Peeves and Waddiwasi

"John!"

Hermione strode over angrily, with Harry and Ron beside her. John had no idea what was going on.

Her voice rose considerably as she demanded, "Did you already know about Nicolas Flamel?"

"Yes." John's frank response caught the trio off guard.

Harry asked in bewilderment, "If you knew, why didn't you tell us? We spent ages looking."

John looked surprised. "I did tell you. Don't tell me you've only just noticed the wizard card?"

Harry scratched his head awkwardly. The three of them had come ready to demand answers, only to have the wind taken out of their sails.

Ron made one last attempt, muttering, "You could have been less cryptic and just told us the answer from the start."

At that, John's expression grew serious. Thinking he had said something wrong, Ron lowered his head guiltily.

"Ron," John said earnestly, "an answer someone hands you will never be as meaningful as one you find yourself. While searching for an answer, you gain more than just that answer-you pick up all sorts of other knowledge."

The trio had to admit he was right. Harry, in particular, could now answer questions in History of Magic quite well, despite having been terrible at it before.

They felt they had misjudged John. Hermione apologized, "Sorry, John. We shouldn't have doubted you."

"It's fine. But now that you know about Nicolas Flamel, what next?"

John glanced at Harry, who seemed to be struggling to say something. "Don't tell me you suspect Professor Snape of trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"

With his thoughts laid bare, Harry gave an awkward smile.

After all, telling a Slytherin that their Head of House was a thief wasn't exactly polite.

John sighed helplessly. "The Philosopher's Stone isn't as wonderful as you think. Granted, it is the pinnacle of alchemy, and it can produce the Elixir of Life, but that only grants immortality in theory."

"The body wears down, emotions fade-time takes its toll on everything."

"Professor Snape is a Potions Master. He knows those drawbacks, and he certainly isn't short of money."

"What reason do you think he has to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"

Every point he made was reasonable. Harry opened his mouth but couldn't find anything to say.

Ron thought for a moment. "Maybe he wants to give it to You-Know-Who."

Good grief.

Have you read the script or something?

John jolted and stared at Ron in disbelief.

You even know Voldemort isn't dead? Did you transmigrate too?

Ron grew embarrassed under his stare and said quietly, "I heard a lot of You-Know-Who's followers were Slytherins."

After Voldemort's downfall, many Death Eaters had claimed that Voldemort had placed them under the Imperius Curse.

The fact that Snape had been a Death Eater was no secret to some wizards. Dumbledore had once secured his release.

John was speechless. Ron's wild guess had actually come close to the truth. If Voldemort hadn't attacked Harry's family, Snape might still have been a Death Eater, but that was absolutely impossible now.

"That's impossible. Ron, be careful what you say. He is the Head of Slytherin, after all."

After warning Ron not to throw that accusation around again, John finally managed to put the trio off.

Life seemed to settle down.

John also began spending more time studying with Quirrell.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten his duty to patrol the Forbidden Forest.

Ever since the Acromantulas had attacked John, Hagrid had become less trusting of Aragog's offspring.

He warned John to watch out for spiders, and John had taken precautions himself.

He had found a spell in the library for dealing with spiders, one that could help keep him alive.

Making full use of his time, John attended classes and read during the day, then trained and patrolled the Forbidden Forest at night, while also studying with Quirrell.

His schedule grew tight. Without Sleepless One, John would probably have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

Even so, he felt he didn't have enough time.

That day, he was getting ready to head to the Quidditch Pitch.

Gryffindor was playing Hufflepuff. If Hermione hadn't reminded him, John wouldn't even have known about it.

It was a rare chance to relax. John was heading down the corridor when he heard a series of crashes.

Peeves was chasing first-year students in Slytherin and Hufflepuff robes, throwing stones at them.

"Peeves, stop it!"

"Little wizards, little wizards!"

Apart from the Hogwarts professors and the Bloody Baron, Peeves wasn't afraid of anyone.

He showed no intention of stopping. John saw his classmate Daphne Greengrass get struck by one of Peeves's stones.

"Peeves, you've gone too far."

Hearing the voice, Peeves thought it was a professor, only to discover a young Slytherin wizard.

"It's you. I remember you, John Wick."

Peeves laughed loudly and pulled faces, not taking John seriously in the slightest.

John frowned deeply and helped Daphne Greengrass up.

The blonde girl hadn't expected John to stand up for her. After all, the boy didn't have the best reputation in Slytherin.

"Thank you." The young lady from a pure-blood family grew bashful at the sight of his flawless face.

John blocked Peeves's path, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Peeves, you deserve to be punished for this," he said coldly.

"Punished?"

Peeves sneered and hurled a stone at John.

Having just been hit herself, Daphne Greengrass couldn't help closing her eyes.

John calmly drew his wand, moving it as gracefully as a conductor's baton.

"Waddiwasi!"

The incoming stone seemed to strike a net, then flew back toward Peeves and knocked him straight down.

John didn't stop. He continued casting.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Waddiwasi!"

With the two spells working together, the stones scattered across the floor flew after Peeves.

Peeves howled as the stones pelted him, driving him away with lumps all over his head.

The students he had been chasing cheered at the sight. John glanced at Daphne, who was still hiding behind him, and smiled. "It's all right now. Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?"

Having taught Peeves a lesson, John seemed like a hero.

The Slytherin students revised their opinion of him, too. Here was someone willing to stand up for his classmates.

Daphne was a proud girl, but now her opinion of John had changed.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Her lowered voice made her sound shy, and she couldn't help stealing glances at John.

John looked outside. Well, it seemed he wouldn't make it to this Quidditch game.

He took the injured students to the Hospital Wing, giving Madam Pomfrey plenty to do.

The students had suffered at Peeves's hands for far too long. It was rare for a student to teach him a lesson, and word soon spread throughout the school.

The Quidditch match ended.

Ron clutched his nose, while Neville was carried to the Hospital Wing.

Malfoy and his cronies, Goyle and Crabbe, each sported a black eye as they glared viciously at Gryffindor across the Hufflepuff table.

"Damn it, that bloody Weasley! He ambushed me!"

Malfoy was furious. While watching the match, he had clashed with Ron, and the two had started wrestling. Later, Neville, Goyle, and Crabbe had joined in.

As for Harry, he had disappeared after the celebrations.

That did nothing to lessen Malfoy's hatred of Gryffindor.

John was speechless as well. Shaking his head, he said, "Malfoy, you couldn't even win three against two."

Malfoy's face flushed red. "If we'd used wands, I could have taken on twelve Weasleys and Longbottoms!" he snapped.

John would have been a fool to believe him.

He closed his book. It was completely dark outside now.

John also needed to head to the Room of Requirement to train, then patrol the Forbidden Forest afterward.

The Gryffindors had moved their celebrations elsewhere. Perhaps they knew the Slytherins were itching for another fight, so they had chosen to return to Gryffindor Tower.

Fred and George were sneaking off to the kitchens to steal cake. John didn't expose them.

Still, as long as they spoke politely to the house-elves, he was sure the elves would gladly serve cake to the great wizards.

Outside the Room of Requirement, John ran into Harry on his way back.

Harry said with absolute certainty, "John, it's Snape. I saw it with my own eyes. He was threatening Professor Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest."