John earned points from Professor Flitwick in class, managing to reverse some of the losses that had left Slytherin's hourglass at rock bottom.
After finishing his classes for the day, John wandered around the castle.
Whenever he passed a huge tapestry, he walked back and forth three times, silently repeating that he needed a room for training.
It was strange behavior, but anyone who had read Harry Potter would probably find it familiar.
Yes, he was looking for the Room of Requirement.
As mentioned before, he did not remember much.
He remembered that the entrance to the Room of Requirement was opposite a huge tapestry, but he could not quite recall where it was or what the tapestry looked like.
Fortunately, Hogwarts did not have that many huge tapestries. After his third pass by the tapestry of trolls clubbing Barnabas the Barmy on the Seventh Floor, a wooden door appeared opposite it.
John pushed the door open and entered a room meant for practicing spells.
The humanoid targets looked rather old, and John frowned as he stepped inside.
There was far too much dust, as though no one had cleaned the place in decades.
"Scourgify!"
Using his newly learned spell to clear the dust from the room, John finally relaxed his brow.
The old humanoid targets were still sturdy, and a dark-colored Training Wooden Sword stood in a corner.
Judging by its size, its owner must have been very strong.
John picked it up to test its weight. It was heavy-even heavier than the sword carried by the medieval suit of armor.
With his current strength, John could not swing it.
Still, he could practice his spells here from now on.
All the equipment inside could also be used for exercise. He could get several things done at once.
Since he did not yet know any offensive spells, John could only do some basic training.
Through his tireless grinding, his Disillusionment Charm reached level 2.
"Disillusionment!"
He waved his wand, and something like a layer of liquid fell over him, gradually covering his entire body.
He raised his hand to inspect it. It looked as though it had become a mass of water.
Unless someone looked closely, they would not notice anyone standing there. At close range, however, they could still make out a faint difference between him and his surroundings.
"It's like optical camouflage."
Explaining the phenomenon through his own knowledge, John nodded in satisfaction.
With the Disillusionment Charm to help him, his upcoming nighttime excursions would be much easier.
After finishing his training, he left the Room of Requirement.
It was already bedtime, and he headed to the Trophy Room to clean the trophies.
Taking a Cat Treat from his pocket as a reward for her help last time, John combed the knots out of Mrs. Norris's fur.
"Have you put on weight?"
Lifting Mrs. Norris up, John felt that she had grown considerably heavier.
He had no idea how Filch had fed her before to leave her malnourished.
Remembering that Mrs. Norris often licked her fur, John had thoughtfully brought a bottle of Hairball Paste as well.
As he left, he saw that Filch's perpetually sour expression had turned even uglier, and he smelled like rotten durian.
It was probably the Weasley Twins' handiwork.
Not long after leaving the Trophy Room, John came across two sneaking heads of red hair.
With their identical faces and mischievous grins, they could only be the famous Weasley Twins.
An idea struck John. He cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself and quietly followed them, listening to their conversation.
"George, we could throw the Dungbombs in there."
"Wait, Fred. John Wick is still in the Trophy Room. I don't want to drag John Wick into this."
"All right, we could throw them into Filch's room instead. What do you think?"
"Brilliant, George. It's about time that annoying git got a taste of his own medicine."
George Weasley and Fred Weasley, the Weasley Twins, were the two biggest headaches at Hogwarts.
Their feud with Filch was hardly new. As the two most enthusiastic pranksters around, they were natural enemies of Filch, the caretaker.
That was why the Weasley Twins were planning to make Filch suffer a little.
Perhaps two Dungbombs tossed into his room would make a fine gift.
Following behind them, John shuddered as he listened to their discussion, grateful that they liked him.
If a Weasley Dungbomb had hit him just now, even ten baths probably would not have been enough.
The Weasley Twins did not notice John. When they reached the room, they threw two Dungbombs inside.
The stench wafting out made John mourn for Filch. Where was the unlucky man supposed to sleep tonight?
Even the Weasley Twins could not stand the smell. They ran off as soon as they had thrown the bombs.
John stood in the doorway and peered inside.
Filch's office contained many things. One drawer was labeled "Confiscated and Highly Dangerous," and held plenty of forbidden items.
Before John could take a closer look, he heard Filch shouting and stamping his feet in fury.
The Weasley Twins picked up speed, and a sheet of parchment fell as they passed John.
John picked it up. The blank parchment brought something to mind.
"The Marauder's Map?"
Now was not the time to examine it. John could already hear Mrs. Norris meowing.
Still covered by the Disillusionment Charm, he ran in the opposite direction from the Weasley Twins.
Filch flew into a rage and chased after the Weasley Twins.
Back in his dormitory, John thought he could smell Dungbombs on himself.
He took out the parchment and drew his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
The blank parchment began to change. Ink lines spread across it like flowing ink, gathering into a line of words.
"Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail."
John remembered that one of those four names seemed to belong to Harry's father.
He unfolded the parchment to reveal a map, complete with footprints showing the people moving around Hogwarts.
"Filch is still wandering around over there. If he turns the corner, he'll spot the Weasley Twins."
The map was remarkably thorough. It recorded all the secret passages in Hogwarts and even displayed people's names.
Having this map was practically the same as having command of every secret passage in Hogwarts.
In the end, Filch did not turn the corner. Instead, he changed direction and headed completely the wrong way.
The Weasley Twins also began heading toward the Gryffindor Common Room, taking a shortcut on the fifth floor.
John stared at the map and spotted a name.
Quirinus Quirrell.
Professor Quirrell was out and about at night, and John wanted to see whether he could find the man whose name must not be spoken.
Unfortunately, he failed.
"Looks like the Marauder's Map can't show everything."
John was a little disappointed, though fortunately, such cases were rare.
He watched with relish as his bat-like Head of House approached a poor couple sneaking around at night. John reckoned they would lose quite a few points.
"Mischief Managed."
He took out his wand and tapped the parchment to close the Marauder's Map, then tucked it beneath his pillow.
He would no longer have to fear being caught on his nighttime excursions. That was good news.
One piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news was that, besides classes and exercise, John had found a new pastime.
Watching Harry, The Chosen One, perform fancy flying maneuvers on the Quidditch Pitch.
It had to be said that seeing a son follow in his father's footsteps like this was rather rare. But why did a shortsighted boy with glasses have such incredible vision when tracking moving objects?
The Golden Snitch was tiny to begin with, only the size of a walnut.
On top of that, it moved incredibly fast through an enormous three-dimensional playing field.
John found it dizzying to watch, yet Harry could always find it and lock onto it.
That did not stop John from enjoying the show. After all, he was witnessing The Chosen One's embarrassing training moments.
After Harry crashed into the spectator stands on his third dive, Hermione's voice sounded beside John.
"In 1269, Barberus Bragge, Chief of the Wizards' Council, introduced the Golden Snidget to a Quidditch match and offered a reward of 150 Galleons to whoever caught it. Releasing a Golden Snidget during Quidditch matches later became a tradition, and the team that caught it would be awarded 150 points.
Because hunting Golden Snidgets became so popular, their numbers declined sharply, and they were eventually replaced by the Golden Snitch."
Hermione was showing off her knowledge, leaving John rather helpless.
She seemed to be gradually coming to see John as a rival.
As a genuine top student, Hermione was unwilling to concede defeat to John, who could earn more points in class than she did.
That was the bad news.
At least until John truly became a top student, it was terrible news.
It was like having someone behind him with a whip, ready to lash him the moment he slowed down.
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