Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 223: James' Reputation
"Merlin!" exclaimed Tom. His eyes were so wide that they almost gave the impression of popping out of their sockets.
"Whoa!" Ted Tonks was just as shocked.
The only one who had seen this coming was Andromeda, who didn't look too fazed, as she had grown accustomed to James's displays of magical prowess.
The four other Hit Wizards were now groaning in pain after their companion crashed violently into their table, while the large bald man was now clearly unconscious.
"Damn it! What was that?"
"That boy at the bar! He did something to John!"
"Bloody hell! I'm going to kill him!"
The remaining Hit Wizards were displaying their unhappiness about what had just happened.
However, as they were standing up and taking their wands out, James was already moving towards them.
"I wasn't in a good mood to begin with, but your friend had to go and push it."
This comment just made the men angrier, as they felt their actions were justified.
"How dare you, boy…" One of them stood up and pointed his wand at him. "I'm going to make sure you suffer today."
The spell he threw was a Blood-Boiling Hex, but not at full power, as his intention was to cause James a lot of pain but not to kill him.
Even in their moment of rage, these Hit Wizards knew well how far they could push things before getting into real trouble with the law, so killing was not allowed.
James extended his hand, and a small white flame appeared before it. Normally, he wouldn't resort to something like this in a bar brawl against some drunk hit wizards, but today he wasn't feeling particularly merciful.
First, he had to deal with the attack in Azkaban, and then he had to kill some teenagers who made too many bad choices in their short lives, and now...the ones who were supposed to protect this place were in here getting drunk and doing the opposite of their jobs.
It was too much...he will give them a lesson they won't forget any time soon.
The hex made contact with this flame and immediately disappeared, as if the magic fueling the spell had been eaten away by the fire.
Because just as normal fire consumes oxygen to grow, these primordial alchemy flames do the same with magical energies.
While the men watching were staring, surprised at what had just happened, James allowed a tiny wisp to separate from the white flame, and it was then shot towards the man.
"Protego!" The Hit Wizard, who had just attacked James, raised a shield with panic in his eyes.
"White flames…" one of his companions muttered.
They all had heard the story of the incredible magical duel that took place in Hogsmeade very recently.
And they had especially heard about the young alchemist who controlled the white flames that killed the witch.
They were all knowledgeable to some degree about alchemy flames; after all, these men had been working as Hit Wizards for over two decades and had seen much during that time.
They were no experts, but at the very least, they understood the danger immediately.
"Ahh!" The first mercenary let out a yelp when he saw that his shield couldn't even slow down that white wisp of fire, and this one hit him right on his chest.
At first, he expected the fire to start burning him, but instead of feeling heat, he immediately started to feel extremely tired.
His eyes were no longer able to remain open, and his legs gave up under the weight of his body, making him fall on the ground.
As this happened, the wisp of white flame had grown several times its initial size, and once the man was unconscious on the ground, James recalled it to its original position.
The onlookers had no idea what James had done to that man, but something about it felt terrifying to them, as they knew that the flames had taken something away from him.
"What was that?" one of the three remaining Hit Wizards said while looking at his companions.
"This is James Potter…" another one muttered with shock.
James moved his hand again. The white flames hovered above his palm and seemed to pulsate as if alive.
"You are Hit Wizards that the Ministry hired to protect this area," James spoke in a grave tone. "Instead of doing that, you are here, in a tavern...getting drunk and harassing young girls."
His palm was now pointing at them. The flames reacted to his will and divided themselves into three equal parts.
"The people here have gone through a lot already...they don't need more troublemakers. If you are truly incapable of acting professionally. I will take away the one thing that holds the most importance for a wizard… your magic."
They all glanced at the man on the floor and wondered if that was what James had done to him. Did those flames actually take away his magic?
Wizards and witches losing their magical abilities and becoming squibs was not something unheard of, but these were rare cases...typically an unfortunate side effect of an experiment gone wrong or a foreign disease.
No one was supposed to be capable of removing a wizard's magic at will, or at least, that was the general consensus.
The three flames shot out towards them.
"W-wait!" one of the wizards managed to shout. James's words had horrified them to their cores.
"Shite!" Another one placed a more powerful barrier than the one used by his companion. Now that they had a good idea what they were going against, there was no reason to hold back.
But even when they tried their best to put up a fight, the difference in their levels of strength was too much.
The flames went through their defenses like they weren't even there, and just like their companion, they all felt as if all their energy had disappeared before collapsing on the floor.
James then turned to Tom. "Contact the Aurors and tell them what happened."
"What did you do to them?" Ted Tonks asked.
"They're just sleeping." James looked at Andromeda. "I'm sorry for cutting your visit a bit short, but we should leave now."
Andromeda was looking at him with suspicion. "Did you actually take away their magic?"
James shrugged. "Of course not...not permanently at least. But they won't know that for the next week."
Ted let out a nervous chuckle. "That's kinda evil…"
"He used to be a prankster," Andromeda pointed out, still recalling the many rumors she had heard over the years. But she didn't feel like this was meant to be a prank. She thought that maybe James just wanted to scare those men in the hope that they would change their ways.
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters. You can also find characters images to view for free in Collections/Invincible Stage Images
-patreon.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to ko-fi.com/kriogenix