American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

"You might not know, but I hate trouble." Rune smiled at the woman before him, who was trembling, pale, and clutching her bag tightly as if it could save her life. "Generally, trouble I don't like disappears on its own. Can you disappear?"

Rita, her face contorted with grief, shook her head and said in a voice that sounded almost like a scream, "You can't kill me, I... I'm still useful! Yes, I'm still useful..."

"What's the use?" Rune asked. "If you mean the dirt on the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic, that stuff is less useful to me than a piece of toilet paper." At Rune's current level of power, even Voldemort would only be a troublesome worm. Having dirt on the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic wouldn't be of much use to him.

"I still have Galleons, as many as you want..."

"I have no interest in Galleons." Rune said impatiently, his eyes beginning to glow crimson. The magical fluctuations within them sent a chill down Rita's spine, but she forced herself to calm down. Since he disliked money and power, it seemed only one thing remained to attract Rune…

"I can help you find some magic spells!" With that, Rita closed her eyes and awaited her fate. She was sincerely hoping that Rune wasn't a lecher, but at that moment, the goddess of good fortune, Fortuna, took pity on her, and the crimson magical shock did not fall.

"Oh?" Rune squinted at Rita, somewhat intrigued.

He had no doubt about the woman's abilities. Rita was an illegal Animagus, and her Animagus form was a beetle with eye-like markings around its eyes. Since she could obtain damaging information about high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic, finding magical spells would be a piece of cake. After all, obtaining such damaging information was far more difficult than acquiring most rare magical spells.

Rune hesitated because he couldn't be sure of Rita's loyalty. He was able to catch her this time, but what about next time? Maybe if he let Rita go now, there would be articles criticizing him next week.

Rita, seeing a glimmer of hope, nodded hastily and added in a normal voice, "I can, absolutely! Many wizards' spells are easy to steal, and I can even buy you some Vagado spellbooks. And Durmstrang Academy—I can use an interview as an excuse to steal some war magic and dark magic for you. Oh, and the magic workshops in Japan—I can steal the magic they use to create shikigami too…"

After a moment of silence, Rune found his bargaining chip and said again, "Very good. If you perform well, I will allow you to seek my protection in the future." Rita nodded with a smile on her face, but in her heart she was cursing this wicked guy to die. After Rune released her, she would find an opportunity to go directly to Dumbledore to complain.

"You may look down on me now, but you'll be begging for my protection later," Rune said, "especially after Voldemort returns."

These words instantly made Rita stare intently at Rune. Although the Ministry of Magic claimed that the Dark Lord had been killed by Harry Potter, many people didn't believe this and thought he would definitely return, so even mentioning his name was taboo. This was especially true of certain pure-blood families, some of whom worked for the Ministry of Magic and knew that the Aurors there were also constantly hunting Voldemort.

Rita was naturally aware of this news, but she had always been skeptical.

"What evidence do you have?" Rita's voice became sharp again. In the entire Harry Potter world, there are very few people who are not afraid of Voldemort. Even the International Confederation of Wizards and Wizengamot are deeply afraid of him, and Rita is no exception.

Rune chuckled and said, "When Harry Potter was in his first year of school, Voldemort had already returned. He had also controlled a professor and tried to steal the Resurrection Stone. If you don't believe me, you can interview Harry. The savior of the wizarding world doesn't lie."

Rita was pretty much convinced when Rune said that. The news was easy to verify, especially for a well-known journalist.

"How can I be sure you can defeat the Dark Lord? You're only thirteen years old," Rita asked, her eyes filled with fear, yet she also hoped that Rune truly possessed the power to fight Voldemort.

The next moment, a crimson light flashed, and terrifying magic transformed into pure destructive power, turning Rita's crocodile skin handbag into ashes. Now Rita finally understood what kind of magic Rune's red eyes were trying to unleash.

"He's just a noseless idiot, I don't even consider him a threat. Of course you can doubt my strength, but why not wait? When he's resurrected, I'll fight him myself, my friend. You'll be glad you chose me then. And until then, all you have to pay is help me find some magic. That's not difficult for you, is it?" Rune sneered, then released the silencing spell and left the corner. Rita stared blankly at the wreckage of the limited-edition bag she had once bought for over a hundred gold gallons, a wave of resentment washing over her.

Yes, in a quiet, deserted corner, a famous journalist's heart broke.

Rita held back her tears, gritted her teeth, and chose to believe Rune. Whether it was the ease with which Rune subdued her or the strange magic he displayed when destroying her bag, it all proved that he wasn't exaggerating. Even if he couldn't fight the Dark Lord now, who knows what the future held?

He's only thirteen and he can already easily subdue an Animagus; in a few years, he might actually be able to protect me. But when will the Dark Lord return?

When Rune returned to the hall, Dumbledore was still dealing with the purebloods. It wasn't until the Wizengamori began trying to expel them, citing the imminent start of the awards ceremony, that the purebloods reluctantly returned to their seats assigned by the Ministry of Magic.

Seated in the front row were high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Magic, followed by representatives of the twenty-eight pure-blood families, then reporters and Potions Masters. The entire award ceremony was hosted by Fudge, who spoke for an hour and a half, five minutes of which were dedicated to introducing the recipients of the Order of Merlin, and the rest of the time was spent praising the wizarding world under his rule. Rune already had a poor impression of Fudge, and now he was even more annoyed.

In fact, Fudge would sometimes write to Dumbledore to ask him how to handle a certain matter, but he was wary of Dumbledore, so he would always change Dumbledore's opinion slightly before publishing it, which was extremely foolish.

Fortunately, Dumbledore would share some of the sweets he brought with him; otherwise, I don't know how painful it would have been to endure that hour.