Hogwarts’ John Wick

The Weasley wedding could also be seen as a display of the family's foundations.

Aside from the Malfoys and a few other families that were not close to the Weasleys, more than half of the Sacred Twenty-Eight had attended.

And that did not even include the pure-blood families that were not on the list.

The Weasleys had always possessed one of the greatest advantages among the Twenty-Eight, but Arthur Weasley, as the head of the family, simply lacked much ambition.

For an ancient family, the most important thing was neither power nor money, but the reputation that had been passed down through generations.

The Weasleys were undoubtedly among the oldest pure-blood families, and their ancestors had once been extremely wealthy.

They had even held the position of Head of House at Hogwarts in the past.

Having many children meant the continuation of loyal family influence.

For a family-based power structure, having numerous descendants was undoubtedly one of the most important things.

Their relatives were everywhere. Other families might have only one son, while the Weasleys had six sons and one daughter.

With a hand like that, the fact that they had once become so poor they did not even have a single Galleon had made John wonder whether Mr Weasley had spent all their money on research.

Otherwise, with the Weasley name and Mr Weasley being such a decent man who neither smoked, drank, nor gambled, how could the family have fallen into such poverty?

No wonder Percy had been so angry that he had confronted Mr Weasley directly.

At the very least, John would never do anything to the Weasleys out of consideration for Percy and the twins.

But if things continued like this, the Weasley family would inevitably decline in the future.

After saying goodbye to Luna with Ariana, John walked ahead while Ariana jogged after him.

The wedding ended amid laughter and celebration.

Bathilda had been very surprised to see Ariana, but for the elderly woman, that surprise was mostly joy.

Ariana also seemed to overlap the old woman before her with the neighbour she remembered from long ago.

Bathilda sighed. "She's doing very well by your side. Better than she would be with anyone else."

Ariana still did not like talking much, but she was already far better than before.

That alone was enough for Bathilda to approve of John's decision.

This time, John did not take the Knight Bus home.

He held out his hand and smiled. "I think Mum and Dad are probably getting impatient."

The sky had already darkened, and John had no interest in playing another game of cat and mouse with those agents.

Ariana took John's hand.

With a thought, the two disappeared.

When they reappeared, they were outside John's home on Privet Drive.

Ariana clung tightly to his hand, and a trace of black energy flashed through her eyes.

John had been watching her closely the entire time. Seeing her endure the discomfort of Apparition, he thought to himself, She's gradually adapting to magic now and learning how to control her magical power.

The reason he had used Apparition instead of opening a portal was that John wanted to test Ariana's recovery.

He began considering ways to let Ariana come into contact with magic so she could become familiar with using that power.

Simply suppressing it was useless.

Credence had already proven that suppression was not a long-term solution.

Only by making that power truly her own could they ensure that it would never go out of control again.

The brother and sister stood outside for a while, waiting for Ariana to recover.

The little brown bear anxiously patted Ariana with its tiny hands.

Fortunately, Ariana was only feeling uncomfortable because it was her first time Apparating.

The Dumbledore bloodline was undoubtedly among the most powerful in the wizarding world. Even Aberforth, the least talented of them, possessed Level 6 magical power, let alone Ariana.

They slowly walked towards the house. A white haze settled over the agents' eyes, yet none of them noticed anything unusual.

John and Ariana walked openly through the front door.

A short while later, a car pulled up.

Watson got out carrying flowers and sweets, then went to open the door.

Just then, John's concealment spell wore off. To the agents watching, Watson seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Everyone froze, unable to understand what had happened.

Watson, however, simply opened the door and went inside, leaving them with only a glimpse of his back.

"I'm home!"

Watson happily carried a large bouquet over to Mrs Wick and said affectionately, "I couldn't find any flowers worthy of complementing your beauty, so please allow me to express my feelings with roses."

Mrs Wick rarely blushed, but this time her cheeks reddened as she accepted the bouquet.

"And of course, something for our adorable Ariana."

Watson took out a box of sweets. They were little bear-shaped fruit gummies.

Ariana immediately forgot about the wedding cake she had just eaten at the Weasleys' and happily ran over.

Seeing that he had successfully pleased both beauties in the family, one large and one small, Watson looked smugly at his son.

John rolled his eyes at him.

Childish.

"Brother, sweet."

Ariana opened the sweets and held the first brown bear-shaped gummy up to John's mouth.

John was about to take it from her when Ariana stubbornly pushed it a little closer to his lips.

All right.

She wanted to feed him herself.

John could only resign himself to his fate, open his mouth, and let Ariana feed him.

Ariana's eyes curved happily as she smiled. She opened the rest of the sweets and gave the first one from each pack to John.

Watson shamelessly came over and hinted, "Dad wants something sweet too."

Ariana picked up the box and earnestly handed it to him.

Watson looked at John, then at the box in front of him.

"Don't you think you're skipping a few steps?" Like opening one and feeding it to me?

Ariana tilted her head, took out a new box, and handed that to him instead.

Watson staggered back two steps, clutching his chest.

"Impossible. I refuse to believe my wife would treat me like this too."

He hurriedly looked towards his wife.

Mrs Wick was already taking apart the bouquet and selecting the two best roses to place in a vase.

"I've always thought John's room looked too plain."

Mrs Wick looked down in confusion at her husband, who had collapsed to his knees in front of her, unable to understand what was wrong.

"Damn it! How did I lose this badly?!" Watson cried unwillingly.

John was speechless. Ever since his father had stayed behind for Christmas, he had become increasingly determined to prove his place in the family hierarchy.

John could not understand what Watson was trying to compete with his own son over.

What he did not know was that Watson had been deeply provoked.

He had worked hard to build up the family fortune so that John could become a rich second-generation heir before turning eighteen.

Instead, John had acquired his own version of Downton Abbey while still in school, along with a large group of intimidating subordinates.

Your father wanted you to be a rich heir! Why did you go and start your own empire?!

Still puzzled by his father's strange competitiveness, John stayed at home for a few days before turning his attention to serious matters.

The first thing he needed to do was consolidate his two factions.

The Silver Hand Alliance and the Ancient Alliance.

There was no need to explain the Silver Hand Alliance. Everyone who attended the gatherings at Silver Hand Manor belonged to it.

The Ancient Alliance, however, was different. Lucius had stepped forward to reorganise its hierarchy.

In other words, many of these people had not yet formally met John.

Their reverence for him had not reached the same level as that of the Silver Hand Alliance.

If an interest group comparable to the Silver Hand Alliance could not be brought under John's control, then it would have to be dissolved.

That was John's decision.

And it was also the will of the Second King.

Standing before a full-length mirror, John wore an ornate robe and ran his fingers over the emerald gemstone on his left hand.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he smiled faintly.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

He extended a finger and traced it across the mirror.

A golden vertical line split the surface down the middle.

Noisy voices could be heard from the other side of the passage.

John stepped through.

The steady sound of his footsteps immediately silenced the room.

...

The surroundings were lavishly decorated, and the crystal chandelier overhead cast a hazy white glow.

Members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight and the Silver Hand Alliance were all present.

Together, they were the two largest interest groups in Britain, contributing more than half of the Ministry of Magic's tax revenue.

They had gathered at Silver Hand Manor, and some of the ancient families still carried themselves with undisguised arrogance.

Mr Weasley tugged at his collar and glanced at Percy beside him.

He had never liked occasions like this.

Mr Longbottom and his wife were chatting with some old friends.

"Is that Rita Skeeter?" Mr Weasley noticed the woman in a green blouse.

The editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet was actually a member of the Silver Hand Alliance?

And that was not all.

They also saw many others, including envoys from foreign countries.

Mr Weasley recognised the young man chatting pleasantly with Piers. He was the son of Charles Roland, the French Minister for Magic.

People from every profession and industry were present.

That was enough for him to conclude that under the operation of this interest group, hardly any industry could escape their influence.

"See, Dad?" Percy said beside him. "Survival of the fittest. We always have to make a choice."

Mr Weasley did not want to admit it, but Percy's words were impossible to ignore.

The lively, noisy conversations abruptly died down as a golden passage appeared out of nowhere.

Under everyone's gaze, the Second King of the wizarding world appeared.

John stood on the second floor, looking down over everyone with the bearing of a sovereign.

"Lord Silver Hand."

"Mr Wick."

Different forms of address rang out across the hall, making the room even noisier.

John frowned and snapped his fingers.

The surrounding lights dimmed.

"The old and outdated should be cast aside. A new path lies beneath our feet."

The passage behind him disappeared.

That alone was enough to make everyone draw a sharp breath.

Silver Hand Manor was protected by Anti-Apparition magic.

And John had not disabled it.

Any private schemes were immediately suppressed as everyone focused intently on John's voice.

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