harry potter book of crimes

"...What kind of wizard is that guy? It's too scary."

Joshua, who was knocked away by Maka's rapid-fire spells, is now running away frantically. He has to run away because this is the first time he has been hit with a spell since he had this power.

There must be no backhand.

Although he doesn't know how powerful his master is - it must be very strong, right? However, the master has never used offensive spells to deal with them, because the master only needs to activate the brand to completely lose their will to fight.

.

No, they are just a group of timid children. Where do they get the will to fight?

"...Didn't he catch up?"

Joshua ran wildly in the alley, looking back from time to time, but he never found any sign of anyone chasing him. But he was so frightened that he couldn't stop - he didn't even have the courage to take a breath!

He kept running, just to be as far away from the monster wizard that suddenly appeared... as far away as possible!

He didn't think about where he should escape, he just ran away instinctively.

As he ran, the buildings on both sides continued to recede, gradually blending into the night. Occasionally, there was one or two owl hoots, as shrill as a child's cry, so sinister that it made people shudder.

Joshua felt as if he had returned to his childhood, to the period before his master took him away. He thought of his father, the father who drank too much, gambled excessively, and beat him whenever he had nothing to do.

He also recalled the scene where he escaped from that filthy and terrifying home one night, but was chased by his father holding a stick and broke one of his legs.

Yes, that's right... that night was also so dark, without stars or moon, the street lights were flickering, and the hissing of night cats made his legs and feet weak.

He kept running, and the lame, terrible father was chasing closely behind him. The stick in his hand was thick and hard, and it hurt when he scratched his back.

His father planted a seed of fear in him.

"...Don't come here! Father...don't hit me..."

Joshua's spirit was almost on the verge of collapse. He dragged his somewhat weak body and ran forward with all his strength, muttering incessantly.

This chaos seemed to bring him some strength. As he ran all the way, black mist emerged again, gradually covering his whole body.

Not long after, he suddenly jumped into the air and subconsciously rushed towards the exit of Jackson Square.

The wind whimpered in his ears, but he didn't hear it at all. He was overwhelmed by his own fear, and that inexplicable power invaded his body, disrupted his thoughts, and forced him to follow instinctive actions.

He wants to go home, to the place where his "father" cannot be found, and then accept the punishment honestly. Although the master's punishment is terrible, for him, it is not a different kind of salvation.

Because no one treats him well, no one needs him - only the master needs him!

"...Accept the punishment well, and then the master will continue to need me. I want to go back there and escape from the terrible 'father', and the master will hug me as usual..."

There were many children taken there, and he was not the first, nor was he the last. It is still unclear what the other children were thinking, but that was what Joshua thought.

When he rushed through the brick wall and reappeared on the streets of New York, he had completely transformed into a dense black mist flying at high speed.

In that black mist with a long tail, there were several times more "sparks" mixed in than usual, flying in the sky it looked like a shining red meteor.

The meteor passed high under the low clouds and headed west towards the city center.

…

Next to an abandoned warehouse, there stands a slightly dilapidated monastery. The outer walls of this monastery are mottled gray and yellow, with dark green ivy covering a large area, and most of the original exquisite carvings have been destroyed.

Just from the outside, it doesn't look like a place where anyone has come back.

"Squeak——"

Joshua opened the tall wooden door in a daze and walked in with heavy steps. He did not stay in this dusty space, but walked straight towards the courtyard behind.

There is nothing strange in the atrium either. Withered and yellow weeds are everywhere, and the fountain pool has long dried up. There seems to be some strange graffiti carved on the wall, but it has long become a mystery that no one can solve.

Joshua passed the atrium, climbed the loose stairs, and walked into an empty room on the second floor.

In this room, there is a tattered bed and an empty desk. And on the wall opposite the desk, there is a broken and cracked mirror.

The mirror was covered with dust, making the figure almost invisible.

"The tail feathers of the Thestral."

Joshua faced the mirror and read out the command inarticulately. However, as time passed by, the mirror did not change at all.

"The Thestral's tail feathers!"

He stared blankly at the broken mirror and repeated the password again, but there was still no movement at all - the scene he expected did not appear.

"...How, how could it be...the password is correct... Thestrals' tail feathers! Thestrals' tail feathers! Thestrals..."

He threw himself in front of the mirror, pressed his hands against the wall, and began to chant crazily. He wanted to go back, to the place that made him both fearful and attached to.

But the cold reality in front of him made him gradually despair. The broken mirror seemed to be telling him silently that the last salvation in his life, the last light in his darkness, had disappeared somewhere.

It goes out quietly.

"It seems...you have been abandoned?"

A voice suddenly sounded behind him, which frightened his feet and made him fall to the ground in panic. Without hesitation, he crawled to the dirty corner almost on his hands and knees, shivering and huddled up.

In the direction of the sound, Maka's figure gradually appeared - he was standing at the door of the room, silently watching everything here.

"Did you get the news so soon?" He muttered, squinting and staring at the mirror.

The other party's response to Sirius was to immediately start erasing it, because for the Obscurus, dealing with Sirius was not a difficult task.

If Maka hadn't come, if Maka hadn't arranged for the Acromantula to protect him, Sirius might have been quietly eliminated long ago.

No, even if there is one more mutated Acromantula, the opponent can send reinforcements to try to destroy it. Therefore, there is no reason for them to choose so decisively to abandon an Obscurus that they have finally cultivated.

Then, there are not many reasons for them to abandon Joshua, and the most likely one is the arrival of Maka.

He stretched out his hand, groped lightly near the mirror, and carefully sensed the magic power fluctuations in it. A large amount of magic knowledge flowed rapidly in his mind, and he compared it with the magic feedback in front of him one by one.

After a moment, he put his hand down.

"Your name is 'Joshua'... right?" Maka turned her head, looked at the shivering young man in the corner and said, "Want to come with me and have a look? I think you would want to ask them

Some Problems……"

He paused for a moment, then chuckled and said: "...Of course, that's assuming they haven't run away yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the staff in his hand was already lifted up. As the magic power surged, a series of complex magic characters faintly flashed across the top of the staff, and fell into the hazy mirror fragments one by one.

Immediately afterwards, the broken mirror was suddenly covered with a layer of silver light, and the damaged and old places began to be repaired automatically.

Not long after, a brand new full-length mirror that was incompatible with the surrounding dilapidated environment suddenly appeared in front of him.

In the bright and clean mirror, Maka couldn't see his own figure. What he could see was the scene of this room. But different from the actual environment, the room in the mirror was not dirty or old at all.

.

Maka turned her head again, and the young man named Joshua got up when the mirror glowed with silver light, and walked to his side in a daze.

But when Maka's eyes fell on him again, he took a few steps back in horror and stood aside with his neck hunched and his back hunched.

"It's up to you to decide whether to enter or not."

Maka didn't have time to waste on him. After casually saying a word, he walked directly to the mirror.

The monastery in the mirror has a lot of traces of life, the hanging lamps in the corridor are still emitting a gentle radiance, the red carpet is soft and clean, and the landscape oil paintings on the wall are vivid and clear.

Maka walked gently in the corridor, occasionally opening a room to take a look, but did not find a single figure.

He came to the hall downstairs. The fireplace seemed to have just been extinguished, and there was still a warm breath among the embers.

In front of some seats on the long dining table next to it, there were even leftovers of rice, and an unfinished pot of pumpkin cream soup was even steaming a little.

"Did you just leave not long ago?" Maka frowned and said, "The clue has been broken again..."

He pulled out a back chair and sat down, leaning his forehead on it and thinking quietly.

After a while, while Maka was still sorting out her thoughts, Joshua walked in nervously. He saw Maka sitting at the dining table at a glance, and suddenly stopped in a panic.

He stopped at the door without saying a word.

He seemed a little at a loss and didn't know what to do. He didn't dare to talk to Maka, nor did he dare to turn around and leave - he didn't even know where he should go from now on.

He could only stand there silently, staring blankly at the patterns on the carpet with his eyelids lowered.

"Do you know where they went?"

As Maka asked, Joshua's whole body trembled.