NOVEL WEB 126: Paw Meeting
The shrill scream pierced through the eardrums, and the Dementor's body, covered in a thin, smoky substance, seemed to be torn apart by an invisible, forceful hand.
John was more focused than ever before. His wand, like a surgeon's scalpel, precisely peeled away layer by layer of the Dementor bit by bit.
The magical crystal hanging around his neck emitted a faint glow. But with one careless movement, John applied too much force, and the third Dementor died.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, John's frown remained.
He didn't understand. He had been controlling every strand of magic with pinpoint accuracy, so why wasn't it working?
"Unable to read the Dementor's thoughts... I can only rely on the intensity of its screams to gauge things."
Tsk
Expressionless, John removed his earplugs and tapped his fingers absentmindedly on the cabinet.
The Boggart inside didn't dare make a sound. It shrank within the cabinet, pretending to be dead.
John glanced over at the newly added shelf for reagents, where a vial containing a black, smoke-like substance sat.
It was the result of his painstaking efforts to extract what could be considered the "blood" from the Boggart.
The black mist floated within the vial, moving erratically without direction.
This substance reminded John of another creature in the magical world.
An Obscurus.
Beside it, there were several other vials, each containing varying amounts of floating silver threads.
These things looked incredibly pure and sacred.
"Is this the soul the Dementor didn't fully digest, or is it its own soul?"
Pondering for a moment, John put on his gloves and used his wand to pick up one of the silver threads.
It looked just like what had come out of Nagini, but when John grasped it this time, there was no familiar calling sensation.
He stared at the silver thread, a crazy idea forming in his mind.
"Anima, veni ad me."
Pointing his wand at his head, the silver thread slid into John's ear.
Suddenly, everything before John's eyes changed.
He was paralyzed, unable to move, and in front of him appeared a wizard with long black hair.
The wizard's face was cold, looking at John as if he were nothing more than an insect.
With a slight flick of the wizard's wand, John felt his body being crushed—like his bones were being shattered, and his skin peeled off inch by inch.
A scream welled up in John's throat, but all that came out was a whimper.
It turned out his tongue had already been cut off, and the veins around his eyes bulged grotesquely.
John couldn't escape, his face contorted in agony. Around him, there were many others imprisoned just like him.
Resentment began to spread in John's mind, eventually overflowing and filling the entire room.
After what felt like an eternity of torment, John's eyes were wide open in terror—"Aargh—!"
Then, everything vanished, and he found himself back in the chamber.
"Huff.. haah.. Haah..."
Breathing heavily, everything he had just experienced felt all too real. Checking the time, he realized half an hour had passed.
"Planting a soul fragment into my body is far too dangerous," John muttered, still shaken.
He collapsed into a chair, his eyes tightly shut, needing a moment to recover.
The edge of the table bore the clear imprints of his fingers, a testament to the agony he'd just endured.
"I'll need to find a different method next time," he thought.
John noticed his fingers were bleeding and cast a spell to stop the bleeding.
Yet, it seemed there were some benefits. After a good night's sleep, he woke up feeling much more refreshed than usual.
"What's going on?" he murmured, puzzled, as he looked at a book.
Without even engaging his usual focus, he could now skim through the pages at lightning speed.
This surprised him greatly. Then, a thought struck him. "Could it be because of that soul fragment?" he muttered.
Placing a soul fragment into one's brain could enhance mental strength?
Damn!
John felt that this was something only dark wizards would do, and after all, he considered himself a good person.
The heightened state only lasted for about an hour, so there seemed to be a time limit.
"If I could turn this effect into a potion, it'd probably be the magical world's equivalent of a stimulant," he mused.
As he walked out of the classroom after his lesson, John found himself missing that powerful sensation.
...
On the eve of Halloween.
The Slytherin common room erupted in cheerful laughter.
Daphne reluctantly bid farewell to her younger sister, Astoria, while Malfoy confidently announced to his followers that they would go drink some firewhisky.
Handing his permission slip for Hogsmeade to Filch, John noticed Harry pleading with Professor McGonagall.
"Please, Professor McGonagall, my aunt and uncle just... um... forgot to sign the form,"
Harry was very desperate.
McGonagall, with her usual strict and businesslike demeanor, sternly replied, "I'm afraid not, Potter. You heard me—without a signed form, you cannot go to Hogsmeade."
McGonagall had no intention of letting Harry leave. While the other students were unaware, she knew that Sirius Black was out there, searching for Harry.
Though Hogsmeade was a wizard-only village, Sirius was a dangerous figure, the kind of man who had blown up an entire street with a single spell.
There was no room for leniency in McGonagall's decision, leaving Harry utterly crestfallen.
John raised an eyebrow.
Wait a minute, did the Dursleys just ignore what he said last time?
It seemed like good advice was wasted on the wrong people.
'If Harry ever turned dark, the first to go would be the Dursleys.'
Seeing Harry looking dejected, Hermione and Ron hurried over to comfort him.
"We still have the feast, right?" Ron tried to cheer Harry up. "You know, the Halloween feast is tonight."
In the past, Harry might have been excited for the feast. But compared to spending the whole day out with his friends, it just didn't seem as fun anymore.
In truth, the Dursleys really had forgotten about the permission slip. After Harry left, he hadn't contacted them, and since he had left in anger, it wasn't surprising that the Dursleys hadn't bothered to sign anything.
So, in the end, Harry hadn't gotten the signature.
Seeing how down Harry was, John walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's okay. It's just a bunch of joke products and tasty candies, right? You can always drink butterbeer later."
Hearing John's "comfort" only made Harry think even more about Hogsmeade, causing his face to fall even more.
Hermione couldn't stand it anymore and scolded, "That's not how you cheer someone up!"
"Eh? I should go.." John didn't think he said anything strange. He patted Harry's shoulder again and then turned and walked away.
A dog strolling with a cat outside—a peculiar sight that made Ron instinctively clutch his pocket, only to remember that he hadn't brought his rat.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Hermione called out, "Crookshanks!"
Crookshanks stopped and turned to look at Hermione, holding a paper bag full of dried fish in his mouth.
Tom, the dog, was also carrying a bag of dog food, loaded up like they were on their way to visit relatives.
"Aw~ They are so cute~ Letting Tom take care of Crookshanks was a good idea!" Hermione commented with excitement.
As the cat and dog wandered around Hogwarts together, the tension between Hermione and Ron began to ease.
Tom was the reigning ruler of Hogwarts pets, and Crookshanks was clever. Surprisingly, the two got along without any fighting.
After briefly telling Harry they'd bring him back gifts, Ron and Hermione hurried to catch up with the others heading to Hogsmeade.
Harry watched everyone leave, feeling dejected.
"Sigh~"
Alone, he turned and started to walk back.
Filch glared at Harry sideways, as if worried he might try to sneak away.
Mrs. Norris meowed, and Filch quickly pulled out some dried fish from his pocket to feed her.
Meanwhile, the cat and dog duo ran all the way to the Whomping Willow.
There was no need for Tom to show off its quick moves like when she had outmaneuvered Malfoy; instead, Crookshanks simply reached out with a paw and pressed the knot on the Whomping Willow.
The tree immediately froze, and Tom excitedly scampered into the tunnel below, with Crookshanks following close behind.
Inside the Shrieking Shack, Sirius Black had almost fully recovered. On his way to Hogwarts, he had been spotted by Muggles, which led to Aurors chasing him down. He had been hit a few times during the pursuit.
Fortunately, being an unregistered Animagus, he managed to escape by transforming into a big black dog.
When he saw the cat and dog approaching, Sirius grinned. These two little creatures were familiar friends of his, always willing to lend a paw.
If only John knew that Tom acted as a food delivery guy for some other dog behind his back....
"Woof! Woof!"
"Meow~ meow~"
It was unclear how they communicated, but the barks and meows filled the air, somehow exchanging one clear message: Sirius was ready to take action, and it was time to catch that wretched rat and finish him off.
As for leading the way, there was no need to bother anyone else.
After all, Sirius was a Hogwarts graduate—he knew the way around perfectly well!
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