147: The Sour Stink of Love

Quidditch is an intense and thrilling game.

Maybe it's due to wizards having different physical traits than Muggles, but this game has no time limit.

As long as the Golden Snitch isn't caught, the game will continue. It's said that the longest Quidditch match once lasted three months.

John understood this as: in Quidditch, the match won't end as long as nobody dies on the team due to over-exertion, much like how he was watching the green and blue figures clashing in the sky.

Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw.

Although Ravenclaw doesn't have much of a presence, their team is consistently strong.

The Eagles are known for their clever minds, and they have excellent strategies and technique.

But against the Slytherins with their high-end equipment, they still fall a bit short.

Ravenclaw's Seeker is a fourth-year, Cho Chang. Her skills are quite good, but she still has some gap to close with Malfoy.

The main issue is that she can't catch up to Malfoy, although her refined flying technique keeps her from falling behind.

But none of that really mattered.

John looked at Cho Chang's face, both unfamiliar and friendly. She had talent but the Slytherin team's brooms were outstanding, not to mention that Malfoy was more mature after becoming a member of the Constellation Soci—!

"Watch out!"

Cedric's heart nearly leaped into his throat.

Earlier, Malfoy had rather unsportingly crashed into Cho Chang, almost making her lose control and fall.

John glanced at Cedric, he had initially thought Cedric was just there to cheer of Draco as a member of the Constellattion Society, but it turned out he was actually pining for her!

Tsk, shameless!

This guy's eyes were practically glued to her.

But to be fair, Cho Chang was quite pretty. When she was still, she had the typical elegance of an Eastern lady—gentle and charming.

On a broomstick, though, she was a little eagle soaring through the sky, valiant and graceful.

No wonder Cedric was utterly captivated.

From the way he looked, as if he wished he could jump in himself to save her, John figured that once the match was over, Malfoy would likely receive a good beating?

The Quidditch styles of the four houses were distinct, too.

Gryffindor's was the bold, adaptable style.

Hufflepuff's was all about skill and endurance.

Ravenclaw's focused on meticulous tactics.

Slytherin, though, was different; they specialized in pay-to-win and dirty tricks!

As a Slytherin player, it seemed every one of them had a trick or two up their sleeve.

Like Flint with his sneaky trick, smacking down opponents one by one.

And then there's Malfoy with his reckless charges—if you didn't know better, you'd think he was a Beater.

This team could be described as a squad of rogues.

Ravenclaw was like a group of scholars facing off against unruly thugs; no matter how fine their tactics, they couldn't match the constant fouls.

In the end, Slytherin narrowly defeated Ravenclaw.

"John! Didn't I told you we would win! Oh Diggory is also here—Eh?"

Malfoy strutted over proudly, but Cedric went right past him, heading over to comfort Cho Chang.

What exactly he said, John didn't know, but he definitely overheard "Draco Malfoy" at least three times, and words like "dirty" and "despicable" more than ten times.

"What the.."

Malfoy's face darkened.

They were all part of the Constellation Society; if Cedric wasn't going to congratulate him, he could at least avoid putting him down.

John stepped forward, patted Malfoy on the shoulder, and said with a hint of amusement, "Does your father know you play this dirty?"

He had a feeling that if Malfoy brought a saw to the game, he wouldn't hesitate to saw off his opponent's broomstick.

"?" Malfoy was baffled.

Playing dirty?

Wasn't this the Slytherin way?

His father had even bragged about putting a Gryffindor in the hospital wing back in his day.

As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

...

February was fast approaching.

John was still waiting for the storm, but in the meantime, he wrote a letter to Nagini.

Because she'd been a snake for so long, Nagini needed time to recuperate. Her left hand and right leg had both been affected by the transformation, and it would likely take over a year to fully heal.

From her words, John could tell how relieved she was to finally be able to return to human form.

When John first discovered her, Nagini was nearly fully consumed by the transformation.

John was also considering how to arrange Nagini's life moving forward. She wasn't a Muggle, but she wasn't exactly a witch, either.

She'd fought before, but always by using blood magic to turn into a snake.

She hadn't received any systematic training in magic.

She wouldn't be suited for security roles, but another idea came to John's mind that might be a better fit.

"Come to think of it, Johnny Silverhand could use a secretary~"

After taking over the Knockturn Alley business from the Shafiq family, John's operations had expanded significantly.

He'd even opened a bookstore in Diagon Alley, so managing everything on his own was impossible.

Eventually, he would need to delegate some of the business, and Nagini seemed like a good option.

One regret was that Kim Ladislay was only working as a seasonal hire and had left before the school term began.

He was a great guy, and John had been interested in helping him develop.

The security team had expanded, now reaching a strength of twenty members.

Tommy was still the captain, with two sub-captains appointed to assist in management.

John also planned to establish a Knockturn Alley Strike Squad specifically to deal with unruly dark wizards.

This project hadn't started yet.

The last crackdown by Fudge on Johnny Silverhand's exclusive shops did have some impact, with several Ministry officials now viewing Sir Johnny Silverhand with an added layer of caution.

At this critical juncture, forming a Knockturn Alley Strike Squad might be too much for the Ministry to handle.

Since Rufus Scrimgeour temporarily took over as Acting Minister for Magic, he had maintained respect toward John, though it was slightly less reverent than before.

John understood this, but it was no concern; that's just how alliances work.

Those you help to power tend to fear your influence the most.

Just as Dumbledore held sway over Fudge, Johnny Silverhand occupied a similar place in Rufus Scrimgeour's mind.

"As long as he does his job well, I don't mind either."

John glanced at the Daily Prophet; Rufus Scrimgeour had been active in the press.

He was working to solidify his position and win public support.

Until he dealt with Sirius Black, he couldn't fully secure the role of Minister for Magic and therefore wouldn't dare show any disrespect to Johnny Silverhand.

"Hmm.. If Sirius Black's target is Harry, where would he be hiding?"

After some thought, John suspected that Sirius Black might still be hiding within Hogwarts.

He had once been a student at Hogwarts, which meant he might know about secret passages the Marauder's Map couldn't display.

The Marauder's Map wasn't omnipotent; some locations couldn't be detected on it.

For example, the Room of Requirement and the Chamber of Secrets, as well as John's Constellation Society's secret room, which he had magically shielded to keep off the map.

Excluding those areas, there was also the Shrieking Shack.

John had visited it before and had gone a few more times since, but still hadn't found anything.

However, he stayed cautious, placing a spell on the Shrieking Shack so that if anyone entered, he'd be notified.

Time quickly passed, and February arrived.

It had become more challenging for John to capture Dementors, as the Ministry had caught on to someone deliberately targeting them, so they had Aurors leading patrols now.

This was the first time John had come back empty-handed.

In the castle, even before Valentine's Day, there was already an unmistakable smell of romance in the air.

Daphne casually moved closer to John, her cheeks tinged with a delicate blush, looking especially lovely.

Her looks weren't of the sweet variety but more of a highborn elegance, with a sharp chin and finely shaped features befitting a young lady of distinction.

She was already beautiful and captivating, even without her features fully matured. When she grew up, who knew how many hearts she'd break?

"John, Valentine's Day is coming up," she murmured, her earlobes turning red as she tried to sound casual. "I wonder how many people will confess to you this time."

At the mention of Valentine's Day, John's expression darkened.

Last year's Valentine's Day had left him with no fond memories.

Lockhart's ridiculous stunts were chaotic enough to be considered outrageous even at Hogwarts.

The thought gave him a bit of a psychological shadow, as he wondered whether Lupin would pull any of Lockhart's flashy stunts this year.

Daphne, too nervous to look John in the face, missed the strange expression on his face.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she continued, "I've been learning how to make chocolates recently, so if you'd like, I could…"

Before she could finish, she caught a glimpse of John's horrified expression out of the corner of her eye.

She nearly choked, holding back the words, and stomped angrily on John's foot before storming off in a huff.

John rubbed his now sore right foot, feeling even more relieved that he wouldn't have to eat Daphne's homemade chocolates.

After all, too much of that sort of thing was hard on the stomach.

Even a stomach of iron wouldn't survive Daphne's relentless culinary assaults.

Daphne's cooking had three prominent features: color, aroma, and taste…

The color was.. charcoal.

John couldn't taste—Probably a good thing in this case.

And the smell was like cow dung—it was the kind of horror that made one's skin crawl.

Watching Daphne's retreating figure, John sighed, "Daphne's a great girl…"

"As long as she doesn't cook that is."

He turned his gaze to the courtyard, where Cedric and Cho Chang were chatting and laughing, their relationship seemingly progressing quickly. The atmosphere was thick with the stench of young love.

On the other side, it was the same story—Draco Malfoy was relentlessly pursuing (?), or rather antagonizing, Harry, constantly provoking him with ghostly antics and throwing in jabs about Ron being a guy who only knew how to munch on chicken legs.

"That kid's definitely crushing on him."

Taking it all in, John commented with a blank expression.

Whether Harry owed him money or had somehow tricked him emotionally, the level of dedication Draco showed by provoking him every single day was almost admirable in its persistence.

Harry, having just gotten his Firebolt back, didn't even want to bother with Malfoy's taunts.

He just glared coldly.

The next day.

Harry, riding his Firebolt, gave a stunning performance and crushed Ravenclaw.

He was hoisted up and cheered on by the crowd.

Meanwhile, Cedric ran over to comfort Cho Chang.

________

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