As an Auror, it wasn't impossible for Moody to know a little more than usual.
However, when it came to alchemy, John suspected that Moody might have some knowledge—but not much.
After all, if Moody were truly proficient in alchemy, he wouldn't need to go out and buy a Foe-Glass.
By comparison, John found it more likely that Moody had placed some kind of tracking spell on Harry.
John never thought that Harry would hand over the Marauder's Map to someone else.
While he pondered this, he silently calculated the speed at which Moody had appeared.
Meanwhile, Malfoy was already being scolded by Moody—but that didn't stop the taunting expression on his face.
"Potter, your nanny really is everywhere," Malfoy sneered. "Do you need to cuddle your babysitter just to fall asleep at night?"
Harry's expression darkened at the mockery. Truth be told, even he felt that Moody's attention toward him was a bit too much.
It was as if Moody were constantly worried about him getting hurt. However, since Moody had always been good to him, Harry never gave it too much thought.
In the end, the conflict concluded with Slytherin losing 20 points.
Malfoy felt the sting—Moody never missed an opportunity to dock points.
He was starting to feel like Gryffindor had gained a Snape of their own.
At this rate, even though Slytherin was still in the lead, they could never pull too far ahead.
Instead, Gryffindor, sitting in second place, was closing the gap step by step.
The point gap between Slytherin and Gryffindor was now less than 50.
A sense of crisis loomed over the Slytherin students, while Gryffindor, as if injected with chicken blood, was fired up to break Slytherin's championship streak.
After the last test run, John found an opportunity.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Moody's teaching style was rough.
He taught students how to react to magic in real combat situations—by attacking them directly.
His methods were anything but gentle, leaving quite a few students in a miserable state.
Some of them complained to their parents, and soon, a flood of complaint letters once again buried the headmaster's office.
The school was under pressure.
As a result, they decided that next week's sixth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class would be monitored by representatives from the Board of Governors and parent delegates.
The school board deemed this necessary, and even Dumbledore, under such pressure, had no choice but to compromise this time.
That day, Harry would be in Divination class, and John had already arranged to take the day off in advance.
John also knew that the lesson involved practicing counter-curses against Dark Magic.
That meant Moody had to leave the classroom and move the lesson to the spacious staff lounge.
Just in case, he had a backup plan—Plan B.
Malfoy would be stationed outside Divination class, ready to flirt—ehm—provoke Harry into a conflict at any moment.
Everything was set.
Coincidentally, the parent representative for this supervision session was Cedric's father—a Ministry official who held great respect for Dumbledore.
This was likely a little maneuver on Dumbledore's part.
The other representative from the school board was Mr. Greengrass—Daphne's father.
As a side note, Greengrass, like Malfoy, was also a member of the school board.
Even during Voldemort's reign, Greengrass had never wavered from his neutral stance, earning him a reputation for fairness.
...
The supervised class arrived quickly.
John pulled out the Marauder's Map to confirm that Moody was indeed teaching.
As expected, Moody had moved to the staff lounge for the lesson.
Besides the two representatives, Dumbledore was also present—a welcome advantage for John.
With everyone occupied in class, John made his way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office.
The office was separated from the classroom by a side door, which John planned to use.
Before entering, he carefully checked for any detection spells on the door.
After confirming there were none, he reached out to open it.
The moment his hand touched the door, John's expression suddenly changed.
"Someone triggered my magic?"
The Constellation Society's detection magic had been triggered—someone had entered their base.
A choice lay before John: continue his current investigation or rush back to catch the intruder.
Based on his deduction, the one who triggered the spell was most likely the Confundus Charm master.
The primary suspect had always been Moody—but Moody was currently in class.
After a second of hesitation, John made his decision.
He abandoned his current mission and sprinted toward the Constellation Society's base.
At the same time, he sent Heinrich a message to confirm whether Moody was still present.
Cross-checking with the Map, he saw Moody was indeed still in class, and Heinrich confirmed it as well.
That meant only one thing—Moody was not the Confundus Charm master.
The real mastermind was someone else.
John quickened his pace, dashing up to the fourth floor under Filch's bewildered gaze.
All the while, he kept a close watch on the Map.
The person who had triggered the spell had not left.
Since the Constellation Society's base was outside the Map's marked areas, John had no way of identifying the intruder.
The only way to find out was to go inside.
Arriving at the entrance of the Constellation Society's base, John noticed that the magic on the door was in a dormant state. If he hadn't set up a new detection spell on the opposite side earlier, he might never have noticed the intrusion.
"Let's see who you really are."
With a flick of his sleeve, his wand slid smoothly into his hand.
Preparing for battle, John cautiously pushed the door open with his right hand.
The defensive magic inside was immediately triggered, and the intruder had also cast a powerful destruction curse to extinguish all the lights in the room.
The Constellation Society, now shrouded in darkness, seemed like the perfect hiding place.
Unfortunately for the intruder, John had night vision.
His gaze swept around the room, but he didn't spot anyone.
Taking out a small bottle from his pouch, he poured out its contents.
The fine powder, shimmering like stardust, quickly clung to a chair.
John's eyes darkened—he had found the fucker!
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The chair rolled away to dodge—it wasn't just a chair, but someone transformed into one.
Now exposed, the intruder didn't sit around waiting to be caught. A flash of red light shot toward John.
Blocking it with a Shield Charm, John stepped into the Constellation Society's base and shut the door behind him.
In the pitch darkness, he and the mysterious figure clashed, spells flying back and forth.
Sparks of spellfire clashed relentlessly, wrecking the furniture and decorations within the Constellation Society's base.
John's heart pounded—this person was stronger than an Auror. Their duel was entirely silent, both wielding nonverbal magic.
Realizing this, John no longer held back.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
A blazing white light shot toward the intruder, but with a flick of their wand, objects in the room flew up to intercept it, successfully blocking the shattering curse.
But John refused to be suppressed.
The starry dome overhead suddenly lit up. With his wand as a conductor, John harnessed the Constellation Society's magic, condensing it into a powerful beam of light that shattered the intruder's defense and sent them flying backward.
John lunged forward, gripping his wand like a sword. An invisible blade sliced toward the intruder's ankle.
"Sectumsempra!"
"Fiendfyre!"
For the first time since the battle started, the intruder spoke.
Their voice was refined, smooth like silk gliding over the rim of a wine glass.
Flames erupted, but John cleaved through them in an instant.
The intruder used the fire as cover to reposition, but John wasn't about to let them escape. More Slashes whipped through the air, closing in.
Though the intruder was agile, the space remained limited.
With John controlling the Constellation Society's chamber to aid his attacks, the opponent was quickly struck again and collapsed to the ground.
John followed up with two more Stunning Spells. Only when the intruder lay motionless did he approach.
"Powerful, skilled in Confundus Charms… Who are you?"
Had it not been for the chamber's assistance, John wouldn't have subdued them so easily.
Stepping closer, he finally got a clear look at the person's face—and his heart nearly stopped.
"Percy..?"
Still in shock, John barely had time to react as the intruder's eyes snapped open.
Their wand pointed directly at him— "Confundus!"
!!!
Darkness swallowed John's vision. He instantly bit down on his tongue, using the pain to jolt himself awake.
Just in time to see a red beam of light slam into him.
Bam!
The force sent him flying.
The intruder staggered to their feet.
John's expression flickered between shock and fury as he growled coldly, "Who the hell are you?"
There was no way Percy would do something like this.
Which meant this person had likely taken on Percy's appearance—deliberately trying to shake John's resolve and force him into making a mistake.
"You're quite clever."
The intruder tore off a shattered amulet and tossed it aside.
John's expression darkened—it was one of his own creations.
The intruder chuckled. "But keeping me here? That's still too difficult."
With an elegant flick of their wand, they spoke— "Fiendfyre."
John's face changed as he saw the cursed flames surge toward him.
The intruder dropped their wand and bolted toward the door.
John wanted to chase, but if the Fiendfyre went out of control, it would burn the entire Constellation Society to the ground.
He had no choice but to stop, raising his wand high. Powerful magic shot from the ceiling, channeling directly into his wand.
John fixed his gaze on the serpent-like Fiendfyre. A fierce blaze erupted from his wand, encasing the cursed flames.
As more magic poured in, John's fire transformed into a dragon, swallowing the Fiendfyre whole.
Exhausting all his strength, John finally extinguished the Fiendfyre that was summoned.
"Ruthless and decisive... Who exactly is he?"
The Constellation Society was in complete disarray, and John's expression shifted unpredictably.
The wand left behind had been burned to ashes by the cursed flames. Even if it had survived, John doubted it would have revealed any useful clues.
That wand had come from Johnny Silverhand's Specialty shop—an unregistered, no-name wand.
Picking up the fallen amulet, John examined the hidden serial number on it.
Johnny Silverhand's Specialty shop strictly recorded every amulet sold under a real-name system.
For now, this was the only lead—tracing the owner of this amulet.
_________
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