As a former core member in the fight against Death Eaters, Sirius Black was certainly no weakling.
Even after twelve years without a wand, he regained his instincts the instant he picked it up.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The noble Black bloodline, dormant but potent, manifested itself in combat.
If you ignored Sirius's ragged clothing, he could have passed for a gallant nobleman in this moment.
John dodged the attack and raised his wand to counter.
A white flash exploded on the ground, leaving a small crater.
The two exchanged spells back and forth, like a proper duel.
But this wasn't a duel.
John transformed the fence into a snake that coiled around Sirius's ankle, almost causing him to fall. Sirius fired a spell that hit the ground beneath John, transforming it into a swamp that began to pull him down.
"Incendio!"
Using a fire spell to dry out the swamp, John braced his legs and yanked himself free.
Flames circled the area, and with a flick of his wand, John transformed them into a blazing wall of fire surrounding Sirius.
Sirius wasn't about to give up easily. In an instant, he broke free of the restraints, raising his wand high and shouting, "Finite Incantatem!"
But the flames didn't stop—instead, they continued to close in tighter and tighter.
John's fire spell wasn't something to be taken lightly; he summoned wind elements to fuel the blaze.
The flames swirled into a tornado, roaring upward with fierce intensity.
Sirius's expression shifted. He transformed a section of the fence into a shield, using it to cover himself.
The fiery tornado compressed and, when it extinguished, left only a few scorched shield fragments behind.
John's gaze sharpened as he noticed an opening created in the fence.
Without hesitation, he dashed forward.
Just as he entered, a large black dog hidden in the shadows lunged and bit down hard on his leg.
The powerful jaws seemed like they might crush his leg entirely, but John gritted his teeth and punched the dog square in the face, sending it flying.
In an instant, Sirius transformed back, wand aimed at John, ready to strike.
But John was faster.
"Levicorpus!"
The spell hit Sirius, who went flying backward, his entire body suspended upside down, dangling from a tree.
"Expelliarmus!"
A red light hit Sirius, who had been about to make another move, sending his wand flying into John's hand.
John casually pocketed it, his own wand steadily aimed at Sirius.
"You're coming with me."
He approached Sirius, step by step, wand unwavering.
Sirius let out a laugh. "Your spellwork is impressive."
"Thank you," John replied, his expression unchanged, vigilance never wavering.
But the upside-down Sirius seemed to have found his voice, asking, "Who taught you your spells?"
"Is it that important?" John almost wanted to silence him—why so chatty?
"Of course," Sirius chuckled darkly. "That one was invented by that Sevear Rusty Snake Ape."
"You mean Severus Snape?" John wrinkled his nose.
"Haha! So you know him, right?"
"He's a teacher at school—my Head of House."
John's expression cooled, and Sirius looked surprised. "Him? He actually became the Head of Slytherin."
"If you know Professor Snape well, I wouldn't mind delivering you to him."
An idea sparked in John's mind as he remembered something his Head of House had mentioned about a plot. "What's your relationship with Remus Lupin?"
The mention of an old friend's name made Sirius pause, his expression unreadable. "Remus? He was a friend of mine once... but that was a long time ago."
John scrutinized his eyes. "Professor Snape once brought up an attempted murder. I think you know what he's talking about."
"Murder? He actually called it that?" Sirius quickly understood, launching into a tirade. "That Snake Ape! He followed us there on his own! James was the one who saved him!"
"Oh?"
So Sirius was involved, then. John raised his eyebrows, signaling him to continue.
"It was a prank. Severus Snape was insufferable, even back in school. We didn't get along," Sirius admitted grudgingly, seeming to stall for time. "One day, Remus was going... well, I decided to play a little joke. It might have been dangerous, but nothing happened."
When Sirius mentioned Remus's destination, his voice trailed off in a mumble.
John, picking up on the connection to Remus, made a guess. "A prank? If you mean Remus transforming into a werewolf on the full moon, that's more than a simple joke."
Sirius's eyes widened—he hadn't expected John to know about Remus's secret.
But John didn't give him time to linger on his surprise.
With a slight lift of his wand, he signaled for Sirius to go on.
With a sigh, Sirius continued, "Alright, alright. Remus goes to the Shrieking Shack during the full moon. Severus was always trying to catch us breaking the rules, so I purposely let it slip that pressing the knot on the Whomping Willow would make it stop moving."
Sirius left the rest unsaid.
John could guess the rest: Snape, eager to catch them breaking the rules, would've rushed straight there—only to find himself facing a frenzied, uncontrollable werewolf.
Even if Professor Snape had managed to survive, his fate would have been to become a werewolf, shunned by the entire wizarding world.
John narrowed his eyes and sneered. "That 'prank' doesn't seem very funny."
Sirius was ready. He sneered back, "What, you're going to avenge your Head of House?"
He assumed John wouldn't have the guts, but John replied coldly, "Why not?"
In the next second, John's wand emitted a bright white light, a deadly warning ringing through Sirius's mind.
He would die!
Without hesitation, Sirius dropped low, transforming into a large dog and bolting away.
The tree hit by John's Blasting Curse exploded violently from the inside out. John hadn't anticipated that Sirius knew the counter-curse for Levicorpus, but he was ready to chase him down.
Just then, he heard a loud shout—it was Hagrid.
"Who's there!"
They were close to Hagrid's hut, and the noise had alerted him.
Hagrid approached with his crossbow, and John, momentarily distracted, turned back only to find that Sirius had already disappeared into the night.
"Fuck! He was waiting for that exact moment!"
Looking up, he saw Aurors arriving with Dementors, their dark forms sweeping the area. John's expression turned cold; he had underestimated the strength of someone capable of escaping Azkaban.
Making himself invisible like a Demiguise, John slipped into the Forbidden Forest without hesitation.
The signs of their skirmish also attracted the Aurors, who began inspecting the area. Following the secret passage from Slytherin's chamber, John made his way back into the castle.
By the time he emerged, professors were rushing about in search.
Instead of returning to the dormitory, John spent the night in the Constelattion Society's hidden chamber.
At dawn, he came out, pretending as if nothing had happened.
...
What happened the previous night had terrified Ron. A female Auror spoke quietly with Professor McGonagall while a male Auror scanned the surroundings.
Filch was there, swearing he had seen Sirius Black and describing how he had bolted like the wind.
Sir Cadogan was unsurprisingly dismissed from the Gryffindor Tower, and the Fat Lady had returned to her post, now with a squad of burly troll guards patrolling the corridors.
Harry and Ron were walking together and reached the third floor, where a passage led from Honeydukes Sweetshop into the castle.
Harry felt uneasy, suspecting that Sirius Black may have entered that way.
Ron, however, dismissed it.
"We know he wouldn't come in through Honeydukes."
Ron said, feeling clever, "If he broke into Honeydukes, we'd definitely hear about it."
Ron's logic helped ease Harry's mind, and he was glad Ron had said it. This way, he didn't need to report anything to the professors and could still visit Hogsmeade.
With this reassurance, they kept walking—until Harry suddenly stopped. Ron looked at him in confusion.
Following Harry's gaze, he saw the door close behind John, who was now leaving.
Harry didn't know why he instinctively hid, but he felt strongly that he didn't want John to notice him.
Ron gave him a strange look. "John? What's he doing there? Searching for Sirius Black, maybe?"
Harry replied, "Maybe he stayed there all night."
Once John walked away, the two quickly approached the door.
Carefully, they opened it, finding it just as empty as last time.
Ron was puzzled, but Harry seemed to suspect something.
"Let's check around."
"There's nothing here," Ron grumbled. "We might as well go fly on the Firebolt."
Ignoring him, Harry continued searching, though they found nothing.
'What is John hiding?' Harry wondered. Was there treasure in here, or maybe something… or someone?
He asked Ron if Black was rich, and Ron confirmed that he was very wealthy.
This made Harry think of how generously John always spent his money, like… well, like he had an endless supply....
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Five chapters have currently been posted. You can check them out by searching the name or through my profile. I'm sure you guys will love it♥
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