Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 106 Harry Ron vs. the Whomping Willow

Early morning, Slytherin House common room.

The magical flames burning in the fireplace emitted no heat, only a pale blue light, illuminating the bedroom located at the bottom of the lake.

It also illuminated Vaughn's pensive face.

A full hour had passed since Vaughn returned from the Room of Requirement, and he hadn't moved, only leaving his notebook open, seemingly lost in thought.

Fruit Tea, who had already taken a nap, woke up from a sweet dream. In the dream, it ate a dried fish-flavored mouse again. The wonderful taste made it lick its lips even after it woke up.

"Meow~"

Guoguocha stretched and snuggled up to Vaughn, nuzzling him.

Vaughn leaned over, picked up the big cutie and put it on his lap, scratching its neck: "Fruit Tea, tell me, what is real and what is false in the eyes of a true alchemist?"

"……Meow?"

“Heh…” Vaughn chuckled. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you such a strange question.”

With the fruit tea interrupting his thoughts, Vaughn finally stopped spacing out.

He picked up a quill pen and began to record his observations of the evening in his open notebook.

And... the homework Dumbledore assigned...

How do alchemists view the world?

The title was written down on the parchment with a quill pen.

Vaughn vaguely understood why Dumbledore had assigned this task, because during their conversation about ether earlier that day, he had consistently expressed skepticism towards alchemical theories.

This is certainly not a bad thing.

As Vaughn said before, interpreting objective phenomena with subjective judgment is bound to have limitations; there is no absolutely correct truth in the world.

Dumbledore agreed with this, which is why he said Muggle theory was interesting in the Aether.

He wasn't against Vaughn's questioning, but rather worried that Vaughn would be blinded by it, as he said at the end.

Vaughn wasn't even an alchemist yet, and his understanding of alchemy and ether was still quite limited.

Therefore, he hoped that Vaughn could put on the brakes before his ideas became entrenched, and first learn to become an alchemist, to understand their thoughts and the essence of what underpins those thoughts.

"Dumbledore is a good teacher."

"Vaughn said softly."

The fruit tea in his arms raised its head and meowed!

"Hehe, you think so too?"

Ruffling Fruit Tea's thick fur, Vaughn smiled. Dumbledore's performance today was actually quite remarkable—the Chocolate Frog Company made wizard character cards, and on Dumbledore's card, the most important evaluation of him was his achievements in the field of alchemy.

This old wizard, who had devoted most of his life to the study of alchemy, did not show any resistance or dissatisfaction with Vaughn's remarks today. Instead, he tried his best to understand and be a good mentor.

He truly deserves to be called magnanimous.

Since Old Deng had given him a peach, Vaughn would reciprocate in kind. Moreover, as modern alchemy was a discipline that had been developing for hundreds of years, he would naturally want to study it in depth first.

Dumbledore was right.

Vaughn was very ambitious, ambitious for knowledge and truth.

This path is difficult, and to achieve it, we need the assistance of many like-minded people.

In the realm of knowledge, there is no rule that whoever has the biggest fist is the most persuasive. You have to prove to people that you are on the right path in order to become a leader that people support.

At present, Vaughn is clearly far from meeting the standards.

Looking at the title he had written on the parchment, Vaughn pondered for a moment, then wrote a string of small words below it:
"Whether it's magic or science, wizards or Muggles, the definition of matter is the same—all entities in the universe, objective realities independent of human consciousness!"

Both also speculate that matter has another state, which magic calls 'spirit' and science calls 'information'.

"From this perspective, spirituality can be equated with information."

"The ether of the collective spirit equals the information-state universe!"

"Up to this point in the study of the nature of the world, both have reached a tacit understanding of the same goal, but the main difference is that the scientific viewpoint emphasizes objective factors, while magic or alchemy is more accustomed to starting from a subjective perspective."

"Alchemists perceive the world subjectively...why?"

Vaughn stopped writing, frowning slightly. Normally, why would alchemists who believed that matter was an objective reality abandon the objective viewpoint and even regard the ether as separate from matter, as a "great and real soul (consciousness)"?
This is the purpose of Dumbledore assigning the homework.

What caused the alchemists' mindset to change?

Recalling Dumbledore's final demonstration in the Aether, and the question he repeatedly asked—what is real? What is false?

Vaughn frowned in thought. He could vaguely sense that Old Deng's question wasn't really about proving the definition of truth and falsehood.

It was a hint to him.

"This riddle-maker..."

Vaughn, realizing that he wouldn't figure it out by continuing to think about it in such a dry way, put down his quill and picked up his fruit tea again.

"Meow?"

"I'm not done yet, so I'll stop for now. I haven't rested all night, and I need to get some sleep."

"Meow meow!"

"It's nothing, it's just that the experience in the ether has made my consciousness a bit confused. That state where one second is subdivided into countless moments, and each moment has its own consciousness, is simply..."

While complaining, Vaughn hugged the fruit tea and crawled into bed.

Fruit Tea didn't quite understand his story; it was more focused on something else. It struggled to get out of Vaughn's arms and meowed, "Meow~"

Vaughn was taken aback: "Why don't you want to sleep with me?"

"Meow!"

"hot?"

Oh right... it's already May.

Even in the Scottish Highlands, where temperatures are typically low, summer is beginning. While the Slytherin lounge at the bottom of the loch is still relatively cool, the temperature is hardly comfortable for Fruit Tea, who is covered in thick fur.

Moreover, it is foreseeable that as summer truly arrives, the discomfort will only increase.

Vaughn had also thought of this problem.

If there's anything about the magical world that he finds inconvenient, then summer would definitely be number one.

Speaking of which, when he first started trying to make money with potions and before he realized he could "eat" the benefits of women, Vaughn even considered developing a potion that could cool people down.

However, after some calculations, it was found that England, whose climate is not yet extreme, only has about one month of summer, so developing a potion specifically for this purpose would not be cost-effective, and the project was shelved.

"Once Fred and George's skills improve further, we can consider installing air conditioning in the dorm rooms."

Mithril-mercury compound rubber was developed for electrical wires, so its practicality is relatively narrow. Apart from electrical wires, it is only suitable for small electronic products, since they are small in size and can be used to make a thin sheath.

Due to factors such as cost and heat dissipation, its application in large electrical appliances is not very effective.

I heard the twins are currently trying out new improvement methods.

"I wonder how Fred and George's research is progressing?"

Just as Vaughn suddenly remembered the twins, the door to the common room entrance in the Gryffindor Tower quietly opened from the inside.

The plump lady guarding the gate yawned sleepily and complained, "You naughty little wizards, can't a person get some sleep? I really want to... Huh? Nobody's here?"

Amidst the fat lady's puzzled mutterings, a series of light footsteps cautiously moved away from the tower, silently making their way to the first floor of the castle, only then did the air suddenly lift slightly.

A head popped out of the air—it was Harry, his face flushed red as he strained to breathe in the cool early morning air.

Then it was Ron, his eyes bulging and breathing heavily, who said, "I must be crazy to stay up all night and wander around with you."

Harry whispered, "Shh, keep your voice down... Don't you want to try out the camera? Fred and George need more actors to help test the modified camera's functions. We're good friends, that's why I brought you here secretly. I don't usually tell just anyone."

These words immediately made Ron swallow his dissatisfaction.

These past two days, Harry has been nagging him about his experience of "filming," which has made him incredibly envious; he dreams of trying it out himself.

"Where are they?"

“A secret passage is said to lead to Hogsmeade, where they experimented with new and improved techniques.”

Ron's expectations were immediately dashed.

Harry didn't know where the tunnel was.

"Merlin, didn't you go with them?"

“No…” Harry explained awkwardly, “We were in the Room of Requirement before, but yesterday Fred and George wrote to me saying that the Room of Requirement had been occupied by their beloved benefactor, so they had to move their secret laboratory to a safer place.”

As he spoke, he took out an envelope, pulled out a slip of paper with messy handwriting, and read: "...Go out of the side gate of the castle, towards Hagrid's hut, and you will see a very ugly tree with huge knots. The entrance to the tunnel is under the tree."

"See, it's not too hard to find, right?"

Harry shook the note and said to Ron.

Ron had a bad feeling; in his memory, places the twins considered "safe" were usually not so friendly to him.

However, the words were indeed very clear, and Ron couldn't think of any problem for the time being. Moreover, now that he was out, without Harry's Invisibility Cloak, he wouldn't dare to go back to Gryffindor Tower alone.

After hesitating for a moment, Ron suppressed his unease and decided to follow Harry to find the tunnel.

The two put on their invisibility cloaks again and quietly slipped through the silent, deserted corridor. When they arrived at the side gate of the castle, they even ran into Lady Lorris, who was on patrol.

Since finding the twins with Mrs. Lorris's help, Harry had been optimistic that he and the skinny, creepy cat had made up.

After that, every time Harry encountered it, he would feed it a small dried fish, and this time was no exception.

Seeing a small dried fish suddenly fall from the air, Mrs. Lorris's bulging eyes widened, she sniffed it, and turned to run away.

Ron found it incredible, not because Mrs. Lorris ran away—he knew what the stinky cat had been up to—but because he was astonished by what he saw.

Why do you bring dried fish with you when you go out?

"I suddenly realized this is a really good treat. Cats like it, and people can eat it too... Ron, do you want some?"

“I hate dried fish!” Ron said firmly. “I hate cats even more!”

“Ron, I think you should let go of your prejudice against fruit tea and Mrs. Lorris. They are actually very cute.”

“I don’t think those two stinky cats are ungrateful wretches… Listen, your lovely Mrs. Lorris has called Filch.”

From deep down the corridor came the sound of Filch running with a limp and shouting angrily.

However, the two were not worried at all about being discovered by Filch, because they now knew that Filch did not know magic.

The last time Harry heard the twins say that Filch was a Squib, he went back and told his friends.

Ron laughed so hard he could hardly breathe that day, and even the usually timid Neville couldn't help but smile. Neville even shared a little secret because of this—his family had always worried that he was a Squib, but luckily he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Everyone was happy until Hermione scolded them with a stern face:
"Why do you think it's something to be happy about when you discover other people's flaws? Harry, when Malfoy mocked you for calling you 'Scarhead,' could you laugh?"

That day, Harry and his friends felt guilty towards Filch for the first time, but that didn't stop them from still having fun teasing him.

Just like how Filch, being a Squib, never misses a chance to punish every little wizard.

Harry and Ron leisurely watched Filch, dressed in his pajamas, run up breathlessly, and saw Mrs. Lorris circling around the place where the two were hiding. Filch was suspicious.

After they had had their fun, the two of them left through the side gate of the castle, chuckling to themselves.

“Poor guy, I bet he probably doesn’t even know what an invisibility cloak is, and maybe he’s never even seen invisibility magic.”

Ron said happily to Harry.

But this joy quickly vanished without a trace.

To be fair, the landmarks the twins wrote in their letters to Harry were indeed very clear.

To curb the spread of the Forbidden Forest, the area between Hogwarts Castle and Hagrid's Hut is almost entirely covered by lawns.

Moreover, they specified the characteristics of "huge scars" and "very ugly," which allowed Harry and Ron to immediately locate their target among the few remaining trees on the hillside after they walked out of the side gate of the castle.

But the twins didn't mention the species of the tree!

"The Man-Beating Willow!"

As the two saw the tree in the bright moonlight, Harry heard Ron groan.

Harry Potter, the complete novice in magic, looked utterly bewildered: "What's that?"

"It's a plant with an extremely bad temper; anything that touches it will get a beating!" Ron gritted his teeth. "I told you, there's nothing normal about the place those wretched twins think is safe!"

He didn't want to play anymore. Historical experience told him that he should go back to his dorm immediately and get as far away from those awful twins as possible.

But Harry disagreed.

"We're already here, and we've all brought our wands, so what's there to be afraid of?"

"But it's not an ordinary tree..."

"No matter how extraordinary it is, is it more terrifying than a troll? You brag all day about how brave you were when facing a troll last year, are you afraid of a tree?"

These words dealt a heavy blow to Ron, who glared resentfully at Harry, his once innocent friend who had somehow become as mean as Vaughn.

Harry teased him, then reassured him, "Besides, we have the Invisibility Cloak. We can sneak past it without it seeing us."

Ron was eventually persuaded.

Yeah, what's there to be afraid of with an invisibility cloak?
Deep within them, the courage and recklessness characteristic of Gryffindor triumphed over reason. The two, cloaked in invisibility, quietly made their way toward the enormous, somber willow tree that stood against the night sky, its branches occasionally trembling.

"Ron, could you please breathe a little quieter?"

Shh—keep it down, don't wake it!

"What are you worried about? Does a tree have ears? Look, we're already very close, and it hasn't made a sound... Ouch!"

Harry's sudden exclamation startled Ron. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I think I tripped over some tree roots on the ground." Harry rubbed his leg and teased, "Ron, why are you being so timid today?"

Normally, hearing him say that would make Ron furious.

But today, Harry didn't hear a response.

He looked up in surprise and saw Ron staring blankly at the ground.

"Ron?"

Ron finally responded, his voice trembling: "Harry... the roots seem to be moving..."

"Ok?"

Before Harry could react, he felt something suddenly wrap around his calf.

A tremendous force suddenly erupted, instantly pulling him into the air.

Everything happened too fast. Ron vaguely saw the tree roots moving, and an ominous premonition was just beginning to brew when a thick, vine-like black shadow suddenly sprang up from the ground and wrapped around Harry's leg.

With a whoosh, Harry vanished.

The invisibility cloak has been thrown away somewhere.

The sudden turn of events caught Ron completely off guard. He instinctively drew his wand, looked up blankly, and tried to find Harry.

He found it quickly, because it was right above his head.

"what--"

Harry's scream pierced the night sky as he was dragged and tossed around in mid-air by the vine-like black shadow that had wrapped around his leg, before being tossed high into the air.

"Ron—!"

Hearing Harry's call, Ron snapped out of his daze and raised his wand to save Harry.

But caught off guard, all the spells he had learned over the past year seemed to vanish suddenly, leaving his mind blank.

Only one image suddenly echoed in his mind—

That was last year, when they had their first flying lesson... Harry got angry at Malfoy and knocked him off the plane.

Vaughn, who had been following behind, uttered a spell like a savior in the critical moment.

That was the first time Ron ignored Vaughn's wicked nature and thought he looked cool as he waved his wand and cast spells in mid-air.

He even secretly imitated it many times in private.

Although he always boasted about how he faced the troll last Halloween, Ron knew that he had stayed behind Vaughn the whole time and hadn't done anything.

With his mind blank, Ron instinctively waved his wand and uttered the spell, following the image that flashed through his mind:

"There are many obstacles!"

Ron, who had never successfully used a spell before enrolling and was often at the bottom of his class afterward, actually succeeded on his first try in his eagerness. Under his spell, the air above his head suddenly became viscous and heavy, blurring his vision.

But it also provides effective buffering.

The moment the spell took effect, Harry screamed as he plummeted to the ground, the thick air easing the effects of gravity.

Although Ron couldn't achieve the same power as Vaughn in trapping people in mid-air due to limitations in magic power and spell proficiency, Harry still fell down.

But at least he didn't die from the fall, right?
With a thud, Harry landed face down, his nose hitting something hard, feeling sore, burning, and painful.

He didn't even have time to cry out in pain; he hurriedly got up and pulled out his wand.

Because he had just seen it in mid-air, the willow tree that he had looked down on moments before had completely "awakened".

Under the night sky, the huge canopy of the willow tree unfolds like petals, but what it blooms with are not flowers, but dense, knotted branches as thick as an adult's thigh.

They whipped and swayed wildly, the night filled with the shrill whistling of branches and leaves cutting through the air.

There were also countless flexible aerial roots—the same vines that had previously wrapped around Harry—attacking from all directions. Some sprang up rapidly along the ground, while others lashed out in the air like sharp whips.

Harry witnessed a startled bird being caught by an aerial root and ground into mincemeat.

What should I do?
What kind of magic should we use?
The spells he had learned flowed through his mind one by one. It must be said that Harry's talent in combat was outstanding. Almost instantly, Harry determined a plan.

"The flames are blazing!"

It's perfectly reasonable that plants are afraid of fire!

As the spell was uttered, Harry unleashed a fierce burst of flames that landed on the ground, instantly igniting several aerial roots that had already spread nearby.

Harry could almost hear the Whomping Willow screaming.

But he was not happy, because the attacked willow became even more violent, with more and more vital energy surging up and snapping off the parts that were on fire.

The sap splattered like blood, turning the nearby aerial roots a dark green.

Harry hadn't initially paid much attention to this rather exasperated behavior.

His face turned pale when he cast the fire spell again, but the magical flames had no effect on the aerial roots that were covered in tree sap—this thing actually used tree sap to prevent fire!

Damn those awful, cursed magical plants!

Harry was momentarily at a loss; his nose, which he had bumped earlier, seemed to be bleeding, and he felt a little dizzy.

Fortunately, Ron stepped forward at that moment!

Those who are sorted into Gryffindor are never lacking in courage and passion, and perhaps it was saving Harry that gave him confidence.

Ron ran to Harry, his face flushed, and roared, "Tear me apart!"

An aerial root that had been strangled suddenly exploded as if it had been hit by a cannon, splattering juice everywhere.

Seeing this, Harry rallied and roared out a spell as well.

"Split into pieces!"

"Split into pieces!"

But their counterattacks quickly weakened as more and more aerial roots and even tendrils followed one after another. The young wizard's meager magic and emotions simply could not withstand the drain.

When the Split Spell was cast again, it only emitted a faint flash, and the root that was hit head-on did not even break through the skin.

Harry was somewhat desperate.

He finally understood why Ron was afraid of "a tree".

Just as Harry was panting heavily, wanting to close his eyes and pray that he wouldn't be beaten to death and would have enough breath left to be sent to the school hospital.

The man who had been violently hitting Liu suddenly stopped.

The aerial roots and tendrils that had been violently springing up just a second ago now slumped back to the ground, and the branches and leaves that had been twitching and whistling in the air have returned to their quiet state.

If it weren't for his almost exhausted strength and the devastation all around him, resembling the aftermath of a hurricane, Harry would have thought he had just had a nightmare.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, and then they heard applause.

"That's awesome! George, what an intense battle scene—did you film it?"

"Don't worry, Fred. There are six cameras in total. I can't guarantee a 360° view, but there won't be any problem recording the whole thing!"

“Very good, you have fulfilled your sacred duty, George. I think you are fully capable of competing for the Muggle Oscar for Best Cinematography!”

"You too, Fred, with your superb directing and screenwriting skills, you planned this sudden battle scene with so many twists and turns. Merlin, when Harry fell from the sky, I almost wanted to intervene, but you, for the sake of art, remained steadfast... How did you know that Ronnie would be able to successfully cast the spell?"

"Because his last name is Weasley, George... Actually, I just didn't realize it yet, hehe!"

"Hahahaha!"

Hearing this familiar conversation, and the sheer amount of information it contained, Harry, who had survived the ordeal, was left speechless, the lingering shock and surprise on his face...

"I knew it! I knew it! One day, I would die at your hands!"

"I shouldn't have had any illusions about you, I shouldn't have believed that you could be reliable even a little bit. What older brother in this world would let his first-grader face Liu, who beats people up, for some bullshit art?"

"What sins did I commit in my past life that Merlin would punish me by making me your brother?"

The deep tunnel echoed with Ron's furious accusations.

He was furious and terrified.

Merlin then realized how terrified he was when his magic finally ran out and he watched those roots, as thick as his head, lash out at him.

To be honest, he really wants to go back to his dorm and change his pants.

Ron swore this was the most dangerous and terrifying situation he had encountered in 12 years, even more terrifying than when he faced the troll last year—the troll was certainly more powerful than the Whomping Willow, but back then it was Vaughn who was by his side!

The twins laughed and joked in response to Ron's accusations.
"This 'beating willow' was planted by the school. At most, it will break your bones, but it's not that easy to die. It's not as good as a mandrake."

"That's right!"

"Think about it from another angle, Ronnie. You have no idea how cool you looked catching Harry after casting the spell. We were all smitten, right, George?"

"Yes, Fred, if I were a girl, I would definitely be captivated by little Ronnie."

"And Harry, my goodness, his exceptional fighting talent, the way he decisively used the Fire Charm against the Willow, it made my heart pound."

“That’s right, very bold, full of Gryffindor courage and Ravenclaw wisdom. I bet Harry, once we finish making the film, you’ll charm all the girls in school!”

Harry, who was sulking, annoyed that the twins had tricked him and even more annoyed that he didn't know what to do with them, suddenly brightened up when he heard this.

A suspicious blush rose on her delicate face, inherited from her mother. She stammered for a while before asking in a low voice, "Really?"

The twins patted their chests repeatedly and assured them, "It's true, at that moment, you were the dream of countless girls!"

Harry's expression grew increasingly awkward.

Ron stared at his friend in disbelief: "Harry, you actually believe their nonsense?"

How could the naive Ron possibly understand that a teenager going through puberty has no rationality whatsoever, and his brain is usually just for show?

Of course, a playful teenager is usually also brainless.

Soon, Ron also succumbed to the twins' sweet talk—they told him that the tunnel under the Whomping Willow led directly to Hogsmeade, and they even taught him the trick to getting through the Whomping Willow.

Simply stroking the knots and scars on the willow tree will make it quiet and harmless.

"This is a secret known to very few, passed down from one son to the next generation!"

"Yes, it is very precious. We would not have told you if we were not already in our third year and free to go to Hogsmeade."

The twins had serious and solemn expressions, and Ron inexplicably felt like he had gotten a great deal.

Having calmed the two down, Fred and George led them to their new secret laboratory, a dilapidated little building.

The small building had been abandoned for who knows how many years.

Harry and Ron followed the twins out of the tunnel, and everything they saw exuded destitution and poverty.

The empty room was devoid of furniture, the doors and windows let in drafts, the floor was covered in dust, and the ceiling was covered with cobwebs and traces of foxes.

Only on the second floor, the twins managed to set up a room to store their experimental equipment, which was relatively tidy and clean.

"This is the Screaming Shack of Hogsmeade. Nobody comes here, not even the most mischievous little wizards, because for more than a decade now, the howls of wild beasts have been heard coming from here."

Fred, holding a candle, had a mysterious and gloomy expression: "Everyone says this place is haunted!"

A gust of wind blew in through some hole in the house, and Harry and Ron suddenly felt a chill and instinctively shivered.

Seeing their tense expressions, Fred chuckled again: "Of course, those are just legends. Anyway, we've never seen a ghost."

George, who was "lifting" several cameras with a levitation spell, continued, "That legend actually helped us. It's quieter here than the Room of Requirement. At least no sugar daddy will just kick us out!"

"George, watch your attitude. Be careful, or our sugar daddy will come after us."

"Oh yeah, Ronnie and Harry might tattle on us."

Harry and Ron, who were curiously looking around, were very dissatisfied upon hearing this. They had always kept their mouths shut and were honest people. When had they ever done anything like reporting on someone behind their back?
They say whatever they want to say face to face, and they are especially good at plotting loudly!

After sulking for a while, Harry noticed something amiss when he saw the twins fiddling with the camera: "You guys have already developed that new method you mentioned last time?"

The cameras Harry had seen before were all covered by a thin leather case. The twins said that the case could reduce the chance of magic causing electrical malfunctions.

However, it's not very user-friendly.

Since cameras need to expose their lenses to take pictures, the leather cases cannot completely cover them, causing the internal electronic components (used for metering, magnetization, sound recording, etc.) to short-circuit after a short period of use.

Even without a short circuit, the recording quality is not very good, and the distortion is quite severe.

The twins have been trying new methods these past few days.

Harry noticed that the cameras they were using no longer had their cases; only the outer casings were speckled with gold.

“Of course!” the twins enthusiastically explained, “We just came up with a brand new solution yesterday: to embrittle mithril mercury and coat it onto the outer shell like paint. This can save a lot of costs, but the process is quite complicated and the protective effect is still not ideal.”

"We'll need to try developing new magic lenses, inspired by magic telescopes..."

Harry wasn't interested in their modification ideas; he just wanted to know how well the cameras were recording now.

In response, the twins replied, "It's perfect. We just tested it on you and Ronnie. There's no distortion in the frame, very little noise, and the lifespan is greatly extended. According to our calculations, the recording time for a cassette tape is definitely not a problem."

George said emotionally, "We are changing the world, and you are changing the world too. Harry, Vaughn has already helped plan it out. When the movie starring you is released, we... um!"

Seeing that he was talking more and more, Fred quickly nudged him with his elbow.

Harry didn't notice the subtle gesture; he was only concerned with one question: "So, it'll definitely work for the Quidditch match in a few days, right?"

“It will definitely work!” Fred said confidently.

In the evening, Vaughn met the twins who had come to report their progress to their "sugar daddy".

They demonstrated a new embrittlement coating technique to Vaughn, in which they abandoned the seemingly more malleable milkgrass glue and instead used another glue extracted from the skin and bones of the polka dot fish.

"This gel needs to be produced through degradation... Is that the right word, George?"

“That’s right, Fred, you should learn more Muggle terms and stop asking me all the time… Anyway, the bacteria’s involvement in the degradation process may give these collagens some unique physical structures, allowing them to bond and solidify better.”

“In the new formula, we reduced the amount of mercury, making mithril mercury closer to solid. However, due to the application of the new adhesive, we no longer need to make a thick rubber layer, allowing us to shape the symbol on a thinner material, which significantly reduces the actual cost.”

Vaughn examined the disassembled camera casing in his hand; the inner layer was dotted with gold.

That's what ordinary wizards can see.

In his eyes, those fragmented gold colors were actually densely packed circular symbols.

After observing it for a while and weighing it in his hand, Vaughn asked, "Based on your new technology, how long can the camera operate normally now?"

Fred immediately replied, "We tested it in the early morning, and it took about 80 minutes. The time is not fixed. Magical interference is multifaceted and depends on the specific magical environment. The magical environment is relatively weaker in the Shrieking Shack, and it may be shorter at Hogwarts."

George then enthusiastically began demonstrating their testing process to the "patrons".

He put a cassette tape into the old-fashioned projector, which was still covered by a leather case, turned it on, and a beam of light was projected onto the screen.

Then, the scene of Harry and Ron "fighting the Whomping Willow" under the bright moonlight appeared on the screen.

Vaughan: "..."

The battle scene was short, only a few minutes long, clearly just a test of the recording quality. Then the camera cut to a dilapidated shack with almost no editing.

The twins, seemingly not wanting the test to be too boring, imitated a Muggle movie style, adding plot to the abrupt opening battle.

But the actual effect...

"Ron, is our friendship really coming to an end?"

"Yes, Harry, don't push me!"

Looking at Harry and Ron in the camera, he stiffly forced a serious expression and recited his lines in a rigid manner.

Vaughn's brow furrowed deeply.

He suddenly felt that the "elderly person's cell phone on the subway" meme from his past life would be very suitable for his current situation.

How embarrassing, my toes are digging into the ground.

But the twins, who were supposed to be the "directors," clearly had no idea what they were doing. They were excitedly trying to explain their deconstruction of the plot.

Vaughn had to quickly raise his hand to stop him: "That's enough, that's enough, turn it off!"

The twins were indignant: "Aren't you going to watch it again? This is just the beginning, the best is yet to come. We deliberately created conflict between Harry and Ron's characters, and then they went through a battle and reconciliation..."

Vaughn didn't want to watch or comment.

He simply told the twins sincerely, "I think the initial live-action footage was excellent, absolutely perfect. There's no need to elaborate further; it's better to leave some room for the audience's imagination."

In other words, the storyline they designed is the opposite of "wonderful".

The twins are having some trouble.

"We're even planning to make this the first film from the Weasley Studios!"

"Sigh, I didn't expect that the sponsor would look down on our artistic level at all."

Vaughn: "...Weasley Studios?"

Upon hearing Vaughn mention this, the twins' optimism returned, and they said with beaming eyes, "Yes, Weasley Films, it was what you mentioned last time that gave us the inspiration."

“That’s right. We’ve done some market research these past few days, and it’s unbelievable. There isn’t a single movie theater in the entire wizarding world. Wizards have no other form of entertainment besides reading books, newspapers, and Quidditch. It’s terrifying.”

"We believe there is a vast market potential here!"

"There's no need to worry about the market foundation. The Quidditch video in a few days, and the adventure video featuring Harry that you mentioned, are enough to cultivate a group of viewers. When we release the movie while it's still hot and fresh, how can we not make money?"

For a moment, Vaughn didn't know what expression to make.

The so-called adventure and challenge record is actually a series of traps and tests designed by Dumbledore for Harry. A few days ago, Vaughn briefly mentioned this to inspire the twins' enthusiasm for development, encouraging them to develop the camera as soon as possible so they could film it and sell it for money.

The savior Harry Potter's personal adventures—won't this gimmick sell like hotcakes?
Of course, Vaughn's original idea was simply to record the video footage for future use, such as the actual performance of various agencies.

And Voldemort!

Most people in the wizarding world believe that Voldemort is dead and that we now live in a peaceful society... Peace is certainly a good thing, but the problem is that it is just an unrealistic dream.

Vaughn felt that, if necessary, he should let everyone see what the Mysterio looked like when he was still alive!
As for selling it for money, that was just something I mentioned casually.

Surprisingly, the results were quite good. The twins remembered it and even applied it to other situations, preparing to use Quidditch videos and obstacle course documentaries to open up the market.

Even for their so-called first movie, they specifically cast Harry, clearly not wanting to miss any opportunity for publicity.

He's a born businessman!
Out of respect for their dedication to their careers, Vaughn watched the "movie" for another 5 minutes—no more, lest he embarrass himself by tearing his shoes.

Faced with the twins' eager gazes, Vaughn did not stop them.

Anyway, it won't be him who dies in the end.

"You guys figure it out... However, the camera's lifespan is still insufficient, and the footage is not clear enough due to existing interference. I think you could try a different approach."

Although the twins are mischievous and playful, they have always been very respectful to their benefactors.

Upon hearing this, he immediately asked respectfully, "Respected investor, what are your insights?"

Vaughn wasn't sure if the two guys were being sarcastic.

After watching their "movie," he lost all interest in dwelling on it and just wanted to finish explaining as soon as possible.

"You said before that magic interferes with electricity mainly by interfering with the electric field within a conductor, causing the current to not move in the intended direction, right?"

The twins exchanged a glance: "That's right."

Vaughn said slowly, "I've verified it over the past two days. Your conclusions are correct, but your approach to the solution is wrong. In fact, this situation also exists in Muggle society. I think you can refer to the Muggle's 'static shielding' design and create a 'magic field' to achieve balance with other magic fields."

As he spoke, he handed the two prepared documents: "Quidditch won't be needed, but Harry's challenge will probably be at the end of the month, which is about three weeks away. I hope you can make improvements by then and make... Weasley Films a sensation!"

Fred and George grimaced:

"Damn capitalist!"

(End of this chapter)