127: Forbidden Magic and the Stripped Soul

127: Forbidden Magic and the Stripped Soul

Hogsmeade Village, the only all-wizarding village in the country.

John walked into Honeydukes Sweetshop, a favorite among young wizards.

Even grown-up wizards frequented the shop, though the pile of cockroach-like candies crawling around made John wonder if the person who invented them had a bit of a twisted mind.

Grabbing one of the cockroach-shaped sweets, he put it in his mouth and could actually feel it wriggling around.

Oh!

Sweet. Really sweet.

It was like pouring syrup straight down his throat—so sweet it was almost overwhelming.

"Hi, I'll take some of these," John said, unfazed as he crunched down on the cockroach-shaped candy and swallowed it. He spent ten Galleons and stuffed a huge pile of candy into his little bag.

Though it was called a village, no one expected Hogsmeade to be very large.

John wandered around and spotted Hagrid coming out to grab a drink.

Following him into the Three Broomsticks, John ordered a butterbeer.

After taking a sip, he found it quite nice. It would have been even better cold.

Unfortunately, cold butterbeer would clump up and become far too thick to enjoy.

"Aye John? What are you doing here?"

Hagrid often drank at the Three Broomsticks, and seeing John, he instinctively called out to him.

John pointed to a seat, inviting Hagrid to sit down. Glancing at the increasing number of enforcers outside, he casually remarked, "There really are a lot of Ministry people in Hogsmeade."

Hagrid, whose one mug of beer was about the equivalent of a bucket for John, took a big gulp and whispered, "Well, you know... S-Sirius Black is near Hogwarts."

His face showed hesitation, and if it weren't for John sitting in front of him, Hagrid wouldn't have revealed this so easily. He leaned in, speaking in what he thought was a low voice, "That guy's after Harry. You don't know—back in the day, he..."

Several times, he opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to finish, clearly struggling with what to say.

Seeing Hagrid in such distress, John waved a hand and said, "Don't force yourself to tell me, Hagrid. You're asking for my help, right?"

Taking a sip of butterbeer, John could already tell from Hagrid's expression that he needed a favor. He instinctively adopted a wise and knowing posture, placing his right hand on his left as if he were a sage.

Too bad he didn't have his magic ring with him. If he did, he'd look every bit the powerful wizard godfather.

Leaning back in his chair, John gave Hagrid an appraising look.

Gulp!

That gaze made Hagrid feel as though he was in front of Dumbledore, causing him to sit up straight, subconsciously more respectful.

With hesitation on his face, Hagrid stammered, "John, I know you're powerful. You're the most talented student I've ever met. That Sirius Black is definitely going to go after Harry. I was hoping that maybe you could..."

"You want me to protect Harry?"

John looked at Hagrid with a calm expression and said, "Hagrid, you're not the first person to say this to me. Back in second year, someone else told me the same thing."

Hagrid looked a bit embarrassed. After all, John was still a student, and he was a professor. Asking a student to protect another student felt a bit strange.

"Harry isn't a child, Hagrid. He can take care of himself," John replied, not agreeing to the request. Back in second year, he had protected Harry and was suspected for it, and now this year, he was focused on studying soul magic, so he didn't have the time.

Hagrid, clearly anxious, raised his voice a bit, saying, "You don't know how cruel Sirius Black is!"

"He betrayed James, his best friend, and on top of that, he's still..."

The words caught in his throat, and Hagrid slumped a bit, finishing quietly, "He's still Harry's godfather. I can't imagine what Harry would think if he found out."

What would he think?

John figured that if Harry found out, he'd probably want to run out and kill Sirius Black on the spot.

Suddenly, everything clicked for John.

No wonder the Weasleys were worried about Harry acting impulsively—it was because of this.

The murder of his parents was, for Harry, the beginning of all his misfortunes.

Not just Harry; if it were John in that position, he couldn't imagine being able to hold back either.

Meanwhile, Daphne was still looking for John.

She had finally caught a glimpse of him, but after he turned a corner, he vanished.

...

He appeared in the forbidden forest and then made his way to the castle.

Back at Hogwarts, John hurried straight to the Chamber of Secrets.

Filch saw John return and looked at him strangely.

Harry also noticed John, curiosity welling up in him, but John was too fast, disappearing before Harry could approach him.

"Why did John come back?" Harry stared in the direction where John had disappeared, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, John had already arrived in the Chamber of Secrets. He opened the intricately carved silver box, revealing a book with a mysterious red leather cover.

The moment he touched it, a piercing scream echoed in his ears.

The sound was sharp and grating, reminiscent of a Dementor's wail.

"Urrgh..."

John gritted his teeth, fighting off the discomfort, and used Occlumency to drive the noise away.

"Haah~ A curse that strikes directly at the soul... wow." Once the sound disappeared, John's face looked much better.

Opening the book, he found it filled with beautifully written calligraphy, recording numerous arcane details.

John read quietly, his eyes occasionally widening in surprise.

After closing the book and processing the information within, John packed up the box and once again set out to capture a Dementor.

Returning with the Dementor, John began his experiment.

"Curses belong to curses"

"souls to souls."

"Unravel carefully, gently..."

John muttered in understanding while the Dementor was slowly disassembled piece by piece.

"Not too quick.. not too slow.. "

"Gently and carefully.."

Before he knew it, three hours had passed.

John maintained his position, witnessing an unbelievable scene before him.

A figure glowing with a silvery white light was being extracted by John, with the black and white aspects clearly separated.

"It worked." He muttered softly.

"It really fucking worked!!" This time he shouted.

The figure quickly shrank into a mass, and John used his wand to separate the black and white components.

A look of joy was unmistakable on his face.

As he placed the last fragment of the soul into a vial, John couldn't help but clench his fist in triumph.

"He.. hehe.. hehahahahahahahahahah HELL YES!"

Cough! Cough!

He had successfully completed the operation. The Dementor wasn't killed, but rather split apart.

"Ehm! Using another soul as the scalpel."

Staring at the now-depleted collection of soul fragments, John's expression gradually became more composed. He sighed and said, "What a cruel procedure...."

However, thanks to the presence of Dementors, John could easily capture a few more as backups.

_________

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