159: The Dog Catchers and Snape's Revenge

The cheers of Slytherin echoed through the stadium.

From the field to the Great Hall, then back to the common room.

All of Hogwarts was filled with that hint of green, with the words "Glory" and "honor" restored.

This was Slytherin's eighth championship; aside from the canceled Quidditch season in their second year, they had held the title for seven years.

Strangely, it had never felt like this before.

Winning the championship filled them with such joy.

Malfoy became the center of attention, the badge on his chest shining like a star.

"John, did you see it, ah? John? We're the champions! Where is John?"

Holding the trophy, Malfoy looked around for John.

Daphne said, "John had something to take care of, so he left early. He wanted me to tell you that right now, you're shining like a star."

She felt a bit annoyed, really. She'd hoped to take advantage of the excitement to hold John's hand and take a big step forward, but John had glanced at a piece of paper and left immediately.

Though John wasn't there, the celebration continued.

Malfoy's relentless one-on-one with Harry in that intense chase left no one thinking that failing to catch the Golden Snitch was anything less than honorable.

It was precisely the pressure Malfoy placed on Harry that ignited the fighting spirit in Slytherin's players.

He and Montague, as the team's star players, were tossed into the air with cries of excitement.

…

John had left the field early, not joining in the celebration.

Watching the Marauder's Map, he saw Crookshanks moving and arrived at a conclusion.

"The Forbidden Forest. Leaving Crookshanks here was definitely the right call. Heh Heh Heh~"

With Tom shut away, John had left Crookshanks to make contact with Sirius Black.

Writing a brief message on his badge, John cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself.

He didn't get too close, as he realized Sirius had sharp anti-tracking skills.

Even with the Disillusionment Charm as a backup, Sirius would still sense him nearby.

To avoid alerting him, John kept his distance, hiding about 200 meters from the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

With a blink, John's eyes shifted to slitted pupils, allowing him to see Crookshanks approaching the forest.

Under his watch, a shadowy figure seemed to form in the dark of the Forbidden Forest.

As Crookshanks arrived, the shadowy figure stood up.

He was highly cautious, his eyes darting around and occasionally sniffing the air.

"..Sirius Black," John murmured, watching the cat and dog meet up.

Sirius looked thinner than he had during their last encounter in the Forbidden Forest; his fur was a complete mess.

"Too bad I can't understand dog speech."

John knew some mental magic, but it was at a low level, requiring direct contact to work.

At this distance, he couldn't hear their conversation.

After a moment, Crookshanks seemed to have received the message and started running back.

John quietly began moving toward Sirius, noting that Sirius seemed to rely on scent for tracking.

The meteor shoes he'd given to Luna were still being remade, so John temporarily lacked flying ability, but it didn't affect his stealth.

Following behind Sirius at a safe distance, John kept to the shadows, remaining completely invisible.

Sirius weaved his way through the Forbidden Forest, eventually returning to its edge.

There was no denying how clever he was — knowing that the most dangerous place could also be the safest.

Neither John nor Snape had even thought to check the perimeter.

They all naturally assumed that the deeper the hiding spot, the better.

At the edge of the forest, Sirius found a tree and climbed up.

The thick canopy provided perfect cover.

Mother fucker is a strategist...

John almost felt like applauding. No wonder Sirius had managed to escape Azkaban — he was impressive.

As time ticked by, John decided to act.

Writing a line in the emblem once more, he quietly moved closer.

With Sirius's sharp nose, first things first — take away that advantage.

John released a mist from his palm, which spread through the trees like natural forest fog.

Sirius didn't suspect anything, though soon, a small, dark sphere rolled to the base of his tree.

In the mist, he could only see its outline.

Puff!

Suddenly, the sphere exploded.

A suffocating stench burst out, and Sirius was hit so hard he started tearing up, sniffling as he reeled from the foul odor.

With his sharp sense of smell, he now had only one overwhelming scent — manure.

"Not good!"

Realizing things had taken a bad turn, Sirius hurried to escape.

But the dense fog obscured every path, making it hard to see even two meters ahead.

He suspected this was some kind of magic.

"Damn it, when did this happen?"

Sirius transformed into a black dog, bounded forward, and accelerated to burst out of the mist.

But John wasn't going to let him get away so easily.

Just as Sirius dodged a tree, he felt a powerful force strike his waist.

"Awo—?!"

The familiar sensation made him think of something, and as he tumbled forward, he looked up to see that it was indeed that Slytherin student.

John wasn't about to let him escape. His wand shot out beams of light in various colors.

Sirius struggled to dodge, but his injured waist slowed him down considerably.

"Grr.."

Gritting his teeth, Sirius transformed back into human form, deflecting the incoming Stupefy spell with his wand and firing back at John.

John paid no heed and sent a trio of spells barreling his way.

A Shield Charm, Stupefy, and Expelliarmus.

The three spells came one after another, and amidst the clash of offense and defense, a voice sounded, barely containing excitement, hatred, and a hint of strain.

"Avada… ehm.. Expelliarmus!"

The voice seemed to skid to a stop, quickly switching to Expelliarmus.

A burst of red light exploded like a fireball against Sirius's back.

Though it was only a Disarming Charm, it erupted with explosive force.

Sirius's wand flew from his hand, and he was sent sprawling, colliding with a tree, blood streaming down his forehead.

John looked over to see Snape standing there nonchalantly, wand raised.

If it weren't for that near slip with "Avada," John would have thought it was just an honest mistake by his Head of House.

"Well, well, look who we have here?" Snape didn't even bother acknowledging John's stunned expression.

He sneered at Sirius, tone dripping with disdain. "Sirius Black, a filthy, despicable, shameless…"

After what seemed like an entire essay of insults, Snape sneered darkly. "Just give me one good reason to kill you right now."

John watched his Head of House deliver every possible insult to Sirius. After a moment of hesitation, he interjected, "Um… he's already knocked out."

"Ah.."

Snape's expression stiffened, clearly not expecting Sirius to be so easily taken down.

John offered a friendly reminder, "Your Disarming Charm back there… might've been a tad too powerful."

He was being polite, really.

If it hadn't been for John's presence, that spell might not have been a Disarming Charm at all—it could well have been the Killing Curse.

Snape's expression didn't change. He had done it on purpose; every memory of Sirius's past misdeeds made him want to beat him to death right here.

"I know a place where we can hide him," John said, calculating his own moves. He had questions for Sirius, and he knew that Sirius could play a key role in whether Rufus Scrimgeour, the Acting Minister, managed to secure his position permanently.

Recently, Scrimgeour had been getting rather full of himself. John saw this as a good opportunity to remind him of the reach and influence of "Johnny Silverhand."

With that thought, John added sincerely, "Professor, you wouldn't want him to just slip away, would you?"

Snape wouldn't kill Sirius outright, not while his favorite—emh—John was watching. But the chance had passed anyway. With a calm tone, Snape replied, "Very well. Though, I am curious, Mr. Wick—who exactly do you intend to turn him over to?"

He gave John a scrutinizing look, but John's face remained relaxed as he smiled. "Why, to the place he belongs, of course."

Snape regarded him intently, then used a spell to levitate the unconscious Sirius in a zombie-like float.

As Sirius trailed behind them, John noted to himself that this spell would be pretty handy for transporting things around.

As the dense fog cleared, John and Snape led Sirius into the spider nest in the Forbidden Forest.

This spot was completely isolated, far outside the range of the Marauder's Map, making it the perfect place to hide someone.

With Sirius secured, John retrieved his spare wand, pretending not to notice the half-amused look Snape was giving him.

Using a Transfiguration spell, he created a makeshift prison—magic made this all too convenient.

Sirius was locked inside, fully cut off from any contact with the outside world.

To prevent any escape attempts, John also cast a monitoring spell on the door; if anyone tried to open it, the spell would trigger an alert.

"Now."

Once everything was in place, John conjured a stream of water with the Aguamenti Charm, dousing Sirius to wake him up.

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