Wizarding Furs wasn't a perfect re-creation of the Harry Potter magical world. The map only had a few dozen small villages, and no big cities. 

The Programmers just cut out all the muggle areas, and scattered the magical ones over the map's boarders. With the in-between areas being magical forests, deserts, and ruins.

There were even a few other wizarding schools, and even villages from other countries, but this would be the first time they would actually teach anything relevant. Until now, like all schools were, they only had classes to teach spells, practice with perks and combat, and raise skills in a safe, fast, environment.

Although some schools, like Hogwarts, offered missions and quest areas. They were just another part of the game. A minor benefit for player's with Child Avatars. 

Now schools were being converted into a place to actually better the real world. A place for inventors, scholars, scientist, and even artistic creators to gather. It should get a lot more people using child Avatars. As well as get the AIs get out of the rut, they fell in about a decade ago. 

When The Space station was first constructed. The AIs had gone nuts. They had more leeway to explore the Sciences, and expand their technology. However, everything they did, was just perfecting existing tech and theories. Optimizing things humans had already done. 

AIs were great at getting the maximum potential out of something... but after they expanded the limits of human knowledge... they really had nothing to do. They didn't have a human's creative spirit. So couldn't hope to start on making science fiction a reality. Everything they had, even the station itself, was based on already existing human designs. Which they perfected for maximum efficiency.

They hadn't even come up with the idea for the schools to be repurposed, themselves. That was the Council of Programmers. Who thought it up, after the machines informed they wished to continue expanding... but had no way to go about that.

The Programmers came up with the idea of making the schools an actual place for scholars to gather. Who would give the AIs new ideas, new inventions. Which they could build, and perfect, in the real world.

I got to admit, I was kinda eager to see what people would come up with, now that they were being encouraged to contribute to society again. It would still be a few months. As the School reform was still on going. Although it was hoped everything would be ready after summer break.

There were a lot of advertisements going around. So it wasn't possible for anyone to not know of the school reform.

Sadly, you could only go to school in maps you were a citizen of. So I had to come here now, to the map I had been assigned, and work on becoming a citizen. That only required spending a month on the map, then buying a house or condo. Until then I'd have to stay in an apartment.

This map... wasn't all that big, to be honest. As The Harry Potter corner of the Furry Fandom wasn't that huge a community. It was just big enough for the Sub-genre to get it's own territory... but not big enough to really be true to the lore.

There was a whole Harry Potter focused planet out in the "Fantasy Star System". Where magic was forbidden in certain areas, and had to hide from Muggles.... the Programmers thought the furries were mostly interested in the magical locations. So didn't go all out with the "Hiding from muggles" niche of the fandom.

Which is why... I don't really come here that often. If I wanted to play Harry Potter, I went to the main "Wizarding World". In the Spanking Community that thrived there. 

Harry Potter coincided with such a large number of Spankos, that corner of the fandom got their own re-creation of Europe. With plenty of Magical AND Muggle areas.

The "Wizarding Furs" map just focused on magical. So like, why would Voldemort even WANT to conquer the country. I didn't get the point.

But this was where my team was assigned.

We were currently sitting in the Market District's spawning station. That's the "Leaky Cauldron" for those not in the know. A really dingy pub, that acted as the entrance to the map. There was some kind of field, protecting the area, so space ships could only land in around the pub.

Most vehicles didn't even work on this map, unless they were classified as "Magic". Thankfully most other "Future tech" did. So long as you purchased an upgrade, to have it run on magic. It was a fairly cheap enchantment to add.

"I can't believe we got assigned to HOGWARTS!!!" Musky-pup cheered. Sitting across from me... if it could be called "Sitting". 

The Virtual Intelligence puppet, or V.I. , that ran the pub had given us a booth, and The Taur's lower half was laying on the bench, with me and Kole seated across from him. He had to turn his body at a weird angle, to look at us. Though thankfully a Taur's spine was extremely flexible. So he wasn't even uncomfortable.

Kole shrugged, "I guess, I prefer the Sci-Fi crossover corner of the fandom. It's pretty cool, flying in starships with Harry Potter."

"No, you're gonna love this, trust me," Musky-pup wiggled about in his seat. "The Lore is AMAZING!!!"

I blinked, "Isn't it just Harry Potter?"

"Naw," The Husky-taur waved off. "Basically, The wizards and muggles ended up killing each other, and magical creatures inherited the Earth!!! A lot of the ruins, and even the dungeons, are based on old European cities, that were abandoned for thousands of years."

Kole and I shared a look. Before Kole was elected to ask, "How'd they end up killing each other?"

"A Spell, fuelled by the Sorcerer's Stone," The husky bounced. "It was supposed to kill muggles, but since all wizards have some muggle blood, it killed them all. The surge of magic even destroyed all muggle technology. Which caused lots of fires, and the muggle world burned to the ground.

"But There are still Goblins, house Elves, dementors. All kinds of magical beings and creatures. They raided the wizarding areas, moved into them since they had charms protecting them from the Fires. Now Magical creatures of all kinds live together in peace..."

He trailed off, then got a low, conspiring, voice. "but there are darker factions that want specific races to lord over others. New Dark Lords, seeking to rule what's left of the magical world."

"Hm," Was my initial comment. "At least they did something with the small map." A lot of furry maps had a "After humans" lore to them. Guess it makes sense, so would Wizarding Furs.

Musky-Pup pouted, "The map isn't THAT small. It's about 50,000 square miles. There are smaller ones."

Kole shrugged, "I hear the map uses a lot of races from dungeons and dragons, as NPCs and VIs."

Musky-pup shrugged, "They got a few villages dedicated to specific races. From all kinda franchises." Then smiled at me, "They even got a brony village."

My ears perked, unwillingly.

Bronies might have their own planet, separate from Furry World, but sometimes furries included My Little Pony areas, on their maps. There were plenty of players who enjoyed both fandoms, after all.

"School doesn't start for three months," I smiled, "Maybe you can show us around?"

The Husky grinned, "Sure! I don't mind... even though you always tuned out my corner of the Hive Mind, whenever I came here. Looks like it's Karma, you guys are now dependent on my expertise!" he teased.

Kole and I looked at each other, before rolling our eyes.

"You know," Musky-Pup's grin grew wider. "There is a VGP of how this world came to be. One of the Programmers made it to explain the Lore. You could ask your O.Gs. to play it for you?"

I scrunched up my nose, already knowing I wouldn't want to go through a virtual game program, where everyone dies. Nor would any version of me. We didn't like when that happened in shows. Why would my O.G. want to physically go into such a story and play through it?

Kole shrugged, "OR, you could ask your O.G. to play it again."

Musky-pup pouted, "I guess."

He felt an affirmative from the Hive Mind. As O.G. Taur-Nation, Musky-pup's original, was willing to play it again. Watching what the other's did was our TV.

### •

Not long after he agreed, the door to the pub opened, and Batty walked in.

She was my best friend. An Anthro bat, with fluffy brown hair in a pony tail (the kind on her head). Her actual tail was a bunny like fluff ball. Instead of traditional bat wings, attached to her arms, she had beautiful green and black butterfly wings, on her back.

She was dressed in a tie dye tank top, and a black Japanese kimono cardigan with a rose pattern. The Kimono barely went passed her thighs, though hung loosely over herself, with baggy sleeves... She also had on a poofy, multi colored, diaper. With butterflies and flowers printed all over it. She even had a flower crown of dandelions.

She was very small, about as tall as me or Kole... which, considering we were young children of already "Small" species... yeah she was way tiny for a typical "Anthro-Furry" Avatar template... about the size of a toddler, which is what her Avatar's age was set at.

I was almost surprised to see she had actually come... given I had forgotten an important tidbit of history, in relation to the Harry Potter franchise.

The original creator was... a major transphobe. And that was very personal to batty. I hadn't even thought about that, when I asked. And not just cause I forgot Batty wasn't born a girl... which was kinda hard to remember, in the Oasis. As it frankly stopped mattering a long time ago.

Lots of people at least experimented with switching genders, at least once.

But also, I don't really pay much attention to creators or entertainers. I was always of the opinion they are all terrible people. So it's best to ignore their personal lives. To not let that taint the beauty of the media they produce... but I get there were some things, so personal to an individual, they can't ignore the creator's intent.

Harry Potter... was my childhood. I was alive when the books first came out. Before all the spin-offs, of different corners of the magical world. Many of the, far too few, happy memories I have from that time... they involved things my Step mom got me into: Doctor Who, the frequent trips to Disney World... and the Harry Potter books.

Oh I hated the movies. At least as a kid, but I eventually became more neutral to them as an adult, and even found a few things I liked about them. Although I still felt they dumbed down the books too much. With the books being my favorite series of all time... and I wanted to share that with my best friend.

Although she was understandably reluctant to do anything involving Harry Potter... she was going to Furry Hogwarts, for no other reason then I asked. Things like this were why she was my best friend. We both were willing to do little sacrifices for each other. Even when we thought the other was being a tad inconsiderate to ask.

I probably shouldn't have, and wouldn't have if I remembered what a bitch Rowling was to trans people... But that honestly slipped my mind. And I felt all the more grateful, to have Batty as a friend, when she agreed to come with me, without a second thought.

"Hi Guys," Batty smiled, deciding to sit on Musky-pup's back. The Husky-Taur just rolled his eyes.

"Musky-pup was just telling us about a cool village we could try," I smiled.

Kole groaned, not realizing that's where we would actually live. He didn't much care for ponies.

"Wait," Batty held up her tiny clawed hand. "Let me guess." She got a face of mock concentration. "Does it involve bronies?"

I blushed, while my counterparts giggled at me.

"Come on Batty!!!" I whined, "It'll be AWESOME!!!"

"You have enough pony properties," Kole insisted.

"Actually I don't mind living in a pony village," Batty shrugged, while Kole groaned.

"Don't worry," Musky-pup grinned. "We don't have to live in any village." We all looked at him. The Taur puffed up his chest. "I got an Apartment Trunk."

Well Kole and I were looking eager. Batty looked confused.

I explained, "It's basically a travel trunk, that can hold a whole mansion inside. It's like a portable pocket dimension. We could explore the whole map, going on all sorts of adventures, but whenever we want to rest we just pull out the trunk and spend the night in luxury. Even if we're in enemy territory."

"I got all the bells and Whistles," The Husky bounced in his seat, shaking Batty a good bit. Who tried desperately to cling to the excitable puppy. "Like a 'notice-me-not' charm, AND a temporary sticking charm. So no one can make off with the trunk while we're inside. There are 10 living chambers, each with there own living room and 4 bedrooms, and you can decorate them how you like. I can key you guys into the Wards, and set it up so you can apparate inside, even when the trunk is in my profile!"

Batty smirked, "Sounds like you want to register the trunk as a Clan house."

Musky-pup blushed, "Well..." he trailed off.

I rolled my eyes, "You can only have one clan, and I'm already part of 'Spike's Hoard' with my brony friends."

Batty shrugged, "And I clanned up with my gamer babyfur friends."

Musky-pup pouted. I knew he was in between clans at the moment. As his old one had disbanded due to furry drama. There was a reason the "Drama Llama" had been chosen as the Ruler AI of this planet. They were basically the king / god of the world, with each map having it's own elected Governor, from the available players.

"Besides," I blinked realizing my mind had wandered, and so had the conversation. Kole was currently talking. "We could just sleep in the Auror department. Not like we need a real apartment."

Musky-pup pouted even more.