64: Percy and Power

"Now you have seen the real teaching level of Professor Lockhart."

"Come on Hermione, it was John who taught us, and Lockhart didn't even take out his wand."

After the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Hermione immediately found Harry and Ron to clear Lockhart's name.

Ron was more certain that Lockhart was a guy in name only, because in the whole class, Lockhart didn't even take out his wand.

Rather than saying that Lockhart was teaching, it was better to say that John was teaching.

At the time they were having turns, when Neville couldn't use the levitation spell, it was John who directly controlled the troll with Transfiguration.

Lockhart was obviously scared and hid behind the podium.

"Humph, but his class was good, wasn't it." Hermione wanted to refute, but she was convinced in her heart.

Seeing her idol step down from the altar made her very entangled.

Ron shrugged and said indifferently: "If it's John who'll teach us like this in the future, I have no problem with Lockhart."

Harry watched the two quarreling, and he was still recalling the voice he heard when he was punished and had to help Lockhart reply to fan letters on Saturday.

Because of Ron and Malfoy's bad behavior of cursing each other, he and Ron were both detained.

But the good news is that Malfoy's protective father did not come to Hogwarts to make a scene. It is said that John settled everything for them.

This made Harry grateful to John.

At this time, Filch roared.

The Weasley twins were laughing on the side, and the Frog Brains were smeared all over the wall, which made Filch furious.

He was a squib, without magic, and could only remove it bit by bit.

It goes without saying that this was a prank from the Weasley twins. Seeing this scene, Percy walked up and scolded the two of them in a rigid and serious manner.

"You shouldn't play pranks like this."

"Come on, Percy."

"No, it should be Percy the prefect."

"Maybe you can enter the Ministry of Magic."

"Because you are as rigid and boring as the people there."

George and Fred sang the same tune, making Percy very angry.

Even though Bill and Charlie are outstanding, Percy is an outlier in the Weasley family. Although Mrs. Weasley has always regarded him as a pride, he is incompatible with the whole family atmosphere.

After all, except for Percy, no one in the Weasley class would read such a boring and terrible book as "How the Prefects Gain Power".

Percy felt helpless about it; he wanted more power.

Because of this, even though Lockhart's teaching was terrible, Percy still treated him with utmost respect.

In the end, the family affection won over him, and he had to leave in disgrace after leaving a warning.

The Weasley twins made faces behind him, and even Ron found his brother hard to bear.

The twins often teased him, but they never lectured him in a stiff, superior manner like Percy did.

It wasn't just the Weasleys; even among Gryffindors, Percy seemed like an outlier.

After all, in Gryffindor, you could be a poor student, but you absolutely couldn't be without friends and a sense of humor.

"John, you are right, I told my dad not to come to school for that matter, and the next time that Weasley messes with me, I will definitely make him cry."

In the Slytherin team, Malfoy proudly told John that he stopped Mr. Malfoy.

After being attacked and cursed by Ron on Saturday, Malfoy had sent a letter to his father to come to school and ask for an explanation and make that annoying Weasly leave the school.

But John after knowing about it frowned and said to him earnestly: "Draco, don't be like a child. A powerful wizard does not rely on his father. You can curse him back, but never let people look down on you."

This wisdom made Malfoy change his mind, and he cursed Ron back the next time with the same slug curse, and that feeling was more fun than having his father come to school to make a fuss.

Fighting back also made the matter unfair to both parties, and Mr. Malfoy would probably not get any good results.

Daphne trotted to John's side, with a little admiration in her eyes, and said coquettishly: "You are great, the Transfiguration at the end of class just now was simply perfect, by the way, where did you get that troll?"

"Oh? That was brought by Professor Lockhart."

John kept his word and maintained Lockhart's image outside, at least making him less questionable.

But Daphne was not stupid. She wrinkled her beautiful nose and said angrily, "Come on, he doesn't have that ability. Oh, Merlin! I don't know why my mother likes him."

John smiled and didn't comment that the troll was a Boggart.

Boggart can reflect the fear in the heart, but it is not very strong in terms of strength.

Even if it becomes a troll, it may not have half the strength of a troll.

As long as you used Occlumency to construct a fear of a troll and stood in front of it, the Boggart would turn into the creature you wanted.

He remembered that in Harry's third year, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had caught a Boggart. Of course, that professor taught how to deal with Boggarts, not trolls.

Lockhart's skills were very poor, but his stories were real accounts taken from others.

The knowledge in them was indeed useful, and as long as you followed the teachings, even if people criticized the theory, it couldn't be considered bad.

It's a pity that Lockhart didn't realize this. The lesson plans John set for him involved minimal practical work, relying mostly on combining the stories in the books with theoretical knowledge.

Defense Against the Dark Arts mainly dealt with magical creatures and countering and defending against dark magic.

Handling this year's curriculum would be simple.

After him becoming an assistant in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, many students began to realize that John was different from them.

Even Professor McGonagall praised his Transfiguration as reaching the level of senior students, which made Slytherin feel extremely proud.

Especially with the bonus points given by Lockhart, John led the Slytherin points funnel to advance all the way, leaving the other three houses far behind.

This made Slytherin stand up straight.

 ...

 "George, Fred!"

Percy's roar rang out in the corridor.

John walked out of the Room of Requirement and saw two sneaky people sneaking back to Gryffindor Tower.

Percy walked angrily in the corridor and caught two guys wandering at night.

With just one glance, he could confirm that the two iconic flame-like red hair were definitely his two younger brothers.

But to his surprise, he didn't catch the Weasley twins, but John from Slytherin.

"I should give you a warning. Although I'm not deducting points, you are breaking school rules."

Percy, wearing glasses and dressed neatly, was quite different from Ron and his brothers who never wore their clothes properly.

He spoke sternly, and John shrugged, then thought of something.

"Percy Weasley, come to think of it, we haven't really talked much."

John was quite impressed with the Weasley family. Aside from the two Weasleys who had already graduated, Percy's presence was the least noticeable.

But you couldn't deny Percy's excellence. He had earned twelve O.W.L. certificates, making him a top student and academic overachiever.

One might even suspect that if it weren't for him being a Weasley, he could have been sorted into Ravenclaw.

After all, all the Weasleys are Gryffindors, and it is estimated that the Sorting Hat doesn't want to break the tradition.

For Slytherin, all Weasleys' first reaction is to hate it, but in front of them is John, John Wick, who saved the three little ones.

Percy frowned and politely refused, "Sorry, I still have to help the professor patrol..."

"If that's the point, I don't think you need to worry."

John smiled and said easily, "Are you interested in going to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office for a cup of black tea?"

He spoke as if he were inviting Percy to his home. Percy was a bit surprised.

Lockhart was unreliable but still a professor, and John seemed too relaxed about it.

Thinking of John as the Defense Against the Dark Arts assistant, Percy's frown relaxed, and he agreed, "Alright, but only for a little while."

"That's enough."

John smiled, but his mind was on something else.

If there was one surprising plot in the Harry Potter series that was memorable, it was the betrayal of a Weasley, who sided with the Ministry of Magic against the Dumbledore supporters in his family.

And that person is Percy, who is eager for power, which also makes Percy a person who is still fresh in John's memory among the few plots he remembers.

He remembered that Percy was doing well in the Ministry of Magic, and even went to the extent of having a falling out with the Weasley family in order to climb up.

This spirit of climbing up is what John needs, and he started to think about it.

Perhaps he could recruit Percy Weasley.

The connections he had were very attractive.

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12 Chaps ahead of WN—Patreon.com/Dragonel