a fantasy fulfillment. Story Mode is a nightmare. But both are essential to the full experience."

Yuki spoke up, her technical mind already working through implications. "So we need to build two entirely different instance systems. Story instances are controlled, single-player, with rigid progression. Free Roam instances are persistent, multiplayer-capable, more sandbox-like."

"Yes." Regal confirmed. "But they share the same underlying world. The same castle, the same NPCs, the same magical system. The difference is the context and the rules governing that world."

Marcus pulled up a document on the projection screen. "This is the scope we are looking at. Let me read it back to you:

"We are creating a game with approximately thirty hours of single-player narrative content in Story Mode, unlimited free-form gameplay in Free Roam Mode with full multiplayer functionality, all contained within a fully explorable Hogwarts Castle rendered in three dimensions, with complete character customization, housing customization, academic systems, social systems, competitive multiplayer systems, and cooperative multiplayer systems.

"We are doing this for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. We have a budget of 180 million dollars and a three-year development timeline."

"And we have." Yuki added, looking at a calendar on her screen. "Approximately 156 weeks to execute this."

"Which starts now." Marcus said. He turned to Regal. "Walk us through the narrative structure in detail."

Regal stood and began pacing slowly, his hands gesturing as he spoke.

"Act I: The Descent begins on September 1st, when Thomas Garrett boards the Hogwarts Express.

.

….

[To be continued…]

★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★

Author Shoutout:

Hey everyone! Hope you have all been doing great and collecting moments worth remembering. Whatever you are going through right now - I am wishing you nothing but strength and good luck.

I just wanted to share something special:

A fanfic I am currently editing, written by my friend–

WrightBrothers.

Fun fact: I actually started writing after editing his very first story.

And now he is back with his second fanfic, titled–

[Multiverse: Starting in Solo Leveling with the Jackie Chan Adventure System]

It already has around 16 chapters on - WebNovel, Royal Road, Scribble Hub, and Wattpad - so if you have got some time, definitely check it out!

Thanks for reading, and stay awesome.

★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★

Author Note:

Visit Patreon to instantly access +1 chapter for free, available for Free Members as well.

For additional content please do support me and gain access to +13 more chapters.

-- [email protected]/OrgoWriters