The wind was bitterly cold, stinging against their faces.
Rows of footprints pressed into the muddy ground, the thin ice in the soil crunching under every step.
Scotland's weather had turned frigid in an instant.
John stepped past Hogwarts' boundaries and extended his arm. A black owl descended, landing steadily on his forearm.
He took the letter from Riddle's beak, opened it, and glanced through it.
"Kim has collected quite a number of spellbooks lately."
Among ancient forms of magic, many were considered forbidden or outright evil.
Magic that manipulated souls was rare even within Britain.
But Johnny Silverhand's influence had already spread overseas, and most of these texts had been gathered from foreign sources.
"Perhaps I should investigate in another direction."
John murmured, his gaze drifting eastward.
Compared to here, that side of the world held deeper, older histories and far more complete magical legacies.
"Let's go to Hogsade first. Tommy sent sothing over," John said to Daphne beside him.
She nodded, her green scarf covering half her face against the cold.
The weather was freezing, and John walked ahead of Daphne, shielding her from the biting wind.
"It seems this isn't exactly walking weather," he said with a soft laugh, extending his hand toward her. "Let's get there another way."
Daphne took his hand—before she could even fully process the feeling, both of their figures vanished.
They reappeared in Hogsade.
Daphne wavered slightly, unaccustod to the sudden shift. John steadied her with a hand and said gently, "Let's stop by Honeydukes for sothing sweet. It'll help."
She nodded with a slight frown; Apparition wasn't a pleasant sensation.
John was helping her get used to it early—this year, they would be eligible to sign up for Apparition lessons.
You could call it giving Daphne a private advantage.
The mont they stepped into Honeydukes, the warm, buttery scent of caral enveloped them.
The cozy heat of the shop chased the cold right off their bodies.
It was easily the most popular place in the village.
But since the two had taken a shortcut, the shop wasn't crowded yet.
Walking deeper inside, John selected a few boxes of premium chocolate.
The Honeydukes shopkeeper watched the pair with a fond, knowing smile—clearly reminded of her own school days.
"How about this one?" John held up a berry-flavored snack for Daphne.
Her cheeks turned pink—whether from the cold or sothing else was unclear.
After they left Honeydukes, waves of Hogwarts students began arriving in the village.
Malfoy crept toward the candy shop, peeking around suspiciously.
Only after confirming that the person he feared wasn't inside did he finally step out again and enter Honeydukes with Astoria.
Inside, they ran into Blaise—who, blissfully unaware of suffering or restraint, was buying an expensive luxury candy gift box.
Seeing this, Malfoy exaggeratedly said, "rlin's beard, Blaise—if you've got that kind of energy, why don't you just give the Weasley girl a vial of Amortentia instead?"
"You wouldn't understand," Blaise said gloomily. "Love is all about that lightning-strike mont of connection."
Malfoy stared at Blaise's expression and—for soone who spent his life casting verbal mockery—actually felt the urge to punch him.
Are you implying I don't understand love?
Blaise paid for the gift box and scampered off, eager to find Ginny.
No one could behave like that unless their mother had inherited the fortunes of seven wealthy husbands, giving Blaise endless money to burn.
Malfoy saw the outco imdiately and bet Astoria, "I guarantee that box is going straight into one of Hogwarts' rubbish bins."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Malfoy answered automatically—then imdiately realized sothing was wrong.
That voice didn't sound like Astoria at all.
Gulp.. He turned his head.
Daphne was standing behind him with a pleasant smile.
John and Daphne hadn't gone far earlier, so they spotted Malfoy instantly.
It was unavoidable—Goyle and Crabbe, standing like two stone guardians beside him, made them impossible to miss.
The result was that John ended up walking with Malfoy… while Daphne and Astoria paired off together.
Malfoy looked utterly devastated—his perfectly good date had just vanished into smoke.
To make matters worse, they passed Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop just in ti to see Blaise being kicked out.
He had apparently tried to invite Ginny to another table right in front of Dean.
That alone was enough to get him thrown out as an unwelco guest.
John was speechless. He honestly didn't even know what to say about Blaise anymore.
As a Slytherin, Blaise had a wealthy mother and excellent grades.
Yet he kept ramming his head into the sa tree, each attempt more reckless than the last.
Even Malfoy thought Blaise was going too far—more than he ever did.
"Admirable spirit, Blaise."
John walked up, and both he and Malfoy sympathetically patted the boy's shoulder.
…
John headed to the Hog's Head alone, where he t Tommy.
"I don't know what you're planning to do with this, My Lord.." Tommy said as he handed John a black box.
His expression was tense. "There's intense malice and curses in it."
"Relax. It's not for attacking anyone." John waved a hand dismissively and opened the box.
Inside lay an ornate opal necklace.
It had once sat in Borgin and Burkes—now it was stored in John's private inventory.
He'd asked Tommy to bring it because he needed it to prepare the nine gates of the Constellation Society.
"If we're going to host the Dark Lord, we should offer sothing a bit thrilling," John said with a soft laugh. "And if we're chasing excitent, we might as well go all the way."
Tommy had no idea how to respond. John rose to leave.
Tommy quickly called after him, "Sir, you're… not paying?"
"If you're willing to cover the difference for all that candy, I'd be delighted to pay."
John's voice floated back lazily, leaving Tommy's face imdiately darkening.
Doing errands for the boss… and still having to pay out of his own pocket.
It was just buying the most expensive sweets for Oz at raw-material price—was that really worth complaining about?
…
Back at the castle.
John had expected Blaise to calm down a little, but he had still underestimated the boy's determination.
"He's on his fifth love letter already, isn't he?"
Watching Blaise's endless creative output, John even wondered whether he should recruit him into the noble profession of writing novels.
"He delivered one to Ginny Weasley this morning, another at noon, and he's writing again this afternoon."
Three love letters a day.
John had Goyle and Crabbe pin Blaise down.
He needed to check whether Blaise had been dosed with Amortentia.
What brand of love potion could possibly last this long?
Unfortunately, the examination results were the sa as before—nothing.
"Blaise, sotis liking soone ans keeping a proper distance."
John warned him seriously. If this continued, Percy might very well co charging in with murder on his mind.
With John saying so, Blaise finally reined himself in… though he still looked heartbroken over Ginny.
Monday arrived.
The war between Snape and Sirius was still ongoing.
Even Slughorn had been alard by it.
He pulled the two aside, hoping their personal grudges wouldn't escalate into sothing too humiliating.
At the very least, deducting five points from Draco simply because his left foot entered the doorway first was far too far-fetched.
If this continued unchecked, Slughorn felt they would drain both houses of every last point.
After the conversation, the two finally restrained themselves a little.
But the tension in the air was still thick.
Sotis it had already gone beyond verbal jabs.
Whenever the two crossed paths, everyone around them grew tense, as if both might draw their wands at any mont.
Scenes like this had practically beco a daily spectacle.
Malfoy was busy drilling the Quidditch team. When John looked at the training schedule, it was almost double last year's intensity.
He took out a quill and cut a third of the training hours, finally giving the team a chance to breathe.
As for his advanced classes, John still attended Care of Magical Creatures religiously.
Grawp could now even solve "one plus one equals two" problems—his rapid improvent shocked Hagrid more than anyone.
This was all thanks to John using ntal magic to communicate—it was the most direct and easily understood thod.
At the sa ti, he hadn't been idle. As the weather grew colder, he dismantled the opal necklace.
This was the necklace that had once claid the lives of nineteen Muggles.
A pure, undeniable Dark artifact.
So of course Tommy had been uneasy when delivering it.
The thing looked like it was ant for murder.
After taking it apart, John placed the opal necklace inside one of the nine gates.
These nine gates were just like the entrance to the Constellation Society—one needed a badge to pass through them.
Inside, John had embedded the transit technique he'd learned in the Witcher world: the Monolith.
However, its shape was different from the original monoliths.
And it lacked the ability to travel between worlds.
It could, however, function like a Portkey—allowing movent between different locations.
Just as John finished arranging everything, he stepped outside and ran into Harry.
"Good evening, John." Dumbledore opened the door and greeted him.
Harry tensed imdiately. John glanced at the two of them.
Through the open doorway, he saw a Pensieve inside.
Dumbledore was clearly pouring all his effort into training Harry.
________
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