Capítulo 144: 144: Burning Money
"Come on! John Wick! I'm not done yet!!!"
On the last day of Christmas, Heinrich's fighting style resembled that of a mad dog.
He had a natural talent for fire magic. His wand spewed flaming bats that flew toward John.
John pressed his lips together and raised his hand, transforming a stone block into two large dogs to block the attack.
Seizing the moment, he pointed his wand at Heinrich's feet.
The ground caved in beneath Heinrich, and just before he fell, he grabbed the edge.
"Ugh.."
Jagged wooden spikes dug into his palms, and blood trickled down Heinrich's hand.
"Ugh.. This is nothing! You asked me to help you duel! I will naturally go all in!!" Heinrich climbed with his bloody hands while laughing maniacally.
As he climbed back up, John had already conjured a ball of water and slammed it into Heinrich.
"Ok, just give up now!"
A Water Prison Charm trapped Heinrich, and the water replaced the air in his mouth and nose.
Just before he blacked out, John lifted the spell.
Heinrich collapsed, drenched, onto the ground.
John walked over and pulled him up.
"Haah.. Your strength has improved quite a bit," John complimented.
It wasn't just flattery.
Compared to his time at Durmstrang, Heinrich had made great progress.
Thanks to John as his opponent, Heinrich's reaction speed and spellcasting had both advanced.
"Naturally, heh!"
With fanatical fervor in his eyes, Heinrich smiled at John.
Paired with his pale, sickly face, it gave off a certain "yandere" vibe.
Gulp!—John subconsciously shivered.
After finishing their day of training, the two parted ways.
John headed toward the Gryffindor common room.
After speaking the password, John walked straight into the Gryffindor common room.
What was once a quiet room was now filled with people, all sharing stories about their holidays.
The moment John entered, the room fell silent.
Crookshanks, however, was completely unfazed, having already been waiting by the fireplace.
Upon seeing John, Crookshanks ran over.
John scooped up the cat and stroked its fluffy fur.
With a smile, he said, "Carry on."
After speaking, he turned and left.
The Gryffindors exchanged puzzled glances.
Once outside, John released Crookshanks, who immediately jumped down and walked off without a second glance.
"Not even a shred of gratitude," John muttered to himself, shaking his head. He thought about all the cat treats that had gone to waste.
Just then, Basil flew over, carrying a package.
John opened it, revealing a book bound in dragonhide.
"Tommy really knows how to get things done," John praised as he looked at the old book.
He had been searching for traces of ancient magic, and aside from the Blood Magic Curse, he had finally found a second one.
The Record of Ancient Goblin Magic
The book had been brought back from Egypt by Tommy Shelby, and it was over a thousand years old.
It contained records of goblin magic.
In John's eyes, there was a glowing symbol on the book's cover.
The emerald glow was only visible to him—it was an ancient magic mark.
Goblin magic was primarily based on primitive elements. John reached out and touched the mark.
A memory, belonging to a goblin, surged into his mind.
John stood still for three seconds, processing it.
"Coin Charm?"
His expression turned a little strange as he recalled the scene he had just witnessed.
A goblin held a Galleon, and as the Galleon disappeared into thin air, a broken vase before him automatically repaired itself.
This wasn't elemental magic; it was more like a type of rule-based magic.
"The more money you give, the more you get in return, huh?" After pondering for a moment, John understood the nature of this magic.
The reason ancient magic was considered ancient was largely due to some strange rules attached to it.
This monetary exchange magic was quite interesting—it couldn't involve self-made coins, and it had to be actual circulating currency.
John spent the entire afternoon studying the spell, and after several attempts, he finally succeeded once.
Holding a Galleon, he looked at a broken cup and cast the Coin Charm.
The Galleon disappeared into thin air, and the cup in front of him began repairing itself right before his eyes.
"Why does this feel like a rip-off?"
He stared at the cup, which he had bought for 10 Knuts at Diagon Alley, realizing he'd just spent 1 Galleon to fix it.
It seemed like he had gotten the short end of the deal.
It had to be said—goblins really knew how to hide sneaky traps, even in their magic.
Remembering that he had once smashed a Quidditch goalpost, John grabbed a bag of Galleons and headed out.
That day, John had tried to repair the damage, but unfortunately, after hitting it with a Level 4 Shattering Charm, the destruction was nearly beyond repair.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one had noticed yet, John headed to the Quidditch pitch.
On both sides of the Quidditch pitch, there were originally three goalposts, resembling forks standing tall on the field.
Now, on the right side, one of the three goalposts was reduced to just a single pole.
John walked over, grabbed a handful of Galleons, and cast the Coin Charm.
The Galleons in his hand disappeared one by one, and as they did, the shattered remains of the goalpost, destroyed by his Shattering Charm, began to piece themselves back together.
Splinters of wood flew towards him, and after using up five Galleons, the goalpost was only halfway restored.
John added another ten Galleons, and finally, the goalpost was fully repaired.
"The restoration level is higher than the Repairing Charm," John remarked, surprised as he looked at the goalpost, which appeared as good as new, just like before it had been shattered.
This got him thinking—did this mean that if he encountered magical damage that couldn't be healed by regular spells, he could use the Coin Charm to heal it?
Suppressing his excitement, John knew he would need to conduct more experiments to be sure.
However, this Coin Charm really was a money-drainer—it had cost him 15 Galleons just to fix a goalpost.
If he didn't have deep pockets, he wouldn't even be able to afford it.
He had also tried substituting other items for currency, like using gold made from magical crystals, but those couldn't be used for the spell.
"You must first assign value to create value."
Understanding this, John opened the Ancient Goblin Magic Record and skimmed through it. Besides the Coin Charm, it also documented a lightning magic spell.
John had tested it, and its power was quite considerable, but most importantly, it looked incredibly cool.
Closing the book, John carried his now-empty money pouch, frowning as he walked back to the dormitory.
He had tried using the Coin Charm to restore his right hand, but the money was gone, and his right hand showed no signs of repair.
"The soul can't be repaired, huh?"
"Fuck you Death!"
John glanced at the empty pouch again, cursing under his breath about how tricky the goblins were.
Not only did the spell fail to repair him, but they took the money without getting the job done—what kind of nonsense was that?
No wonder goblins got beaten by wizards; with this kind of deceitful magic, they deserved it.
...
The new term began.
In the Great Hall, students gathered in small groups, chatting amongst themselves. John noticed Daphne staring at him. He was puzzled, touched his face, and found nothing unusual.
"John, did… did something happen to you?"
Daphne hesitated for a moment but finally asked the question.
Eh?
This made John even more puzzled—what could have happened to him?
"I feel like you're not enjoying your food as much anymore," Daphne was a keen observer.
She had clearly noticed that John wasn't as happy while eating as he used to be.
She thought something must have happened to John. Could something major have occurred during the Christmas break?
John suddenly understood—it was just that the food tasted like chewing wax, and he couldn't find any joy in eating.
"Nothing's wrong, I just haven't had much of an appetite lately."
Hearing the words "no appetite" come out of John's mouth, Daphne was as shocked as if she had just seen a Gryffindor being honest and well-behaved.
She glanced at the food, thinking that it must not suit John's taste.
She made up her mind to create something that would lift John's spirits.
If John knew what she was thinking, he would definitely tell her, "Young lady, your thoughts are dangerous. Please stop acting like a Hufflepuff."
The first class after the new term was Divination. By now, John had already begun to master his foresight abilities.
Placing both hands on the crystal ball, John stared at it, trying to peer through the mist within.
Professor Trelawney was teaching others, but it seemed she had already given John a perfect score in advance.
John didn't forget to actively participate in the other classes as well, always answering questions eagerly.
From the higher points of the castle, one could sometimes see Aurors patrolling outside with Dementors in tow.
Sirius Black seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. There had been no sightings in either Hogsmeade or outside of Hogwarts.
With no second attack, some speculated that Sirius had drowned after falling into the lake during his escape.
Pfft~
John could only think that these young people's imaginations were quite vivid.
Hagrid brought in a bunch of fire salamanders, so the cold wasn't too bad during class.
John picked up one of the fire salamanders and stared into its eyes. Did its eyes look like his?
After examining it closely, he couldn't find anything similar, so he put the fire salamander back down.
That evening, John went to grab a Dementor for a meal.
Peeling away its essence layer by layer, the curse had almost turned the entire ring black. After drinking the potion to repair his soul, John endured the familiar pain, which had now become bearable enough for him to stand still through it.
Sweat beaded and dripped down his forehead, but John had gotten used to it.
Pulling out the Marauder's Map, John was also becoming accustomed to occasionally seeing multiple versions of Hermione running around on it.
He noticed that Peter Pettigrew was tossing and turning on Ron's bed, and saw Dumbledore walking back and forth in the office.
Lupin usually stayed in the office, and seemed to be busy with something.
__________
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