Hogwarts' John Wick

John's confusion was quickly cleared up.

He heard that Harry's owl had been sent to Hagrid for treatment.

Thinking of Basil's smug expression, John asked, "You fought with Hedwig?"

"HOOT!" Basil spread his wings, as if proudly showing off his victory.

They were both snowy owls—no idea why, but from the day they met, things had been off between them.

Back in second year, it wasn't that serious, but by third year, they'd even fight at John's home.

Tom wagged her tail as he trotted over, gazing at Basil with admiration.

John shook his head helplessly. Basil was obedient in all other ways—but when it came to fighting Hedwig, there was no compromise.

Originally, Harry had been in high spirits, with plenty of people starting to believe what he said.

But after getting cornered by Malfoy yesterday, and now with Hedwig being attacked, his good mood had completely vanished.

In the Great Hall—

Malfoy was still throwing angry looks at Harry.

Crabbe brought John a bowl of hot soup, which John accepted and began sipping with a spoon.

Daphne was somewhat displeased—Crabbe had taken advantage of her embarrassment over a misunderstanding to sneak in and score points. Completely dishonorable!

Astoria wore a confused expression—utterly hopeless, couldn't be helped at all.

Today's classes were busy, and Hagrid's mood during lessons had improved somewhat.

He even applied some ointment to his face to make himself look a little less miserable.

He had even suggested bringing the Zouwu to class, though John immediately vetoed the idea.

That creature was far too big for classroom use.

After class, John saw Basil circling around near Hagrid's hut.

Though Basil was hiding up in a tree, he was still easier to spot than a Golden Snitch—especially for a genius Seeker.

Harry complained to Hermione, "Look, Basil's here again."

Hermione went to John and said helplessly, "John, can you please get Basil to go back?"

Though everyone knew Basil and Hedwig didn't get along, John hadn't expected Basil to go as far as laying in ambush outside the hut.

After calling him twice, Basil flew down and landed on John's arm.

"Can you stop attacking Hedwig already?" Ron shouted angrily at Basil, "She's almost been beaten to death by you!"

Basil glanced at the angry Ron, tilted his head, and put on an expression as if he didn't understand a word.

Ron swore, "Don't pretend you don't understand!"

Realizing he couldn't keep up the act, Basil dropped the pretense.

Leaving Harry and Ron with nothing but his back, he flew up and landed on the roof of Hagrid's hut.

Basil: I'm beating up Hedwig no matter what—no one can stop me! Hoot!

Fuming, Ron picked up a stone and hurled it—but Basil slapped it right back with one wing, and it hit Harry square on the head, leaving a bump.

John spread his hands at Hermione, signaling he was powerless to stop it.

He took Malfoy and left, leaving Harry behind to remind Hagrid to protect Hedwig well.

As he spoke, Harry glanced nervously up at Basil.

Basil was sharpening his talons on Hagrid's rooftop, gouging deep scratches into the wood with a single swipe.

"This snowy owl doesn't feel right," Harry muttered—and even Ron could tell something was off.

Their scalps tingled at the thought—getting scratched by Basil would probably break bone, let alone skin.

They had no idea how John managed to raise such a beast. Every one of his pets was seriously abnormal.

...

Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room, still worrying about Hedwig.

His forehead throbbed with pain again, and he had no choice but to press his scar against the cold glass of the window beside his bed.

The chill eased the pain somewhat, and he let out a contented hum.

Lying down, he closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

He dreamed of Basil flapping his wings and fiercely attacking Hedwig. When he tried to stop him, Basil suddenly grew enormous and swallowed him whole.

Burp~!

The scene shifted.

He found himself in an ancient, elegant room.

It was dim, like no one had paid the electricity bill—only a single candle lit the space, barely illuminating the surroundings.

"Seems I've been tricked," Harry was startled to hear his own voice—but it was sharp and cold.

"Master, please forgive me." A man in black robes knelt on the floor.

His trembling body caused the candlelight to flicker over him constantly.

The same sharp and cold voice came from Harry's mouth, beyond his control. "I don't blame you, Dolohov."

He stood up from a dark velvet armchair and approached the cowering man, looking down on him from above.

Harry noticed, standing respectfully in the dim candlelight on the other side of the room, a man with platinum-blond hair.

"Is your intel reliable, Dolohov?" The voice dripped with danger—Harry felt the overwhelming desire to kill the man. "You should know—I do not tolerate lies."

"It is, Master. I—I used to work at the Ministry of Magic," the man replied, growing more terrified.

The owner of the voice turned slightly, his gaze falling on the platinum-blond-haired man as he called, "Lucius."

"Master." Lucius stepped out from the shadows, revealing his face. Harry's pupils contracted—he recognized this man.

Lucius respectfully said, "I tried to control Bode, but he resisted my Imperius Curse."

The master's gaze shifted back to the man on the ground. Larkwood spoke in terror, "Bode couldn't take it, Master, he knows he can't."

"Stand up, Larkwood." The voice softened a little, making the man feel deeply grateful.

"We need to start over now. Voldemort thanks you, Larkwood."

The sharp, cold voice continued, "I still need your help. I need all the information you can provide."

Larkwood was overjoyed, repeatedly swearing his loyalty.

"Call Avery in."

After Larkwood left, only two people remained in the room.

Harry found that his vision had returned to Lucius, and he said, "How is Bellatrix?"

"Narcissa is taking care of her, Master. She is badly injured," Lucius said with difficulty. "She has many wounds caused by magic."

"Dumbledore tricked us."

"Dumbledore?" The master began to pace. "It wasn't him."

Facing the wall, Harry noticed a mirror hanging in the shadows.

A face even paler than a skull appeared—its red eyes had slit pupils.

"It was someone else, Lucius."

As the words fell, Harry finally realized whose role he was playing now.

"No—!" he screamed in terror.

"What?"

A voice came from beside him. Harry felt himself entangled in bed curtains, and could feel someone fumbling clumsily all over him.

"Can you stop flailing around like a lunatic?" Ron's voice sounded. "So I can get you out!"

The curtains were finally yanked open, and Harry gasped greedily for air.

This time there was no third person in the dream, but that only made it more frightening.

It was no longer about that door—Harry had become Voldemort himself!

After catching his breath, a searing pain erupted on his forehead like it was on fire.

Shivering, Harry sat back on the bed.

He tried to recall everything he had seen, while Ron looked at his mate with deep concern.

"I was the Dark Lord."

Harry gasped sharply, remembering the two people he saw in his dream.

"What the—"

"Malfoy's dad was there too."

"Malfoy?" Ron found it hard to believe.

Given Malfoy's usual attitude.

But on second thought, it actually made sense.

Back then, Lucius Malfoy was one of the Death Eaters.

Harry recounted everything he saw in the dream, including the mention of Bode.

Dean and Seamus were stomping around the room loudly, taking off their clothes to get ready for bed.

"Harry," Ron said nervously, "you have to tell—"

"I can't tell anyone," Harry interrupted, already knowing what Ron was about to say. He spoke firmly, "If I knew Occlumency, I wouldn't be seeing these things at all."

"They want me to learn how to keep this stuff out."

Ron, of course, knew who "they" were.

It wasn't until the next day during break that the two of them told Hermione about it.

Hermione was far smarter than the other two, and from the details, she picked up on even more.

"Sturgis… Bode…" Hermione was a little breathless. "Do you remember why he was arrested? Lucius Malfoy targeted him too. That Invisibility Cloak—maybe he was guarding that door, Malfoy discovered him and put him under the Imperius Curse."

Hermione stared at Harry. At first, Harry thought she was about to offer some analysis or maybe even praise.

But instead, Hermione suddenly said, "But you shouldn't be seeing any of this, Harry."

Harry was shocked. "What?"

Hermione, like a strict mother, said, "You should be learning how to keep these things out of your mind."

Harry wanted to argue—like how seeing these things had helped him gather valuable intel, like just now.

"I think we should find a way to make you forget what you've seen," Hermione said firmly and sternly. "You need to put more effort into learning Occlumency."

Harry was extremely frustrated. He'd clearly done something helpful.

But from the way Hermione spoke, it was like he was a walking time bomb about to go off at any moment.

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