Hogwarts' John Wick

Poland.

Inside a Silver Hand Johnny store, Tommy stared at the man who had broken in.

For some reason, the thief showed no fear of being caught. Instead, he proudly raised his head.

Stealing from Silver Hand was unbelievably foolish.

Tommy sneered. There had never been a shortage of lives taken under his command.

He glanced at the two employees in the store and asked calmly, "How did you get in? It seems you’ve been here quite a few times."

"Silver Hand Johnny has anti-theft magic. Unless someone opened the door for you."

He approached the man kneeling on the floor, bent down, and said with a cold smile, "Perhaps if you tell me, I’ll forgive you."

The man laughed instead. He struggled twice, but the werewolf security guard held him firmly in place, preventing him from standing.

He spat at Tommy and said coldly, "Heartless capitalist."

Tommy tilted his head and dodged the spit, then glanced indifferently at the man before slapping him across the face.

Teeth flew out mixed with blood, and the man glared fiercely at Tommy.

"What did he take?" Tommy casually asked the other employees.

"He... took items from the ’Zhi’ series, and he also stole quite a lot of food."

"Food?"

Tommy sounded surprised. He looked at the man and said, "I never thought someone would come to Silver Hand just to steal food."

The man stopped speaking and closed his eyes, seemingly waiting for Tommy to decide his fate.

Tommy stared at him for a moment before saying, "Send him to the Ministry of Magic and let the Aurors deal with him."

If this had happened anywhere else, the man would certainly have been "entertained" for a while.

But since they were on someone else’s territory, Tommy decided to let the Ministry of Magic handle it.

After all, he was only a thief. They just needed to recover the stolen goods.

The Silver Hand Johnny security guards escorted the man outside.

A moment later, they came back in.

"What’s wrong?" Tommy asked in surprise.

One of the guards gave a bitter smile. "Look outside."

Tommy’s expression hardened as he stepped out.

The area surrounding Silver Hand Johnny was packed so tightly with people that no one could get through.

A large group of Polish wizards had gathered there, refusing to let anyone leave.

"What is this?"

After thinking for a moment, Tommy said, "Take him away."

He stepped outside and saw the anger on the crowd’s faces.

"Give us back our hero!"

Someone shouted, and the scene immediately descended into noisy chaos.

Tommy looked puzzled. Since when had he done anything to their hero?

But when the thief was brought outside, the crowd became even more furious.

"You can’t do this!"

"Let Diwala go, you barbaric foreigners!"

"Damned capitalists!"

The angry crowd began throwing things at Silver Hand Johnny.

Tommy’s expression darkened. He drew his wand and waved it.

But that movement immediately set people on edge, provoking screams.

Tommy blocked the objects being thrown at him, then cast a Sonorus Charm and said, "This man broke into Silver Hand Johnny Shop and committed theft. Please move aside."

"No! We won’t move!"

The crowd erupted into another wave of chaotic shouting, forcing Tommy to retreat.

Step by step, he backed into Silver Hand Johnny.

His expression shifted uncertainly.

"What exactly happened?"

Unlike their earlier welcome, everyone’s attitude had completely changed.

Had something happened without his knowledge?

Tommy needed answers as quickly as possible.

But the captured man refused to speak, clearly confident that Tommy could do nothing to him.

Finally, after making inquiries from several sources, Tommy learned what had happened.

For many days, this man had been stealing from Silver Hand Johnny and then giving the stolen goods away to poor wizards without asking for anything in return.

In the eyes of those Polish wizards, he had become a hero.

When word spread that Silver Hand Johnny had caught him, the Polish wizards who knew about it became furious.

They were angry that Silver Hand Johnny had arrested their hero, and someone had further stirred them up with claims that capital was exploiting the people.

"Someone is orchestrating all of this."

Tommy found the situation troublesome.

He was the victim, yet in the eyes of the Polish wizards, he had somehow become the oppressor.

Theft had become justice, while the one being robbed had become the villain.

"What kind of twisted logic is this?" Tommy cursed.

Now he had only two choices. Either release the man or send him to the Ministry of Magic.

But no matter which option he chose, the image of Silver Hand as an oppressor had already been planted in the minds of these wizards.

Releasing the man would only encourage this behaviour, making people think Silver Hand could be bullied without consequence.

But if he refused to let him go, the wizards outside would not back down.

It was a dilemma.

And a viciously designed trap.

"Ing."

The image of the Minister for Magic appeared in Tommy’s mind.

The Ministry’s counterattack had arrived.

He did not believe these people had somehow learned about the man’s arrest by coincidence.

"Mr Shelby, the people outside are attacking Silver Hand Johnny!"

A security guard’s expression changed as he saw the angry crowd rushing towards the store.

The doors were tightly shut, so the people outside began throwing stones over them.

"Release our hero!"

"Death to the oppressors!"

Curses and angry shouts came from outside.

Tommy, however, calmed down.

Now that he knew someone was deliberately stirring up trouble, he turned to a clerk and said, "Contact the Ministry of Magic. Tell them we’re under attack."

The clerk immediately went to do so.

Before long, people from the Ministry arrived, specifically from the Inspection Department.

"Step back, step back. Watch yourselves. We’re here to protect you."

Hearing the words from outside, Tommy nearly cursed aloud.

From beginning to end, Silver Hand Johnny had been the one getting attacked. Who exactly were they supposed to be protecting?

The situation outside was quickly brought under control.

Tommy walked out to find several Aurors holding back the crowd.

A tall Auror approached him with a trace of triumph in his eyes. He extended a hand.

"Starr Rosier."

"Tommy Shelby."

Tommy shook his hand, glanced around, and said, "I’m very curious how a thief managed to become a hero."

"There’s been a misunderstanding," Starr said with a troubled expression.

"Evil capitalist!"

Someone in the crowd roared and hurled a stone at Tommy, striking him on the head.

"Stop!" Starr shouted. "Anyone who attacks Mr Shelby again will be detained!"

Those who had been about to throw more stones stopped, but disgruntled muttering and curses directed at Silver Hand continued.

Tommy’s gaze swept across the crowd.

He had not even said anything yet, but Starr had already shifted all their hatred onto him.

After speaking sternly to the crowd, Starr softened his tone towards Tommy.

"My apologies. Diwala entered Silver Hand Johnny without permission and caused trouble for the store."

"To be clear, he didn’t merely enter without permission. He came in to steal," Tommy said calmly.

As an Auror himself, he could hear the deliberate manipulation in Starr’s phrasing.

"He committed theft at Silver Hand Johnny and caused property losses."

"We will deal with him," Starr said seriously. "We will give Silver Hand a satisfactory explanation."

"Boo!"

The crowd erupted in boos, clearly dissatisfied with the decision.

Tommy waved a hand and ordered the security guards to bring Diwala out.

The crowd parted, allowing everyone to clearly see the marks from the slap on Diwala’s face.

That only inflamed their anger further.

Starr gestured for someone to take custody of Diwala.

He stepped in front of him and announced, "Because of the losses you caused Silver Hand Johnny, you will be escorted to prison."

Then Starr turned to Tommy with a smile.

"Are you satisfied, Mr Shelby?"

Tommy gave him a deep look.

"I hope justice will be served."

"Of course."

Starr’s expression did not change as he signalled for everyone to disperse.

Two Aurors escorted Diwala away.

As they passed through the crowd and reached an alley, one of the Aurors whispered, "Run."

Diwala shoved past both Aurors and sprinted into the alley.

The watching crowd erupted in cheers.

The Aurors made a token effort to chase him for a few steps before returning with guilty expressions.

"Diwala escaped."

The cheers grew even louder, and some people even began applauding.

"Useless!" Starr barked, pretending to reprimand his subordinates.

Then he turned to the grim-faced Tommy and apologised.

"I’m sorry. My subordinates are incompetent."

He lowered his voice so that only Tommy could hear.

"But they’re very good at catching greedy capitalists."

Tommy understood immediately.

The entire incident had been orchestrated by the Ministry of Magic.

There was safety in numbers.

The wizards who had caused trouble at Silver Hand Johnny were not punished either.

A few days later, the entrance to Silver Hand Johnny was surrounded once again.

Then a piece of news arrived that made Tommy curse outright.

"Fuck!"

Diwala was dead.

He had died in his own home.

Everyone who had received food from him believed Silver Hand was responsible.

The final straw came when someone stepped forward and claimed to have seen two Silver Hand employees near Diwala’s home.

Yes.

It had been those capitalists who murdered the hero of the common people.

The public erupted, demanding justice for their hero.

A stone smashed through one of Silver Hand’s windows.

Someone outside shouted, "Cowards! If you’ve got the guts, come out!"

Immediately afterward, not a single pane of glass in Silver Hand Johnny remained intact as stones continued flying inside.

The crowd vented its fury.

And Tommy knew that this time, someone was plotting against them.

Starr hypocritically sent a letter asking whether the Ministry of Magic needed to intervene and drive the crowd away.

Tommy was so furious that he crushed the letter into a ball.

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