John could recover with just two hours of sleep, but this time, with rare free time, he simply gave himself a break.
He kicked out his old man, who kept pestering him with questions about which of those pretty girls was his girlfriend.
Lying on the bed, John heard Basil and Riddle hoot twice.
Tom wagged her tail and, through sheer persistence, chewed through the cabinet, leaving the two owls without a place to perch.
Basil puffed up in anger, flapping his wings as he chased Tom down several streets.
In the end, Mrs. Wick had to step in to save Tom from being beaten into a concussion by Basil.
Watson quietly opened a slit in the blinds and looked outside at the several cars parked there. He saw his wife returning, holding a dog in one hand and an owl in the other.
"What is that?"
After catching the two little troublemakers, Mrs. Wick also noticed those cars.
"Government people," Watson said awkwardly. "I can handle it."
"That little sleepyhead still hasn't woken up?"
The moment Watson spoke, he was met with a sharp glare from Mrs. Wick.
He sheepishly closed his mouth.
Their once harmonious married life had once again returned to his position at the bottom of the household.
It was not Mrs. Wick's fault.
After all, it might sound like a long time when written out, but in reality, it had not even been a month since John's disappearance at Hogwarts.
In less than a month, their son had nearly died twice.
Any mother would find it impossible to accept.
At this point, even if John wanted to assassinate the president, Mrs. Wick would buy a plane ticket overnight and go handle it first.
The sound of the television carried over.
Watson immediately plastered a smile on his face and walked over.
A girl clutching a teddy bear stared intently at the cat and mouse on the screen.
From time to time, she moved the bear's little paw, as if letting it join in.
Mrs. Wick walked over and leaned against her husband's shoulder, watching the girl with a gentle, maternal smile.
"I actually thought about giving John a younger sister."
As a witcher, having even one unexpected child was already a miracle.
When John was three, Mrs. Wick had tried with great enthusiasm, leaving Watson going to work clutching his waist and letting out despairing groans.
The second miracle never came. Her efforts bore no result, and she gradually gave up on the idea of raising a daughter.
But Ariana's arrival stirred that desire once more. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Ariana and whispered, "Look at her. So beautiful, just like a princess."
Understanding his wife's thoughts, Watson wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled. "Let's give John a surprise."
Why was Ariana here?
Do you really think that an old man over a hundred years old, who could leave a baby on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night without a second thought, was capable of taking care of Ariana?
If the Dursleys had not discovered it in time, Harry might have frozen to death outside.
So Ariana naturally came back with John.
And Dumbledore had his own considerations.
In this world, those most familiar with Obscurials were Obscurials themselves.
And the only perfect Obscurial was John.
There was no place more suitable for Ariana than by John's side.
Dumbledore's guilt toward Ariana made it impossible for him to properly raise her, so he tacitly allowed his sister to leave.
When John finally came downstairs on the third day, he was immediately startled by his dear parents.
"Let me introduce you. This is your younger sister, Ariana Dumbledore Wick."
John looked at the adoption papers in his hands, then up at his parents, who were beaming with smiles.
"You're serious?"
After confirming that the documents were real, John covered his head with both hands, needing a moment to calm down.
Watson said in dissatisfaction, "What do you mean by that? Weren't you the one who brought this poor child back?"
His expression was full of reproach. Your parents finally gathered the courage to do something.
Don't let us fail so completely, alright?
John silently turned his head to look at Ariana, who had come closer because of his presence. He was left speechless.
"The problem is, she's older than you, Dad."
"What?" Watson's expression stiffened. He examined Ariana carefully, then said with certainty, "You must be messing with me."
"You forged her birth certificate?" John glanced at the document in the adoption papers. "1982?"
Watson coughed twice. "The paperwork is absolutely real, don't talk nonsense. Besides, even if it's wrong, it can't be off by much."
Given John's understanding of his father, he did not need to think to know that Watson had used his own connections to obtain it.
John let out a cold laugh. "1884. What do you think?"
1884?
Watson swallowed hard, his face awkward. "Are you serious?"
"In the wizarding world, anything is possible," John said expressionlessly.
Watson was completely dumbfounded.
No matter how he looked at it, he could not connect the girl in front of him with someone over a hundred years old.
Ariana lowered her head, her mood falling.
Because of her death, the once naive girl had gradually recovered, no longer completely ignorant of the outside world.
Noticing her emotions, John sighed and said, "I'm not abandoning you, Ariana."
Ariana looked up in delight. John then glanced at his muddle-headed parents.
Adopting her was not a bad thing. John had never intended for Dumbledore to take care of Ariana anyway.
Whether it was for future considerations or his lack of trust in Dumbledore.
To put it bluntly, even Grindelwald would seek to recruit the kind of power an Obscurial could bring.
Leaving such strength at Dumbledore's side, who was already a potential enemy, would bring John no benefit.
After careful thought, John decided to respect Ariana's wishes.
He looked at her seriously and asked, "Are you truly willing to become part of our family?"
Unlike his parents, who had acted on impulse, he chose to listen to Ariana.
Ariana lifted her head, her lips moving slightly.
A soft, gentle voice sounded.
"Brother."
John saw his parents clutching their chests in exaggerated emotion. He smiled gently. "You've made your choice. Now you must be prepared."
He placed his hand on Ariana's soft hair.
"As a sister, and as a daughter."
Watson finally understood. After all that talk, the boy had accepted the adoption.
Thinking of this, Watson lifted his chin proudly at his own cleverness.
He was immensely pleased with himself.
John stroked his chin in thought.
Ariana was already showing signs of recovery. That was good news.
He said thoughtfully, "It's time you learned to control the power of the Obscurus."
As a perfect Obscurial, what set John apart from the others was that his consciousness dominated the Obscurus.
In simple terms, the Obscurus was a dark force that eroded a person.
But John could control that power, directly absorbing the dark consciousness within it.
Aside from his strong will, he had also endured multiple magical outbursts and the tempering of soul potions, making his mind terrifyingly strong.
Obscurials were usually born from those with sensitive emotions. Suffering was fertile ground for the Obscurus.
Adopting Ariana had been the right choice. His parents would give her a different kind of childhood.
No one understood that better than John.
As for the power of the Obscurus, John also had ways to deal with it.
He possessed items that could enhance the mind.
Ravenclaw's diadem and the golden mask of wisdom.
Both could help Ariana suppress the consciousness of the Obscurus.
With that in mind, he decided to strengthen her mind first.
"As a gift for becoming my sister, I think I know what to give you."
John smiled faintly as he took out an exquisite diadem.
The diadem gradually shrank, finally turning into a beautiful bracelet.
"You will keep recovering. Health is the gift I give you."
After placing the bracelet on Ariana's wrist, she felt something different, yet at the same time, nothing seemed to have changed.
John did not notice that, upon hearing the word "gift," his father revealed a thoughtful expression.
Watson and Mrs. Wick exchanged a glance, the couple instantly understanding each other.
John needed to prepare some soul potions. The reason he had dared to use his own soul as the sacrifice to create the Horcrux was because he could restore it.
It could be said that, if he wished, he could keep splitting his soul indefinitely.
He had already healed Nagini's fractured soul, so restoring his own was even less of a problem.
Ariana would also require the support of soul potions.
After being strapped for cash for months in the past, now that he had returned to his own time, John decided to indulge in a bout of spending.
"I'll need to make a trip to Silverhand Manor. The Dementor breeding ground should have yielded quite a bit."
John had already achieved fully automated harvesting of Dementors, and he knew that exhausting a resource was not a wise approach.
So he had reduced the frequency of harvesting, occasionally tossing in an unlucky dark wizard to feed them.
Not bad at all.
After returning from Silverhand Manor, John discovered something significant.
Ariana was gone.
Seeing that his parents and Tom were also missing, John did not worry.
As expected, when night fell, he heard the sound of a car pulling up outside, followed by cheerful laughter.
John saw Watson carrying bags upon bags of things from the car, along with an enormous stuffed bear.
Ariana hugged the bear, staring at it without blinking.
The excited couple seemed to have bought far too much. They had gone to a department store.
If the Ministry of Magic knew that an Obscurial had just walked into a Muggle department store, it would probably be terrified.
A feeling of joy radiated from Ariana. Sensing it, John smiled faintly.
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