"Harder, John, harder!"

"Luna, if I push any harder, you might get hurt."

"John, you're acting like a grumpy old man."

"Luna, you're a very moody child."

"Luna doesn't want to play anymore, John bullies Luna because she's smaller, John is mean, and now Luna is hungry, John, feed me!" said Luna as she pouted with her mouth.

John just laughed as he lovingly rubbed Luna's head.

"John bullies Luna a lot because she's smaller," Luna repeated.

"That's right, I like to bully Luna because she's the most beautiful and sweetest little girl in the world," he replied with a smile.

Hearing this, Luna smiled sweetly, got off the swing, grabbed the basket she had brought from home, and took John by the hand and led him to a leafy tree.

After spreading out a blanket, they laid out the basket and the snacks John had bought, and after taking out all the food they had prepared, Luna sat down next to John, leaning her head on his shoulder as she handed him an old book.

"Don't you find this scene romantic? You and me, on a date in the park, playing, eating and reading our books..."

A light slap on the forehead stopped Luna from continuing as John gave her a mocking look.

"Pervert, Luna is a pervert." She stood up quickly and held her shoulders, speaking in a frightened voice. "What will I do when Luna knocks me down and tries to kiss me? I won't be pure anymore and I won't be able to marry." Pretending to cry, John took small steps away from Luna.

Feeling the mocking looks of the other people having fun in the park, Luna couldn't help but blush and grabbing the book, she started to hit John, who wouldn't stop laughing at seeing her acting like that.

"Stop, stop, at this rate you'll kill someone," John said in a scared voice, taking the book from her and hugging her, then taking her to her blanket and feeding her a chocolate cupcake, they both sat next to each other.

John opened the book Luna had brought him and flipped through it absentmindedly until he came to a particular page. "The Tale of the Three Brothers, Once upon a time there were three brothers traveling at twilight along a lonely, winding road. . ."

Luna listened intently as he continued to eat, and when she noticed that he had finished reading, she poured him some coffee with milk, then handed him a sandwich.

"What did you think?"

"Delicious, no doubt Luna will make a very good wife." John said as he enjoyed the sweet taste of the latte.

"I meant the story," Luna replied with a slight blush.

"No comment," John replied with disdain.

"Heeee!" she exclaimed in amazement.

"Think about it, the first brother was killed for being an idiot, if said wand existed, its wielder wouldn't go around claiming to have said wand, often people don't die for sinning but for having treasures they shouldn't have, for the third brother I can only feel admiration, to live under a cloak for tens of years requires a great will or being a pervert of the worst kind, and for the second brother"—John paused—"for the second brother I have no comments that won't hurt both of us."

Luna was silent as she stared at the horizon, John pulled a small comb out of his trench coat and began to comb Luna's hair into a pair of braids, after a few minutes Luna reacted and looked John in the eyes.

"Do you think there is any object or place in the world where you can see your loved ones again?"

John kept thinking as he went through all the places and objects he had met during his stay in the Quelrathar, but none of them fit what Luna wanted, he knew that better than anyone else, because if they existed he would have tried to get it or go there already.

"Maybe yes, maybe no, the world is too big and mysterious to deny that such a thing exists." Rubbing Luna's head, he saw her pull out another book, this one, unlike the first one, which was well preserved, was in very bad shape, without a cover and with yellowed and gnawed pages that gave the feeling that it might fall apart at any moment.

"Now I see where your name comes from, you have the name of a hero, a very brave hero," Luna said admiringly.

"Did you like the story?" asked John affectionately.

"Do you think there is life on Mars?" asked Luna curiously, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"If we go by the story, maybe, although we'd have to rely on interplanetary teleportation to find out, of course."

"I hope the Martians and Tharks would be friendly to us if we visited them," he said.

"If not, we'll just have to beat them until they understand."

"John, you're so mean."

"They say the rough bad boys are the most popular."

"I don't think so."

"Well, I do, otherwise I wouldn't have the prettiest girl in the world making me lunch and serving me lattes."

"John!" shouted Luna in embarrassment as she threw herself at him and tried to tickle him.

After playing, they talked about many things: about Luna's father's new copy of the newspaper; about the new ice cream shop that John had discovered in town, run by a clown with an eccentric personality; about how Luna, while trying to make a cake, had made a mess in the kitchen and, to avoid being punished, blamed it on a wild owl; about the adventures of John, who, while looking for a lost puppy, had run afoul of a strange woman who was obsessed with dressing boys in girls' clothes.

Their topics of conversation ranged from the simplest to the most unimaginable follies, but the harmonious atmosphere between the two was the envy of all the couples gathered in the park, especially the women, who couldn't help but imagine how the love story of the two children would unfold.

After chatting for a while, they packed their things and went for a walk in the park, joining a group of children who were playing catch, hide-and-seek, and then soccer.

Although the sun was about to set, neither John nor Luna felt tired, on the contrary, their eyes showed reluctance to part, the mere arrival of Luna's father annoyed John, he didn't like him because of his eccentric character, although his unconditional affection for Luna made him tolerate him.

"See you later, John, see you next Saturday," Luna said gloomily.

"See you later, Luna, see you Saturday," John said with a smile.

John watched them walk away, after seeing them disappear into the hustle and bustle of the city, and after a few minutes of confirming that they had left, he changed his smiling expression, if before he had been a cheerful and friendly young man, now he gave the impression of being someone cold and emotionless.

Walking in the opposite direction, he lost himself in the city, navigating its streets and alleys until he reached his destination, an old, unnamed bookstore guarded by a burly, heavily armed man.

"You're late, Carter," the guard muttered angrily.

"What do you care, Abdul?" He replied indifferently as he walked past him.

Once inside, he headed straight for the counter, which was manned by a beautiful young woman of unknown age, absorbed in reading a book with no name on the cover.

When he saw her, his eyes involuntarily wandered to the pair of dark pigtails that vaguely reminded him of the ones he'd done for Luna, and he couldn't help but feel goosebumps on his skin.

"How did your date with Luna go?" the young woman asked as she tucked her book into one of the pockets of her lab coat, then lifted her glasses with her dainty fingers.

"It wasn't a date," he said as calmly as he could, trying to suppress the fear this young woman was causing him by the intensity of her gaze.

"Really? What a coincidence, a little birdie told me he saw a certain boy combing a cute little girl's hair with a pair of adorable pigtails, it's a pity, I want someone to comb my hair like that, will I ever find a guy like that?"

John turned his eyes to the man in the doorway and seriously considered punching him.

"Karenina, I—" John couldn't finish speaking as he turned his eyes back to Karenina, only to see a long, slender leg wrapped in black stockings kick him into the doorway.

At that moment, the door opened and a figure walked in, a middle-aged man with a dark complexion, a bald head, and a gold priestly armor with red engravings.

"Miss Riddle, John, how long?" he said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

John couldn't help but frown at the sight of him, slowly getting to his feet, making a gesture of respect to the newcomer as he rubbed his chest from the pain, then leading the way to a small room. For her part, Karenina brought two cups of tea, a cup of coffee with milk and several sandwiches, inviting the newcomer to eat with a slight gesture.

"So which magical race shall we exterminate?" asked John with a maniacal grin.

The man was stunned by his question, while Karenina rubbed her forehead in embarrassment.

"Is it so amazing that I come up for air and decide to visit my former subordinates?"

"Lorenzo, drop the act, the Inquisition would never allow a monster like you to roam free unless it was to kill or exterminate," John sneered.

"I echo John's words," Karenina added.

"It seems that my transfer does not surprise them in the least."

"The methods of the Reliere do not fit your modus operandi, those of the Inquisition do, so unless those bald old men are blind, your transfer is not as unpredictable as you think," Karenina said.

Lorenzo sipped his tea calmly, then pulled out a letter and put it on the counter.

"A letter from Hogwarts," Karenina said in amazement as she saw the stamp on the letter.

"Hogwarts? Isn't that where you planned to attack? Did they find you out and send you the damage list to pay for it?" asked John mockingly to Karenina.

Karenina ignored his mockery as she looked doubtfully at Lorenzo.

"Read what's on the back."

Karenina grabbed the letter and after reading the addressee she couldn't help but stand up in astonishment.

"Impossible! It must be impossible!" she roared angrily, then pulled a spear from her robe and pointed it in Lorenzo's direction.

John was no slower to react, pulling a sword from his trench coat and pointing it at Lorenzo's neck.

"Why do you think it's impossible?" he asked casually, ignoring the weapons pointed at him.

"For two very simple reasons: first, Hogwarts only covers Great Britain; second, this boy is an aura user," Karenina replied as calmly as possible.

"I know, but apparently he's not the only one, apart from him there's another magic and aura user, that's why I came here."

Karenina thought for a few seconds before looking at Lorenzo in horror.

"That other person is Svetlana, right?"

John couldn't help but cringe at the mention of Grímhildr.

"That's right, since the events of 'Maracaibo 85' we lost contact with her, but from what we have recently discovered, she maintains constant communication with former members of her squadron."

"I guess your meeting won't end with handing her the letter."

"You're right, both children should visit Hogwarts and judge for themselves if such a school is worth continuing."

"Words too big to carry out, as long as Dumbledore is headmaster and Salazar roams the world, this school will not fall."

"That would happen under normal circumstances, but things are different now." He paused, pulled out a report and handed it to Karenina.

Karenina took the report and nodded to John to sheathe his sword, and after several minutes of reading, she let out a sigh of helplessness.

"Do you understand the reason for this decision?" asked Lorenzo.

"If this did not bear the seal of Cardinal Berardo, I would never have imagined it." Rubbing his brow, he tossed the report to John to read.

"Is it necessary for this child to go?"

"If it were up to me, I would wish he would not go, but these are orders from the Pope himself."

"I understand, I will help you find Svetlana and deliver her letter, but as a condition I need Salazar to come and give the boy a very good educational orientation, I don't want news to reach me in his first year that he murdered his roommates."

"No problem, then I'll go."

"You don't want to stay?"

"And face this kid's insanity? Sorry, I don't have time to put up with his tantrums." After getting up, he took out another letter and handed it to Karenina, then said goodbye and left.

Karenina stood silently waiting for John to finish reading, and when she saw the hesitation on his face, she motioned for him to follow her into the basement of the store.

In the basement of the shop, two figures stood facing each other, both had been silent for a few hours now and the tension in the air was palpable to the naked eye.

"John, I've known you for years, I know everything about you, from the way you are to the shape of your body, so I can tell you're a mature person, a person who doesn't get lost in his emotions. So I'm going to tell you something that I want you to take as calmly as possible, understand?"

John felt his heart pound as he heard the serious tone in her voice, nervously swallowing saliva as he rubbed his sweaty palms against his clothes.

"Well, it's not like it's anything serious, is it, it's not like I'm going to be excommunicated or become a wizard overnight?" said John jokingly to lighten the mood.

"That's right John, you have become a wizard and will be going to study at the greatest school in the British magical world, 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'."

John felt his heart pounding, feelings of hatred and anger ran through his mind and at that very moment, his magical power awoke and overflowed uncontrollably, at that moment, he felt like killing and destroying the world around him and then taking his own life out of shame, but he could do nothing, a delicate and fragile palm rested gently on his head, immediately after, he felt the pain of having his head buried in the ground.