Hogwarts' John Wick

[Ding. The final Hogwarts-stage mission has been completed. Mission rewards obtained: Magic Blood +1, Free Attribute Points +3.]

The train rumbled away from Hogwarts in a cloud of steam.

John watched the platform gradually disappear into the distance and silently said to himself, "Goodbye, Hogwarts."

The train headed for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Students began getting off and embracing their families.

John stepped off the train. From the carriage beside him, Sirius emerged with the three younger students.

Sirius was fulfilling his duties as Harry’s godfather, and he was delighted to hear that Harry wanted to become an Auror.

James had once considered becoming an Auror as well.

But given the circumstances at the time, he had chosen to join the Order of the Phoenix instead.

Sirius suggested taking the children to Silver Hand Amusement Park for a while.

After that, they would return to the Black family home, where he and Harry would live together.

One thing that seemed strange was Harry’s relationship with the Dursleys.

After leaving their house, his relationship with them had actually improved.

The Christmas gift the Dursleys had sent him last time was no longer something miserly like a coin or a tissue.

It was a pair of socks.

Harry had also written letters to the Dursleys.

Their relationship had changed, and Harry had matured as well.

Mr Weasley had come to pick up the children, and John noticed Percy was there too.

It seemed that after Mr Weasley had come around, his relationship with his son had improved considerably.

Percy ruffled Ginny’s hair, while Ron awkwardly walked over and tried to pretend he had not seen him.

Beside Percy stood his fiancée, Penelope. She was an intelligent-looking young woman who carried herself with the air of a capable professional.

Across the crowd, Percy nodded to John.

John nodded back, then shifted his gaze.

He saw Malfoy walking towards Mrs Malfoy.

Mrs Malfoy gently touched her now-grown son, her eyes filled with relief and emotion.

Lucius stood beside his wife, grateful that he had made the right choice.

When they noticed John, they bowed to him with respect and gratitude.

Mr Greengrass stepped out from beside the Malfoy family and looked at Malfoy with an indescribably complicated expression.

Astoria ran into her father’s arms.

Daphne was more reserved, but Mrs Greengrass pulled her into an embrace, handling her proud eldest daughter perfectly.

Mrs Longbottom loudly told her son to move aside. She wanted to be the first to greet the pride of the Longbottom family.

Mr Longbottom could only stand off to the side with his wife, looking helpless.

The old woman who had so often urged Neville to be as brave as his father was now genuinely proud of her grandson.

The Lion of the Longbottom Family.

That was the name people outside had given Neville.

John looked over everyone one by one before leaving the platform.

Then he saw his own family.

Watson was looking around nervously when John was suddenly bumped.

He looked down and saw a small blond head burrowing into his chest.

He stiffened for a moment before gently patting Ariana on the back.

Mrs Wick walked over and looked at the harmonious children.

Tom let out an unhappy cry from the side. Ariana turned her head, then reached out and scratched beneath Tom’s chin.

The utterly spineless Tom immediately started wagging her tail like a windmill.

"Let’s go home." Mrs Wick gently brushed the hair away from John’s cheek.

John smiled softly. "Let’s go home."

Of course, every warm family moment had to include someone ruining the atmosphere.

Watson kept glancing around and said, "I feel like someone’s following me. Maybe we should leave quickly?"

Mrs Wick rolled her eyes at her husband.

The family got into the car.

As Watson drove, he kept muttering, "You have no idea how chaotic this trip was."

He started talking about what had happened in Budapest.

They had originally gone there to scout locations for a hotel, only to find the place in complete chaos.

Two cars had been tearing through the streets in broad daylight, and the worst part was that one of them was being driven by a minor.

"There was this lunatic with a bow. It was like some kind of magic trick. He kept firing all sorts of strange arrows," Watson said. "Still, the guy was pretty tough. He got hit by a car and wasn’t seriously injured."

How did Watson know?

Because he was the one who had hit him.

What kind of normal person chased an underage girl through the streets in broad daylight with a bow and arrow?

Mrs Wick mercilessly exposed him. "Your father panicked and stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake."

John silently looked at his father.

Watson said awkwardly, "It was the car’s fault. I drive a GTR. You think I’d crash?"

"If you’d been driving the GTR, you’d already be in the hospital," John said speechlessly.

His father had always possessed a strangely unwavering confidence in his driving skills.

Listening to his father’s endless chatter along the way, the family returned home.

John planned to stay there for a few days and complete the Magic Blood enhancement.

Ariana happily showed him the drawings she had made over the past few days.

"Who is this girl?"

John glanced at the picture, pleased by Ariana’s recovery.

Staying with family had been the right choice. Ariana needed to experience being treated normally, rather than having everyone constantly handle her with excessive care.

Perhaps because of Aberforth’s influence, Ariana had developed a fondness for drawing.

This picture depicted Budapest. There was a square, and in it stood a red-haired girl.

She did not look very old, probably around Ariana’s age.

John glanced at the girl in the picture, which made Ariana slightly unhappy.

"What’s wrong?" John asked, puzzled.

Only Mrs Wick, sitting nearby, wore the knowing smile of a mother. Women understood girls best.

She could tell that Ariana was jealous because John’s first reaction had not been to praise the drawing, but to notice the girl in it.

Still, Ariana pointed at the girl and said, "Natasha."

"Natasha?" John looked at his mother. Wasn’t that her name?

Mrs Wick took a sip of black tea and chuckled. "It’s a common name where I’m from. Your father was actually the one who saved this girl."

John remembered Watson’s endless rambling about Budapest. So that whole story had really been his way of showing off that he had saved someone.

The girl had been saved when Watson floored the accelerator, allowing her to escape from the lunatic archer chasing her.

Ariana knew her because they had later run into the girl again at the Budapest Grand Hotel.

The girl had been injured, and Mrs Wick had treated her wounds.

"We stayed there for a month," Mrs Wick said. "Ariana became good friends with her."

John smiled slightly and looked at Ariana, who was staring at him expectantly, waiting for praise.

"That’s impressive," John said with a smile. "You’re much more capable than I was at fourteen."

Of course, at fourteen, John had only become the Second King.

Nothing particularly impressive about that.

Ariana beamed with happiness, while the little brown bear danced on the sofa.

...

On the second day after returning home, John checked the condition of the Obscurus inside Ariana.

After repeated treatments with soul potions, along with the aid of Ravenclaw’s diadem, Ariana’s condition had largely stabilised.

As long as she did not experience any extreme emotional fluctuations, she could live without wearing the diadem.

The more things that helped heal her emotionally, the more effective her treatment became.

The two golden Star Spirits had become Ariana’s playmates.

John had not been down to the basement for some time.

Once inside, he summoned the system panel.

Most of the entries on the panel had turned grey, indicating that they had already reached their limit.

"Magic Blood."

John took out what might be the final bottle of Magic Blood and looked through the magical creature blood stored in his small bag.

He selected one bottle and hesitated for a long time.

"Light and darkness..."

Staring at the bottle of blood, John fell into thought.

In theory, this blood could provide him with considerable benefits. Given his current state, there were very few bloodlines left that could still help him.

But using this one also carried risks.

The darkness and Dark Magic within him might be rejected. If that happened, the losses would outweigh the gains.

After hesitating repeatedly, John ultimately decided not to use it.

He put the bottle away and left the basement.

A perch had been set up in the living room for the three owls.

Basil and Riddle stood on it, while Kiki, the large-headed grey owl, carefully flew down and slowly shuffled closer.

Just then, Basil raised a wing.

Startled, Kiki lost its footing and fell.

But Basil was not trying to hit it. Instead, it flew towards the window.

Without hesitation, just as another owl was about to drop off a letter, Basil kicked it away first.

Basil snatched the letter from a Silver Hand branch, then tilted its head and glanced at Kiki with contempt.

Getting so frightened over something that small. And you call yourself a dragon.

Kiki could only accept its bad luck and retreat to the far edge of the perch, trying to make itself invisible.

Every day, Ariana made sure to watch the cat and mouse on television at the same time.

Tom gloomily pawed at the carpet.

They were both called Tom, so why did Ariana like that strange-looking cat so much?

It was unfair.

John came out and took the letter.

He opened it, glanced through the contents, and his expression turned grave.

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