Bab 165: 165: Shattering and Time Vortex
How did John realize something had happened to Harry and the others?
It's a long story, so let's cut to the chase.
After leaving the spider's nest, he heard a wolf howling.
Following the sound, he ran into a werewolf.
Just as the werewolf was about to attack, Buckbeak—who was supposed to be dead—suddenly came charging in.
Buckbeak: Don't mess with anyone who's bowed to me, you punk.
"Ack! Awoo!"
The werewolf was slapped silly with one swipe and fled before John even had to lift a finger.
Puzzled about why Buckbeak was still alive, John then spotted a sky full of Dementors swarming about.
Realizing something was wrong, he noticed a glowing light ball exploding in the sky.
Honestly, this kind of "throwing a massive flare into the heavens" strategy is pretty hard to miss.
John promptly rode Buckbeak over.
At first, he wanted to assess who was behind it. But when he saw a sea of Dementors closing in on Hermione, he didn't think twice—he jumped into action.
As for why he used a sword?
With a mount already under him, how could John not use a sword and honor his knightly flair?
Thus, the epic descent from the heavens scene occurred.
...
[Ding! Challenge mission triggered: Repel the Dementors. Reward: +2 arbitrary points.]
"So stingy—couldn't even toss in a blessing?"
Standing on the lake's surface in his new boots, John tilted his head to the sky and complained.
This year's system had been absurdly tightfisted. Aside from the Hogwarts series of tasks and maintaining his rank at the top, there had been nothing else.
Now, finally, a challenge mission appeared, and it didn't even come with a buff.
John clicked his tongue silently. The system was getting more and more miserly.
He shifted his focus back to the fight.
The flames only forced the Dementors to avoid him—they couldn't actually deal damage.
The albatross zipped around within the swarm, and John began to wonder if Rufus Scrimgeour had brought every single Dementor from Azkaban to this spot.
He glanced left—two people were sprawled out on the shore.
He glanced right—oh, Harry and Hermione.
John was momentarily dumbfounded. Wasn't Harry supposed to be lying unconscious over there? Did he have a stand-in now?
Wait… is this one the real Harry or the double?
The relentless Dementors snapped John out of his idle musings, forcing him to focus as he directed his Patronus Charm to fend them off.
The silver stag vanished before Harry's eyes, leaving his jaw hanging open as he watched John's flashy entrance.
"John, watch out!"
Seeing a Dementor creep up on John, Hermione shouted in alarm.
But the albatross Patronus swooped in, snapping its beak to drive the Dementor away.
Realizing John was a difficult target, the Dementors turned their attention to Sirius, preparing to extract his soul.
John noticed immediately, his expression darkening. Oh, so that's your game? As if I'd let you succeed!
The albatross swiftly shielded both Sirius and the Harry-who-might-be-real-or-a-stand-in, while John dashed toward Hermione.
The Dementors, sensing his move, swarmed toward John, forcing Hermione and Harry to try intervening.
But Harry, having used the Patronus Charm earlier, was barely holding himself upright.
"There are too many Dementors. This isn't good," Harry muttered, his voice faint.
As John landed near the lake's edge, the Dementors surrounded him completely. Some of them seemed to recognize him and were particularly eager to extract his soul.
Fine, John thought grimly. If that's how you want it, then I won't hold back.
He raised his right hand, and from the black ring on his fourth finger, countless threads shot forth like living tendrils.
||"Soul Devouring Curse~"||
Swoosh!
*Kriiii!* *Krr!*
The approaching Dementors were ensnared by the black threads, immediately emitting bone-chilling screams.
Realizing they faced a natural nemesis, the Dementors didn't flee. Instead, they doubled down, determined to destroy John at all costs.
They knew the threads were a mortal threat to their kind—if they didn't eliminate them now, this would become the greatest fear for Dementors in the future.
Relentlessly, they charged forward, only to be devoured by the curse's black tendrils.
Hermione watched in disbelief as every single Dementor was restrained by the writhing threads.
John looked like a weaver at a loom, pulling strands of the dark curse together into a growing, shadowy ball.
Souls began to float up around him, glowing faintly, but John had no time to pay them any attention.
Snap.
The sharp sound echoed. John's expression changed dramatically.
The black ring on his finger was fracturing, the cracks spreading wider and wider.
In the next instant, the entire ring was covered in fissures.
As the cursed energy poured in, the ring shattered completely, exploding in a burst of black energy.
Fuck!
The black gemstone in the center continued absorbing the energy, and John instantly knew something had gone terribly wrong.
Without hesitation, the silver ring on his other hand transformed into a gleaming silver arm and seized the black gemstone tightly.
The six magical crystals operated at full capacity, their surging power forming a cage to contain the growing curse.
With the original container shattered, John had no choice but to temporarily transfer the curse into the limited gauntlet.
Black threads, as thin and fragile as nerves, extended from the silver arm, seeping from his palm as the curse pushed back uncontrollably.
"Damn it! Breaking down at a time like this!" John cursed under his breath, increasing the power of the gauntlet to trap the curse. The six magical crystals emitted an ominous purple glow.
The sudden turn of events caught him off guard. The curse now seemed almost sentient, thrashing violently and resisting his control.
The Dementors, sensing danger, had stopped their attacks.
The fuckers were fleeing!
The black threads tore through their shadowy forms relentlessly. The Dementors were utterly terrified, retreating rapidly toward the sky.
Even as they escaped, nearly twenty were devoured by the curse.
"T-That's amazing!"
Hermione was elated, seeing John still standing amidst the chaos. She called out, "John, let's get out of here!"
John remained motionless.
Time was slipping away.
Hermione grew anxious. If they didn't leave soon, someone else might show up.
They still needed to save Sirius. There was no room for delay.
So she rushed over to pull John away.
As she approached, John let out a low growl, "Get out of here, now!"
Hermione froze in her tracks. From John's hand, the black threads surged straight toward her.
Her eyes widened in shock, and as she dodged, the Time-Turner she wore was struck.
In an instant, a crack appeared in the hourglass of the Time-Turner.
Sand began to spill out, and John felt a wrenching sensation, as though he were being forcibly ejected from this dimension.
Without thinking, he grabbed the hourglass with his left hand.
Now his left hand held the Time-Turner, while his right hand struggled to contain the Soul-Eating Curse.
John's face twisted as he snarled, "Get out of here! I'll be fine!"
Even someone as clever as Hermione was completely thrown off at this moment.
She could see that John was in terrible shape.
Harry grabbed her arm firmly, his expression serious. "Hermione, listen to John!"
Although known for his occasional recklessness, Harry never faltered in critical moments.
Pulling Hermione along, he ran quickly away.
He believed John would be fine—after all, earlier he had seen himself safely back in the hospital wing.
Moreover, since Dumbledore had told them to find John, it meant that John must not have come to any harm afterward.
Harry glanced toward the opposite side, where someone was emerging from the bushes. Gritting his teeth, he tugged Hermione along and left.
One John could still be explained, but two Harry Potters? Absolutely not.
Worried but determined, Harry half-pulled, half-dragged Hermione away.
Once they had gone, John finally had his hands free and no more distractions.
The sense of separation grew stronger and stronger.
The sand leaking from the hourglass began to merge into his body, and John saw the scenery before him constantly shifting.
One moment it was daytime, the next it was night.
"Time magic!?"
Two major taboos of the wizarding world: time and soul magic.
And, as luck would have it, John now held both in his hands.
The Soul-Eating Curse wriggled and slithered toward the hourglass, attempting to consume the Time-Turner.
Woosh!
Unable to suppress it any longer, the Soul-Eating Curse erupted, transforming into an overwhelming tide of darkness that enveloped John entirely.
Golden sand poured out, and John was drawn into a temporal backlash, the scenes before his eyes shifting and jumping chaotically.
He glimpsed a dark-haired boy being hoisted into the air by four Gryffindor students, the leader mocking him cruelly and threatening to pull down his trousers.
The scene shifted again, showing a young girl running over to stop the black-haired boy. However, the boy didn't appreciate her intervention. He said something curt, causing the girl to leave in tears.
Before John could contemplate why the black-haired boy seemed so familiar, a strong pulling force swept him away once more, and the scenery changed again.
This time, it was a handsome youth angrily confronting a large student. "Hagrid, I can't just stand by and let you endanger the school!"
The scene shifted once more.
The handsome youth was now stroking an ancient-looking book, his eyes filled with greed and desire. The book's cover read, "Advanced Dark Magic Unveiled."
The imagery jumped again, and this time John saw a male professor conducting a lesson.
It was a Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
The session involved a Boggart.
A freckled boy faced the Boggart, which transformed into an office desk, eliciting roars of laughter from the class.
The professor chuckled good-naturedly, but his laugh suddenly faltered. He turned to look back.
John saw those eyes meet his own for a brief moment.
The professor seemed about to say something, but John was pulled away again.
This time, he found himself back by the lake, where a bunch of biting cabbages rolled toward him.
Startled, John jumped back, but thankfully, this stop was even shorter than the others.
The jumps continued, one after another, as if John were caught in an endless vortex.
Meanwhile, the Soul-Eating Curse intertwined persistently with the Time-Turner, creeping through the gaps in his fingers.
John watched it stubbornly press forward, realizing with a sinking feeling that he had no way to escape this chaotic loop.
"I need a massive explosion, one powerful enough to generate the immense magical energy required to free me from this endless jumping," John muttered to himself.
Such power, however, was beyond John's own capabilities.
But...
His gaze shifted to the silver sword, which had been drawn into this chaotic time vortex with him due to its proximity.
John's expression hardened. Resolute, he made his decision.
"Fred—!"
After yet another disorienting leap, John suddenly heard George's voice echoing in his ears amidst the chaotic mix of other voices.
Fred turned his head toward the shattered wall, perhaps sensing death's imminent arrival. Everything before his eyes became unusually vivid.
Shards of stone flew through the air alongside a dark curse, hurtling straight toward Fred. Was this it?
Was he about to die?
At that very moment, Fred saw someone entirely unexpected.
John stood before him, his face filled with urgency. Fred, shocked and uncertain, barely managed to mouth two words:
"John?"
There was no time to explain. Gritting his teeth, John let go of both his hands.
In an instant, the Soul-Eating Curse consumed the hourglass, morphing into a grotesque human face.
Without hesitation, John grabbed the nearby Sword of Silverwick.
Both hands gripping the hilt tightly, he drove the blade with all his might straight into the face.
The moment they made contact, the overwhelming magical energy suppressed by the supercharged magic crystals was unleashed in full force.
The crystals shattered, and cracks rapidly spread across the blade, its silver fragments scattering like glittering sparks.
Centered around John, a massive surge of magical energy erupted, radiating outward in waves of purple, black, white, and gold.
If not for the containment of the temporal field, the explosion might have consumed the entire castle.
Fred could only watch as John was engulfed by the explosion, his form vanishing entirely in the blinding burst.
The curse that had been aimed at Fred was obliterated by the blast, leaving him to be thrown violently through the air by the magical shockwave.
_________
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