Hogwarts’ John Wick 229: Departing Dragon Rider

229: Departing Dragon Rider

Saturday.

Hogsade.

"I need to set up new Anti-Theft Charms."

The Constellation society's chamber had been infiltrated twice. The intruder's Confundus Charm was exceptionally advanced. If John wanted to counter them, he needed a new approach.

He went to a materials shop and bought so acorns.

Oak was a tree imbued with magic, and acorns had the ability to establish boundaries.

He hadn't co out with Daphne and the others. The prophecy lingered in his mind.

"Better if they go out less… especially Draco."

Tucking the purchased acorns into his satchel, John continued walking through Hogsade.

Then, he saw it.

A large black dog.

John was sure he wasn't mistaken.

Heh! After all, he had kicked that dog twice before.

It was Sirius.

The dog turned its head to look at him, as if signaling for John to follow.

After pondering for a mont, John didn't think Sirius would lure him to a deserted place just to kill him, right?

So, he followed.

Man and dog, John kept his eyes on the black fur ahead.

Suddenly, he rembered—he had even petted it before.

They reached a secluded hillside, where Sirius transford back into his human form.

His complexion looked much better now, and his hair was no longer as greasy as before.

It seed like Sirius had returned to his old self—more mature, yet just as charming.

"We haven't been properly introduced." Sirius extended his hand. "Sirius Black."

John shook it. Sirius grinned and said, "My left ribs still hurt a bit."

"Sorry," John said, though there was not a hint of actual regret in his tone. He looked at Sirius and asked, "What do you want from ?"

"I've heard about you," Sirius said. "You're quite impressive."

"That's not all, is it?" John raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by the praise. "Are you here to stand up for your godson?"

Sirius wouldn't have co to Hogsade just to see him—he was likely eting up with Harry.

Shrugging, Sirius exuded the effortless charm of a carefree aristocrat.

"I know what kind of person you are. Ever since you suggested to Snape that he throw to the Dentors, I knew you weren't a typical good guy."

Not a typical good guy.

Hearing that, John almost wanted to laugh.

With a fake smile, he said, "I also think that soone who tricked another person into facing a rampaging werewolf isn't much better."

You're not a good person either—so drop the act.

"Snape brought that on himself," Sirius muttered, stumbling over his words at the ntion of their youthful mistakes. "Fine, I admit I was wrong back then. But this ti, I ca to ask you to let go of past grudges with Harry. He is a good kid, please—"

"Let go of past grudges?"

John scoffed. "I think you've misunderstood. From beginning to end, Harry and I were never even in that kind of relationship. If you're looking for a babysitter, I suggest you go find Dumbledore."

"Babysitter?" Sirius was montarily stunned but quickly recovered and blocked John's way.

"You know who Harry is."

Sirius continued, "I suspect the rmaid incident was targeted at Harry. It could be Voldemort or the Death Eaters behind it."

"So what?"

John asked indifferently, "Harry's identity? The Chosen One, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I have no ti to play babysitter. You can find soone else—Dumbledore, Moody, Professor McGonagall… Just don't co bothering ."

After speaking, John slapped away Sirius's outstretched hand.

Harry is the Chosen One—everything will work itself out in the end, won't it?

After John left, the golden trio found Sirius.

Now that he no longer had to hide, Sirius decided to protect Harry from the shadows. Given his sensitive status, being discovered by the Death Eaters could be dangerous, so he simply stayed in his Animagus form.

The Death Eaters didn't know what his Animagus form looked like, after all.

…

Sirius finding John was nothing more than a minor episode for John.

He returned to the Constellation Society and gathered everyone.

"I'll be leaving school during the Easter holidays. I want you all to keep yourselves safe."

John openly announced his departure, but no one found it strange.

Taking out the 'Zhi' series equipnt from his satchel, John distributed them to everyone.

Daphne held the beautifully crafted Silent Heart and imdiately sensed that sothing was off.

"John, do you think the school is in danger?" She was a sharp girl and quickly grasped the key point.

The others also paused and looked up at John.

John nodded, his voice serious. "The Constellation Society has been infiltrated twice. I never ntioned it before, but soone is lurking in the shadows. We don't know if they'll act again, but they are definitely not an ally."

Cedric pondered for a mont and said, "We could set up a monitoring spell."

"It's useless. That person is too powerful," John shook his head. "Their strength isn't any less than the Heads of Houses. That's why I want you all to stay away from the Constellation Society until the end of the term."

John would be busy in the coming days, and he didn't want anyone encountering the intruder while he was away.

He handed out highly sensitive Whomping Willow protection charms and entrusted Cedric to pass one on to Percy.

"Fleur, Cedric, Draco—you three need to be extra careful."

Calling out their nas, John spoke seriously. "I suspect that the intruder and the one behind the rpeople incident are the sa. Since they acted during the second task, their primary targets might be the champions."

Fleur and Cedric nodded solemnly. anwhile, Malfoy, feeling inexplicably singled out, asked in confusion, "What about ? I'm not a champion."

Hearing his question, John replied breezily, "Oh, you've just offended too many people. There's always a chance soone might be out for revenge. You are at no. 1 on everyone's hate list, be extra careful."

Malfoy: "…" Do you have any manners?!

After giving his instructions, John set out to prepare a special gift for the intruder.

Once everyone had left, he ground the acorns into a fine powder, mixed them with black unicorn horn powder, and created a trap.

After restoring the anti-theft spell, John looked around and discreetly set up an additional surveillance charm.

With everything in place, now, all John had to do was wait.

Easter arrived quickly.

The Easter holiday was the perfect ti for John to leave.

Without alerting anyone, he slipped into the Forbidden Forest.

Zouwu's right eye had mostly recovered, though its left eye remained the sa.

Tossing the big furball around playfully, John watched as Zouwu imdiately trotted over, begging for head pats.

He reached out and ruffled the mane on its neck—the wounds there had mostly healed.

Hagrid had taken great care of Zouwu over the past few months, though the creature always seed eager to find the Abraxans.

After all, in the Forbidden Forest, there weren't many creatures of the sa massive size as Zouwu.

Only the Abraxans could match it in stature.

anwhile, the scent of whiskey nearly overwheld Hagrid's hut.

John noticed that Mada Maxi's attitude toward Hagrid had softened a bit.

Last ti, Hagrid had nearly ruined his hard-won romance the mont he opened his mouth.

But after John had given him so pointers, he'd learned his lesson—never bring up giants and bloodline.

Sohow, Hagrid had even found a way to add a garden next to his pumpkin patch, now filled with tulips and other flowers.

Mada Maxi saw Hagrid's efforts and finally agreed to a second date.

"Hopefully, Mada Maxi won't let Hagrid's love go to waste."

Shaking his head, John couldn't see any sign of genuine affection from her—at most, just a bit of goodwill.

As for Hagrid, he was practically seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.

After sending Zouwu off to play elsewhere, John made his way to the unicorn habitat.

Having stayed with the unicorns for several months, he found that a few dragon eggs had already hatched.

When Weiwei saw John, she looked extrely aggrieved—because the little ones had burned down her ho.

John looked embarrassed, but once he took out so Constellation Stones, the unicorns had no complaints anymore.

||Amohan, it's ti to go.||

John found the dragons—besides the original four, there were now three additional baby dragons.

Amohan had long since been exhausted by the little troublemakers. The mont it heard they were finally leaving, it flapped its wings excitedly and sent one of the baby dragons—who had been gnawing on its toes—flying... Oops..

The other dragons were just as excited.

The Valley of Perpetual Rest/Breath Less was the holand of dragons. The Chinese Fireball had been raised in Romania and had never been there before.

Due to the dragons' massive size, John couldn't simply use magic to teleport them.

The Valley of Perpetual Rest lived up to its na—aside from dragons, no other creatures could survive there.

Leading the dragons out of their habitat, John sat on Amohan's back and skeptically asked, ||Are you sure you won't throw off?||

||Relax, I have thirty years of flying experience. They call the Breath Less Valley Speed God."||

John: "…" Why did that sound oddly familiar?

Amohan let out a deafening dragon roar, spread its wings, and shot into the sky.

The dragons behind followed suit— the Swedish Short-Snout grabbed two of the baby dragons, while the Chinese Fireball carried another.

And just like that, John finally got to experience what it truly ant to be a dragon rider.

_________

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