26: Persecution

Herbology Class

Professor Pomona Sprout was explaining the characteristics of the Devil's Snare, a plant that appeared terrifying but was actually afraid of light. As John listened, he jotted down key points about alchemy.

After several tests, he had discovered that using pigeon feathers for inscribing runes on the Blast-Ended Skrewt's tail was ineffective.

He had experimented with different materials and eventually crafted an etching pen from a blend of silver and basil feather.

Gathering some magical creature blood from the Forbidden Forest, he successfully completed his alchemy process. His first magical item was a bracelet with ceramic-like pieces made from the Skrewt's tail. Though it had limited functionality, it acted as a one-time protective charm, casting a Shield Charm when danger approached.

This was a significant first step. With stronger dragon blood, he hoped to perform more advanced alchemy.

John zoned out occasionally, nodding from time to time to appear attentive. Nearby, the trio was in a dilemma.

"Should we tell John? It's a dragon after all," Ron said, finding dragons incredibly cool.

Hermione was more rational. "Ron, remember what we promised Hagrid."

The fewer people who knew about the dragon, the better. Hermione didn't think it would benefit John to know.

During breakfast, Hedwig delivered a note to Harry. It was from Hagrid, informing them that the dragon egg was about to hatch.

This rare event was something the trio didn't want to miss, even causing the studious Hermione to daydream during class.

Harry was surprised by her stance, "I thought you'd definitely tell John. I mean, you and John are really close."

Among the trio, Hermione undoubtedly had the best relationship with John, so Harry found her decision unexpected. If it were him, he wouldn't resist sharing the news with Ron.

"It's illegal! The 1709 Wizard's Council officially banned the keeping of dragons. John's situation in Slytherin is already tough. If he got points deducted because of this, it would be even worse," Hermione explained logically, convincing Harry to drop the idea of telling John.

However, they didn't realize that John had also received a note.

Already eager to get dragon blood for his experiments, John wouldn't miss this opportunity.

Glancing at Malfoy, who had a mischievous grin, John wondered if the kid had been drinking too much cheering potion.

"Malfoy, why are you grinning like that?"

"Wick, you wouldn't believe the stupid thing Potter has done. This time, I'll make sure he gets expelled," Malfoy said, his pale face twisted with a strange smile, glancing repeatedly at the trio.

It seemed Malfoy thought he had caught the trio red-handed.

John shrugged. Malfoy had made such claims before.

During the morning break, John didn't go to Hagrid's hut openly.

John knew that keeping a dragon was illegal, so he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself before heading towards Hagrid's hut.

By the time he arrived, the trio was already gathered around the table. John quietly approached, unnoticed by anyone present. Only Fang lifted his head and sniffed the air.

Crack.

A deep crack appeared on the dragon egg lying on the table, something inside was moving.

The clicking sound was quite amusing.

Hagrid was as excited as a child. The four of them moved their chairs closer to the table and held their breath.

Finally, under everyone's watchful eyes, the dragon, Norbert, successfully hatched.

It didn't look particularly attractive, certainly not as John had imagined. But that wasn't a problem since he was only interested in its blood.

The dragon had spiky wings, a thin, black body, and a long snout with white nostrils. There were horn-like bumps on its head, and its orange-red eyes bulged out.

Norbert sneezed, sending a burst of flame from its nose.

Hagrid immediately transformed into a doting parent, picking up Norbert and showering it with praise.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he gushed.

Although Hagrid praised it, Norbert had a very bad temper and directly bit Hagrid's finger.

With those sharp teeth, John thought that if it had been someone else, at least a bit of flesh would have been bitten off.

"Really good, it's a pity John didn't see it."

Harry and Ron were itching with excitement, thinking that raising a dragon would be so cool.

Hermione was more curious about the growth rate of the Norwegian Ridgeback.

John thought it was time to lift his invisibility. Just as he was about to do so, he noticed someone outside peeking in.

Calmly stopping his action, John approached the window and saw that it was Malfoy sneaking a peek.

Hagrid was just about to answer Hermione's question when he noticed the window too, his face turning pale.

As soon as Malfoy realized the big guy had spotted him, he quickly turned and fled.

No matter how much Hagrid wanted to chase him, it was too late.

This left Hagrid dumbfounded. Harry leaned over to the window and recognized the slicked-back hair.

"This is bad, it's Malfoy, he must be going to tell," Harry swore, Malfoy definitely saw the little dragon.

...

Malfoy, who was running away, couldn't suppress the excited smile on his face, muttering to himself, "Haha, Potter, you're done for, I'm going to get you expelled!"

As he walked through the corridor, passing a door, he was suddenly pulled in by a mysterious force.

Malfoy was terrified and opened his mouth to scream.

John lifted the Disillusionment Charm, covered Malfoy's mouth with one hand, and made a shushing gesture with the other.

"John Wick? What are you doing here?"

Setting aside his status as a Mudblood, the Slytherins still had a good impression of John for adding almost 200 points to their house.

Although Malfoy was afraid that John might beat him up again, he pretended to be calm.

John cornered Malfoy against the wall once more and said in a gentle voice, "Malfoy, I hope you can promise me one thing. Don't tell the professors about what happened today."

"Today's incident? You know about that big guy's dragon too?"

Malfoy's eyes rolled as he figured out the truth.

John didn't deny it and nodded, saying, "I hope you don't tell the professors, at least not for a while."

"Why should I? Why should I agree to your request?" Malfoy regained his arrogance.

John thought to himself, if you tell, my dragon's blood will be wasted.

He immediately said, "Right now, there's not much difference in points between us and Gryffindor. If you tell the professors, they will ask Hagrid, I also knew, so if Hagrid snitches on me, they will deduct points from Slytherin as well."

This made some sense, and Malfoy hadn't thought about it that way.

If he told the professors and Hagrid the oaf gave John away, Slytherin's hard-earned advantage would disappear.

More unbearable than losing the House Cup was losing to Gryffindor.

After a brief consideration, Malfoy reluctantly nodded and said, "Alright, I'll wait a while before saying anything. I'm not doing this for you, but for the House Cup."

This sensible attitude made John see Malfoy in a slightly better light. He smiled and extended his hand to Malfoy for a handshake.

"For everlasting glory, I believe you won't regret today's decision."

Malfoy shook hands with John for the second time, thinking that since John didn't use force to threaten him, he might be a good person.

Perhaps he could become friends with John. Even a noble pureblood having an ordinary wizard as a friend wouldn't be a bad thing.

The two reached an agreement, but this made the trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) somewhat uneasy.

Because although Malfoy didn't report them, he watched them every day with a malicious smirk.

This made the trio live in constant fear, always feeling that at any moment, Aurors from the Ministry of Magic would come to the castle and arrest them for raising a dragon.

Hermione had told Harry and Ron that the Ministry wouldn't arrest them just for seeing a dragon, but they couldn't stop worrying.

A week later, they discussed with Hagrid and decided to send Norbert away.

It was fortunate that Ron's brother, Charlie Weasley, was in Romania working with dragons. They wrote to Charlie and received a reply.

...

Another meeting with Quirrell, this time John was a bit nervous.

On Quirrell's desk, there was an additional caged insect. He smiled and announced today's lesson.

To fully step into the realm of Dark Magic: the Unforgivable Curses.

If John passed this test, he would be fully accepted as one of their own.

Otherwise, he would become a thorn in Voldemort's side.

This meant it was a path with no choice.

Either use the Unforgivable Curses or become Voldemort's priority target, and the Imperius Curse would be cast on John.

This was coercion, forcing a choice.

Willingly or unwillingly?

____