Johnny Silverhand is… John Wick?
Everyone was struck by a panicked, bizarre sense of absurdity.
The hero who killed the Dark Lord was actually the Third Dark Lord?
This might be a very amusing joke.
Some even felt it could make the top ten jokes in The Quibbler.
Within the international magical community, what Johnny Silverhand had done was even more egregious than Voldemort.
Voldemort had only attacked a school, but Johnny Silverhand had completely destroyed one.
The aftermath had even triggered a volcanic eruption, nearly exposing the magical world.
Such actions were even more brutal than Voldemort's.
The magical community in Asia was already protesting against Johnny Silverhand.
They had even threatened to carry out a jade-shattering operation to attack Silverhand series shops.
Domestically, the pure-bloods were sparing no effort in condemning Johnny Silverhand, sharpening their knives to carve up the resources that belonged to Silverhand.
They were shaping him into another Dark Lord following Voldemort.
They demanded that the Ministry of Magic revoke the Order of Merlin and all honors previously awarded to Johnny Silverhand.
And under such circumstances, John admitted that he was Johnny Silverhand?
Barty Crouch Sr.'s expression changed. He had not expected that John's so-called solution would be to expose his identity directly.
Although he had once imagined that one day John would stand before everyone in his true identity, that would have been a positive Johnny Silverhand, a great benefactor who had contributed to the magical world.
Not someone who, after destroying Mahoutokoro, was rushing out to confess.
Even the male reporter in the newsboy cap who had asked the question was so shocked he could not speak.
He was from the Daily Prophet, having come in hopes of following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Rita Skeeter, by uncovering a massive story that would propel his career.
He had not expected to dig up something this explosive.
If this news got out, the entire magical world would tremble.
Snapping back to his senses, the reporter immediately quickened his speech.
"So you're saying you are the butcher who destroyed Mahoutokoro, the Johnny Silverhand who nearly exposed the magical community to the Muggle world?"
He piled accusation after accusation onto Johnny Silverhand, already imagining how smooth his future would become.
He had even thought of the headline.
The Dragon Slayer Becomes the Dragon, Hero Turns Dark Lord
A title like that could make him the newspaper's hottest rising star. Surpassing Rita Skeeter would not be impossible.
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
"The butcher who destroyed Mahoutokoro?" John said with a faint smile. "So this is how all of you see the matter."
"Isn't it?" the reporter pressed aggressively. "You destroyed a school and killed its headmaster along with several staff members."
"Oh?" John looked at the reporter with a half-smile. He was actually from the Daily Prophet. Heh. "So you intend to charge me and put me on trial?"
"Sorry, I'm a reporter, and a reporter's duty is to reveal the truth."
The reporter seemed to have forgotten that, regardless of which identity John used, he was someone who could crush him with ease.
That fearless posture of his was nothing more than a carnival of fantasy.
Seeing this, John said calmly, "Then tell me, do you really understand the truth?"
"Of course I do," the reporter said righteously.
"Then do you know what Mahoutokoro did?"
"What did Mahoutokoro do?" the reporter replied, baffled. "Mahoutokoro is a school. Naturally, it teaches wizards."
Seeing that he knew nothing, John smiled.
He snapped his fingers, and a group of people pushed their way in from outside.
"Make way. I said make way!"
They shoved in roughly. When the leader saw John, he looked as if he were about to burst into tears.
"Boss, I knew you weren't dead!" Gus, wrapped up so tightly he was barely recognizable, looked like he was just short of rushing forward to hug and kiss John.
It was as if he had just confirmed his pension was still perfectly safe. He waved his arms excitedly, practically dancing with joy.
Behind him came Musashi and Shizuka. With them were other instructors, along with several children.
Seeing these people, the reporters were thoroughly puzzled.
But the Asian faces made several of them suddenly thoughtful.
Especially the reporter in the newsboy cap, who suddenly felt a vague sense of unease.
John pushed Gus's head aside and looked at the reporter, saying calmly, "Do you think Mahoutokoro is a good school?"
John let out a cold laugh. "Then do you know that ever since Genju took over as headmaster, the school has been conducting inhumane experiments?"
With a snap of his fingers, roll after roll of files flew out of John's small handbag.
With a duplication charm, the documents landed in everyone's hands.
Barty Crouch Sr. took one and opened it. He was proficient in more than two hundred languages; the language posed no difficulty for him.
As he read, his expression grew increasingly grim.
By the end, his face had turned ashen, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Human experimentation." The words were forced out through clenched teeth as Barty Crouch Sr. said furiously, "Mahoutokoro was actually conducting human experiments!"
John noticed the reporter holding the file with a confused expression and thoughtfully prepared an English version.
At the same time, photo after photo was passed around.
John had taken these before blowing up Mahoutokoro, and Gus had contributed greatly.
Words were far less impactful than images.
The reporters who had just been shouting that Johnny Silverhand was a butcher all fell silent.
Their eyes widened as they stared at the photographs.
All kinds of inhumane experiments paired with the pained faces of children, countless corpses submerged in liquid, the abducted Muggle children…
The torment extended from body to mind to soul.
These could no longer be called human. They were beasts.
The children who had come with the instructors shrank back timidly behind the adults.
A closer look showed their thinning hair and bodies marked with the scars of long-term experimental abuse. They were frail and emaciated. Some had even had their hands frozen until they necrotized, then smashed off with iron hammers.
Such utterly inhumane practices, combined with solid evidence and eyewitness testimony.
Several Mahoutokoro instructors who had not been involved stepped forward one after another, stating that young wizards had gone missing within the school, only to reappear mysteriously after some time.
However, the returned children had no memories. Everything had been wiped away by powerful Memory Charms.
In severe cases, the young wizards could no longer continue their schooling.
And all of this, under Genju's control and the pressure of powerful figures behind the scenes, had been quietly buried.
What Johnny Silverhand destroyed was not a school, but a den that brutalized young wizards.
The Dark Lord they had condemned was, in fact, Mahoutokoro's savior.
"So," John said calmly, his gaze sweeping across every reporter, "do you still think I'm a butcher?"
Physical evidence. Witnesses. Victims.
All the proof was complete. This was an explosion that would shake the entire magical world.
John had gone to Asia and brought back a bomb powerful enough to trigger a nuclear shockwave across the magical community.
A magical school had been involved in it, and who knew how many powerful figures in Asia were implicated, or whether the Muggle world had also taken part.
The instruments in those photographs even seemed to bear traces of Muggle research methods.
Everything about it ensured that this night would be anything but ordinary.
By the next day, as expected, the international magical community was in an uproar.
The Asia magical community, which had originally played the victim, instantly became the perpetrator.
Asia, which had long kept to itself, had only just begun to speak out.
But the moment it did, the entire nation became the target of public outrage.
The Asian Ministry of Magic responded by claiming the evidence was entirely fabricated.
They tried to silence the matter by shutting others up, but this was no longer something that could be resolved by suppression.
Among those involved in the experiments were not only Asia's own citizens, but people from other countries as well.
The international magical community began applying pressure on Asia, and the one leading the charge was Johnny Silverhand.
No. It should be said—John Wick.
He informed everyone that he possessed a list recovered from the experimental site.
At that, the various Ministries of Magic could no longer sit still.
They tried to stop it, but John released the list.
That list once again shook the international magical community.
Because it contained not only the current Minister of the Ministry of Magic, but also the former minister, figures within the Asian Muggle government, and even members of the royalty.
Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Pakistani pure-bloods were involved as well.
It could be said that this list would paralyze half of the Asian magical society.
The various Ministries of Magic racked their brains, attempting to seal the information.
However, with today's technology, that was no longer something easily accomplished.
When the Asian magical community saw the list, public outrage exploded.
The minister was forced to step down, and even the spirit of bowing ninety degrees in apology proved useless.
While upheaval swept through Aisa, Barty Crouch Sr. continued leading the International Confederation of Wizards in applying pressure.
In any society, human experimentation crossed the absolute bottom line.
And this had been carried out on a massive scale.
John announced that the Silverhand Foundation would take responsibility for the young magical victims and would establish dedicated institutions to serve them. At the same time, Muggle victims would also receive assistance from the foundation and be helped to reintegrate into Muggle society.
This move directly elevated John's reputation to the level of being widely praised as great.
Meanwhile, the British pure-bloods who had moved against him one by one fell silent under the series of countermeasures.
Their attacks on Silverhand's actions were now detested by the magical community, because they appeared to be helping those beasts target a great benefactor.
With this sequence of moves, the situation was completely reversed. Even Barty Crouch Sr. could not help but sigh in admiration. The timing had been perfect.
If things continued like this for a few more years, there would be almost no suspense if this prodigy ran for Minister.
Yet John did not grow complacent because of this matter.
Because he had discovered something.
It seemed he had been set up by Death.
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