Chapter 13: 13: Hospital and Training

13: Hospital and Training

"I triggered a task?"

John was lost in thought when a streak of gold caught his eye, and a broomstick whizzed past him. He didn't have time to react as a Bludger hurtled toward him. Instinctively, he raised his hand and caught the Bludger, but his arm made a painful cracking sound, likely dislocating.

"Oh my god, John, are you okay?" Hermione's delayed scream reached his ears.

The Gryffindor Quidditch players, who were still in training, realized something was wrong, and the Weasley twins were the first to fly over.

The Bludger struggled fiercely in John's hand, but despite his seemingly not-so-strong arm, he held it firmly. Even Oliver Wood couldn't help but exclaim, "You caught a Bludger with your bare hand! You'd make a great Beater."

George added, "John Wick, if only you were in Gryffindor—"

Fred chimed in, "—Then we could retire!"

The twins bantered back and forth.

Angelina Johnson, with her long black hair in braids, interrupted their jokes, "Shut up, both of you. His arm looks broken."

Harry quickly got off his broomstick; the Bludger had been chasing him. He had been so focused on the Golden Snitch that he didn't notice the others, and by the time he did, John was already hurt. Feeling guilty, Harry said, "It's all my fault."

John's face was pale, as the dislocation was painful. "Could you guys stop chatting and take this thing away?"

The Bludger had been heading straight for Hermione, and if John had let go, her face would have been in serious trouble.

Wood, fumbling a bit, managed to tie up the Bludger. This thing was known for breaking Beater bats with its speed.

Once the Bludger was restrained, John sighed in relief. His lips were pale as he shifted to a half-kneeling position. With Hermione's worried, pale face watching him, he braced his dislocated arm against the ground and pushed it back into place with a crunch.

"Ouch—"

"Oh my god, that must hurt."

"John, you should go to the hospital wing."

The Gryffindors were all startled, even the Weasley twins looked impressed. How was it that a Slytherin could handle pain so well, while Draco Malfoy would wail for hours over a scratched finger? Madam Pomfrey had tried to kick Malfoy out of the hospital wing more than once.

The Gryffindors surrounded John, making it look like they were ganging up on a Slytherin. Hermione, mixed in with the crowd, couldn't stop worrying and asked, "John, are you really okay?"

"Just not strong enough yet."

John took a moment to catch his breath, then gave Hermione a reassuring smile. Looking at the equally worried Harry, he grinned and said, "Harry, this isn't your fault."

"I think you should still see Madam Pomfrey," Harry insisted, determined to take John to the hospital wing.

Unable to resist, John was carried over, looking for all the world like something terrible had happened to him. After lying in the hospital wing for a short time, Madam Pomfrey promptly shooed him out.

"See, I told you I was fine," John shrugged, looking relaxed.

Harry finally seemed relieved and said to Hermione, "Sorry, Hermione, it was my fault for flying too low."

"It's not your fault, Harry. No one can predict the path of a Golden Snitch."

With this incident, the cold war between Harry and Hermione finally thawed. Now, among the trio, only Ron remained in the cold war. Harry thought Hermione was a good person and not as they had previously thought. He believed he should help them reconcile.

By day, John studied; by night, he trained. After being hit once, John deeply understood the importance of physical fitness for a wizard.

Following his previous night-time excursion, the Restricted Section of the library gained a regular visitor. With the Disillusionment Charm cast, John took out "Advanced Spellwork" and headed through the fifth-floor shortcut to the Room of Requirement.

"I need a place to train."

Walking back and forth three times in front of the tapestry, a wooden door appeared on the blank wall. Inside was the same training room as before, and this time John brought a medieval armored greatsword.

"I'm getting used to the weight of this sword."

Gripping the greatsword, John changed his training method. In the flickering candlelight of the training room, the sword moved like a shower of stars. The greatsword created a flurry of silver light, tearing through the human-shaped targets. As each target shattered, John moved on to the next. When the last target was destroyed, all the fragments reassembled. These targets had a restoration charm that saved John a lot of time.

With his hands feeling sore, John put down the greatsword. Despite his current physique, after a series of high-intensity exercises, he could clearly feel his magic power increase. In just one night, he gained 15 points of magic power. With continuous effort, he could upgrade again in no time.

Not slacking off after his physical training, John started a second round of spell training. With almost self-exhausting efforts, his spellwork improved significantly. The most notable was the Disillusionment Charm, which he used every night for his nocturnal activities. By October, the Disillusionment Charm had upgraded to level 3.

Thanks to the Restricted Section, John learned a lot of magic. He even came across the Fiendfyre Curse there, but decided against learning it in his first year, as it was an extremely difficult and dangerous dark magic to control. He recalled that an idiot once used Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement, which ended up destroying the entire room. John had no desire to repeat that mistake.

With the Scholar enhancement active, he could learn even more.

Monday, Transfiguration class.

"Well done, Mr. Wick. Five points to Slytherin!"

Today's lesson was transforming animals into goblets. John's task was with a cute friend, the big-eyed, endearing cat who stuck out his tongue in a friendly manner.

John took out his wand and pointed it at the cat.

"Veraverto."

Under his gaze, The cat transformed into a goblet. Professor McGonagall, impressed, added points to the Slytherin hourglass, which was no longer so sparsely filled.

Hermione felt a bit dejected; it seemed the gap between her and John was widening. Only John knew his secret: he was a relentless grinder. To have enough time for his nocturnal escapades and training, he had pushed himself to a new achievement.

With this enhancement, he finally avoided dozing off under Snape's gloomy gaze. However, he heard Snape had made several trips to the hospital wing. Hopefully, Madam Pomfrey wouldn't continue using cheering charms as stimulants on certain students.

Well, this student certainly wasn't insinuating anything about John.

Room of Requirement.

John wielded the greatsword, the candlelight reflecting off the blade as it shattered the target in front of him. His left hand, holding his wand, aimed at a target positioned at seven o'clock.

"Reducto!"

The wand, resembling a thin stick, emitted a white light that hit the target, reducing it to a pile of fragments. Compared to the slight explosion he managed at first, this was a substantial improvement.

After finishing his training, John rested for a while before preparing to leave. Tomorrow was the Halloween feast, and he wanted to be in good condition. The day after, his two-month punishment in the trophy room would end.

The Slytherin common room was underground, so he had to walk from the seventh floor back to the common room. Fortunately, Hogwarts was full of shortcuts.

As he reached the underground corridor, he saw the Bloody Baron.

The usually silent Slytherin ghost seemed to be waiting for him specifically.

A/N: I think I'm a little sick today so if there are any mistakes in the chapter I'll edit them after I wake up! Bye!