The hospital and Neville

John saw the jealousy written all over his face, shrugged, and went off to buy his books first.

But once he had found all his books, he saw Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy locked in a fight.

The Weasley Twins cheered loudly from the sidelines. If Malfoy had been able to take on that whole family, he probably would have charged in too.

"What on earth is going on?"

John watched Mr. Weasley grab a copy of the Complete Guide to Poisonous Fungi and hit Mr. Malfoy with it, leaving him with a black eye.

Hagrid came over and pulled the two brawling men apart. Mr. Malfoy spat out a threat.

He tossed the book into Ginny's cauldron.

"At least they know where to draw the line. They know not to use magic."

The two seemed to be fighting fiercely, but neither had actually used magic.

John knew they were both afraid of getting into trouble with the Ministry of Magic. After all, once magic was involved, it would no longer be an ordinary fistfight.

"Good heavens, was there a fight here?"

Watson exclaimed in surprise, only then remembering that his son apparently still needed to buy books.

When they arrived and saw books scattered everywhere, Mrs. Wick anxiously searched for her son.

John watched Molly scold Mr. Weasley as though he were her son. Having finished all his shopping, John said goodbye to Harry and the others.

As they parted, John noticed an old book resembling a diary in Ginny's cauldron. Remembering that the Weasley family seemed to use secondhand books, he thought nothing more of it.

With his family being Muggles, John could not leave using Floo Powder either.

The family spent another day sightseeing in London before returning home.

Once home, John began tinkering with his materials. Those Hagrid had bought for him also arrived by post over the next few days.

"These books are quite wonderfully written."

John closed the book written by Gilderoy Lockhart. Its stories were fascinating.

Some of them even contained hints of magical principles, which had kept John reading until he finished them all.

"Could this Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts actually be competent?"

Judging by Lockhart's superb stories, his wealth of experience would probably make him a very good teacher.

"Now I'm rather looking forward to it."

Setting the book on his desk, John took out some powdered dragon tooth.

It came from a fire dragon's teeth and carried a mild toxin.

He mixed the powdered dragon tooth with other ingredients to make a viscous liquid, then spread it over the Iron Wick Sword.

Once evenly coated, the Iron Wick Sword looked somewhat blackened, but after a while, its surface became mirror-bright again.

"A coating of dragon tooth should give it a magic-breaking effect, though I don't know how well it will actually work."

John strengthened the Iron Wick Sword's ability to break through magic, so that even if he encountered magical creatures, he could damage their scales and armor.

He ran a hand over the blade. It was sharp without sacrificing toughness.

After he put the sword away, Basil brought him quite a few letters.

Some were replies to the letters he had sent to various master alchemists, while others came from experts in runes.

These were all the results of his steady efforts during the holidays. He had written to experts with questions and solutions, even reaching out to potion specialists.

He was doing this to build a network of contacts in advance.

Even in the magical world, guidance from experienced elders mattered. Nicolas Flamel had also told him that he needed to communicate better with others rather than work in isolation.

John had to admit that being a Hogwarts student opened many doors for him. Quite a few of these experts had attended Hogwarts themselves.

They were more than willing to help a student from their old school.

"Dear John, your proposed improvements to the Wolfsbane Potion have greatly intrigued me. I hope we can meet in person-Damocles Belby."

"The Wolfsbane Potion? It might be worth going to have a look."

Damocles Belby was developing the Wolfsbane Potion. He was a former Hogwarts student.

While researching him, John had become interested in his Wolfsbane Potion. He remembered that it allowed werewolves to retain their sanity after transforming.

Thinking that werewolves were unfortunate people too, John had sent him some of his ideas.

He had not expected such an enthusiastic response. Damocles Belby wanted to meet him in person.

And the meeting place was St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

John decided there was no harm in meeting him. It would be a good opportunity to expand his contacts.

Putting the letter down, he picked up the last one.

After opening it, his expression turned sorrowful.

The Flamel couple had passed away.

They had not asked John to come, wanting him to remember them as they had been in life rather than how they looked in death.

John was deeply saddened. Such a good teacher had passed away, just like that.

There had been no funeral or grand ceremony, only their friend Dumbledore to bear witness.

John arrived at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

It was not in Diagon Alley, but inside a red-brick department store in London called Purge and Dowse Ltd.

"I'm here to enter the hospital."

John explained his purpose to the dummy in the department store's window.

Then he stepped inside and went to the second floor, where an unfortunate wizard who had been bitten by a werewolf lay.

Beside that wizard, a thin man was methodically recording the suffering the patient was currently enduring.

He was Damocles Belby, observing the various reactions that followed a werewolf bite.

John approached and took a look. The man was in great pain, and his wound had been sealed with dittany and silver.

"Silver can't treat a werewolf bite. It's the dittany that provides enough nourishment for the patient to survive the initial suffering."

Damocles Belby was taking notes. Hearing a voice, he turned to look.

"Who are you?"

He thought some child had wandered in, and impatience immediately crossed his face. "I'm busy right now. Please leave."

John smiled at his words. "John Wick. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Damocles Belby."

John Wick?

Damocles Belby froze, staring at John in disbelief.

"You're the student who wrote to me?"

He had assumed it would be a seventh-year student. Anyone who could point out things he himself had missed had to be gifted.

The talent was certainly there, but this was almost absurd.

Although John was considerably taller than others his age, he looked like a third- or fourth-year at most.

"Forgive me for failing to recognize you, Mr. Wick."

Damocles Belby's attitude changed, becoming exceptionally warm.

He invited John to visit his manor, and John naturally accepted.

After spending some time observing the unfortunate wizard, John arranged to correspond with Damocles Belby again, then left the second floor.

He spotted a familiar figure in the hospital and called out in surprise, "Neville?"

Neville was walking dejectedly down the corridor. Hearing John's voice, he looked over.

"John, are you ill? Why are you here?" Neville sounded nervous.

He was terribly afraid that his good friend might be sick.

John shook his head to show that he was fine, though he was puzzled to find Neville here.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting my parents."

Neville looked downcast. John realized that his parents must be ill.

Since they had run into each other, John accompanied Neville to the Spell Damage Department on the fifth floor.

There, John saw Neville's parents, that outstanding Auror couple.

They had been tortured by Death Eaters until they lost their minds and could no longer even recognize their own child.

At the sight of them, Neville's tears fell uncontrollably. John sighed softly and patted his shoulder in comfort.

Voldemort and his followers had caused far too much suffering.

Eventually, they left the hospital. As John said goodbye to Neville, he saw Neville's grandmother waiting there for her grandson.

The elderly woman looked very stern, yet she had waited outside for Neville to come out.

John nodded to her in greeting, and Neville's grandmother gave a slight nod in return.

After leaving the hospital, John went home to prepare other things.

He remembered the Wolfsbane Potion because it had appeared during Harry Potter's third year, when Snape had brewed it.

It seemed it had not yet been invented. He remembered little of the details, but vaguely recalled that the key ingredient was wolfsbane.

It was highly poisonous, and most people would not readily use it on a person.

A few days later, John sent his theories to Damocles Belby by letter. Some time afterward, he received a reply.

"It worked."