January 1.
A new term had arrived.
John didn't feel any different.
Hermione had arrived at school the day before and was disappointed that Harry and the others hadn't found Nicolas Flamel.
"John, are you reading about alchemy?"
The library.
John was engrossed in An Introduction to Alchemy and Its Mastery. Seeing this, Hermione temporarily set aside her search for Nicolas Flamel.
She checked John's reading list. Besides alchemy, it also included runic script.
Hogwarts offered ancient runes, but it was a third-year elective.
Hermione, who saw John as someone to catch up to, refused to fall behind. That very day, she took back a pile of books about runes.
Unfortunately, when they met the next day, Hermione had two enormous dark circles under her eyes and looked like a sleepy lion.
Ancient runes were still too difficult for first-year little wizards to tackle, a fact Hermione had to admit.
"I swear I've seen that name before. I just can't remember where."
Ever since Dumbledore had persuaded him to stop visiting the Mirror of Erised, Harry had often dreamed of his parents being killed by Voldemort.
This renewed his focus on Nicolas Flamel.
Although Harry kept insisting he'd seen the name somewhere, Hermione and the others had almost given up on finding Nicolas Flamel in the library.
They stopped neglecting meals and sleep over the search and went back to looking during breaks between classes.
"I remember seeing it," Harry said, though even he was beginning to doubt whether he had.
They gathered to discuss it while John took out Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes nearby. Alternating between alchemy and runes kept him from getting too tired.
"Wick, why are you reading that? Are you going to sell magical items like the wizards in Knockturn Alley?"
Since watching the Quidditch match with John, Malfoy had stopped treating him as someone to ignore because he couldn't beat him.
Seeing John's interest in alchemy, he instinctively assumed John wanted to sell magical items for money like the Weasley Twins.
"Just making a few little things. Alchemy is a vast field of study. Do you know about the Sword of Gryffindor?"
John closed the book in his hands, his gaze unfocused.
"What's that?" Malfoy asked in confusion.
"According to legend, it's a silver sword Gryffindor commissioned goblins to forge. Only a true Gryffindor can find it. But that's beside the point. The Sorting Hat is a product of alchemy too."
After studying so hard that he had even slacked off on his training, John had finally unlocked the runes skill.
That meant he had mastered the basics of runes. Now he only needed to unlock alchemy before he could attempt goblin forging.
The process was rather difficult, though. He had nearly used up all the Blast-Ended Skrewt rear ends he'd obtained from Hagrid, yet he still hadn't unlocked it.
Malfoy nodded, only half understanding. As a member of the Malfoy family, he had no shortage of magical items.
He merely thought life must be quite hard for John's Muggle family, since John even had to make things himself.
They had astronomy that evening.
Everyone gathered at the Astronomy Tower, where Professor Aurora Sinistra explained the location of Sagittarius.
After the day's classes ended, John ran into Quirrell and found himself with a slip of paper in his hand.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom."
When he unfolded the note, there was only a location written on it.
John really didn't want to go, but he was afraid of arousing Quirrell's suspicions, so he had to set aside his plans to study alchemy.
The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Believing he had gradually led this good student into darkness, Quirrell began dropping his disguise.
Quirrell had been a fairly capable wizard to begin with. If he hadn't accepted Voldemort, he wouldn't have needed to masquerade as an incompetent professor.
"Very good, John Wick. It seems you've chosen the right path."
Quirrell was pleased to see John come sneaking out at night.
Knowledge truly was the greatest forbidden fruit. After tasting the power dark magic offered, even a good student like John Wick had fallen.
"Professor Quirrell."
After entering the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, John felt as though someone was sticking needles into his head. It was Legilimency, probing for the thoughts in his mind.
He immediately used Occlumency. After the new term began, John had trained his Occlumency to level 2, but that still wasn't quite enough.
He put his free point into Occlumency, raising it to level 3.
At level 3, he was already proficient in Occlumency, enough to deal with Voldemort's damaged, wandering spirit.
John put on an excited expression, looking like an adoring fan won over by knowledge.
Voldemort, who had entered John's mind using Legilimency, was very pleased. Now, John would become his most loyal Death Eater at a single word from him.
To cultivate a spy planted inside Hogwarts, Voldemort was generous with his knowledge.
Speaking through Quirrell, he taught John a great deal.
He was a powerful wizard himself, with an extensive breadth of knowledge.
Under his guidance, many things John hadn't understood suddenly became clear.
In the days that followed, John attended classes during the day and went to the classroom to study at night.
His abilities improved rapidly, and he even succeeded in bringing Fiendfyre under control.
[Magic: level 3 (30/1500)] [Spells: Alohomora (level 3), Levitation Charm (level 4), Transfiguration Spell (level 2), Disillusionment Charm (level 3), Lumos (level 2), Incendio (level 3), Reducto (level 3), Fiendfyre (level 2), Protego (level 2)...] [Skills: Short Weapon Mastery (level 7), Greatsword Mastery (level 4), Firearm Mastery (level 1), Rune Mastery (level 1), Alchemy Mastery (level 1)] [Blessings: Strengthen the Body, Rapid Attack, Precision, Top Student, Pilot, Long-Distance Running, Sword Dance, Troll Slayer, Night Demon]
His magic hadn't increased much, but his understanding of spells had improved considerably.
The best news was that he had also unlocked alchemy.
Although it was only level 1, John could already successfully craft a simple magical item.
To create items with wills of their own, like the Sorting Hat and the Sword of Gryffindor, he would probably need to reach level 7.
Wood dragged Harry through a brutal training regimen, refusing to let up even on snowy or rainy days.
He was determined to defeat Slytherin and win the House Cup championship match, which would allow their house points to catch up with Slytherin's.
He placed high hopes in Harry, piling even more pressure on him.
Even Hermione and Ron couldn't stand watching it anymore. In the common room, they told Harry not to play in the match.
Ron suggested saying he was ill, but Hermione went further and told him to say he'd broken his leg.
This left Harry feeling miserable.
Just then, Neville came hopping in from outside and tumbled into the common room.
Neville's legs were pressed tightly together. He had been hit with the Leg-Locker Curse.
They didn't need to think to know Malfoy must have done it. Ron was furious and immediately wanted to go settle the score with him.
But Neville stopped him. He didn't want to cause trouble for Harry and the others.
Hermione lifted Neville's Leg-Locker Curse. Harry tried to take out a Chocolate Frog to comfort Neville, but his fingers found a Wizard Card in his pocket instead.
"What's this?"
Harry handed Neville another box containing a Chocolate Frog, then paused at the sight of the Wizard Card in his hand.
"That's the one John gave you. He said something about it at the time, too," Ron said, remembering where the card had come from.
It was a Dumbledore Wizard Card. Harry turned it over.
Just as he was thinking John had simply given it away because he didn't want it, his gaze froze on the small print.
"Ron, Hermione, look!"
Harry sucked in a sharp breath, his voice trembling slightly.
Ron and Hermione leaned over to look, and both were struck by the sudden surprise.
"His work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel, has been highly successful!"
"I knew it! I really had seen that name before!"
Harry was thrilled. After so long without progress, they had finally taken a crucial step forward.
All three were wildly excited, and Hermione even leaped to her feet.
Suddenly, Hermione thought of something.
Looking at the mention of alchemy, she said, "No wonder! No wonder John was reading books about alchemy. He knew all along!"
With that, Hermione dashed upstairs and returned from the girls' dormitory carrying an enormous old book.
Leafing through it, they finally found information about Nicolas Flamel.
And they learned about the Philosopher's Stone.
Before you continue