Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 111 Phoenix Tears

"Quidditch is over today. He's crying and making a scene, wanting to go to London. I just can't do anything about it. You know me, I can never bring myself to refuse."

Vaughn was speechless.

That shameless old bastard actually used him as a shield behind his back!

Seeing that Professor McGonagall seemed to believe him and began to hesitate, Vaughn quickly coughed loudly and walked over.

Upon seeing Vaughn, Dumbledore showed no sign of surprise and cheerfully exclaimed, "Vaughn's here! We were just talking about you... By the way, Minerva, you don't need to worry about the school for now. I just asked Vaughn to explain the situation to Severus, and he will temporarily take over for you for the next few days."

“Vaughn, darling, what did Severus say?”

Vaughn gave a half-smile: "Professor Snape isn't very happy. He said he's more interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Of course, the headmaster position isn't unacceptable either. He's very dissatisfied with the current headmaster because that guy is a liar who even manipulates children!"

Upon hearing Vaughn's "outrageous" words, Professor McGonagall first glared at him sternly, then looked at Dumbledore with suspicion.

Unfortunately, old Deng's skin, thickened by over a century of experience, was truly immeasurable. Unfazed by Vaughn's sarcasm and Professor McGonagall's suspicion, he calmly changed the subject, cheerfully saying:
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go! If we get to London now, we'll still have time to explore the Muggle night market. There are a few stalls that make really good desserts; I highly recommend you try them..."

As they were talking, Fawkes flew over and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder.

It kept its eyes straight ahead, trying its best not to look at Vaughn, but the look Vaughn gave it still made it feel like it was being pricked by a thorn in its side. So, after Professor McGonagall started rambling on, saying things like "Why not use Floo Powder?" while linking her arm with Dumbledore's, it got ready.

It then spread its wings, and with a burst of fire, it vanished with the three of them with a snap.

The eighth-floor corridor returned to silence. About ten minutes later, Fox finally "squeezed" out of the air again, panting heavily.

After resting for a while, it finally caught its breath, raised its head and looked around. Perhaps because that villain named Vaughn Weasley had left, it suddenly felt that the air at Hogwarts was especially sweet tonight.

But it knew that this good mood was just a temporary illusion caused by being away from the big villain; it had not escaped the other party's clutches!

Fox didn't fly back to the principal's office. Instead, it stood there preening its wings, and after a while, a meow came from the depths of the corridor.
"Meow~"

Fox looked up at the sound and saw a huge cat walking around the corner, its amber-like vertical pupils reflecting its shadow.

Tch, lackey of a great villain!

Unfortunately, Hogwarts is now a place of moral decay and twisted humanity, where evil walks openly among us, and even Dumbledore has been deceived and conspired with the devil!
Thinking of this, Fox felt sad and couldn't help but shed a tear.

Guoguocha, who was squatting in front of it, saw the teardrop in the corner of the phoenix's eye and immediately went closer. It had a small pouch hanging around its neck, which was usually used to hold dried fish, but today it had another purpose.

It clumsily opened its pocket, pulled out a small medicine bottle filled with wisps of smoke, and carefully held the bottle to Fox's eyes to catch the tears.

Throughout the entire process, Fox remained motionless, seemingly immersed in his own world of sorrow.

After Guoguocha finished its work, it "coincidentally" finished reminiscing about the bitterness and the sweetness, flapped its wings, and prepared to go back to sleep.

But fruit tea stopped it.

"Meow!"

Ok?
Fox raised his head and stared intently at the fruit tea, watching it clumsily pull a bottle out of its pocket again.

Unlike before, the new bottle is small, only about two-thirds of an inch, roughly the length of a finger joint, yet it is exquisitely beautiful, shimmering with a golden luster.

Fox's eyes widened in disbelief.

Fructus Felicis!
One of the most precious and difficult-to-brew potions in the magical world, and in the eyes of the phoenix, who loves to devour herbs, it is an even more rare delicacy and tonic.

Fruit Tea carefully placed the small bottle of Felix Felicis on the ground, and its chubby paw gently pushed it toward Fox.

"Gah?"

Fox finally barked, a rather unpleasant sound, but the meaning was quite clear—was it for me?
Fruit Tea nodded: "Meow!"

reward?

Fox suddenly felt that the whole world had become bright.

What? Vaughn Weasley is a villain?
Who said that? That's utter slander!
That was clearly a wealthy and generous patron who was dressed entirely in gold!
Fawkes was overjoyed and felt the air at Hogwarts become sweet again. He was so excited that his feathers trembled, and inevitably one or two feathers fell out.

Guoguocha quietly swiped the fallen feather into her pocket, but Fox didn't care anymore. What was a tear and a few feathers?

Even if you pluck all the hair off it, what does it matter?
It's quite heartbreaking to think about. Fawkes followed Dumbledore for many years, but because of Dumbledore's mediocre potion-making skills, he rarely got to take Felix Felicis.

Snape was good at brewing, but that greasy man who never washed his hair in Fawkes' eyes never thought of caring about Lord Fawkes. Instead, every time Fawkes was reborn, he would come and pick up his feathers and blood for free.

After all these years, finally someone has remembered to reward it!
Overwhelmed with emotion, Fox couldn't help but shed two more tears.

Guoguocha also tacitly took out two more medicine bottles and collected the teardrops.

A phoenix and a cat, working together seamlessly, look exceptionally harmonious.

In the basement, Snape, sitting in front of the crucible, suddenly sneezed, snapping him out of his reverie and looking around in confusion.

Snape had been sitting there for a long time.

The brain surgery allowed him to control his facial expressions freely, but he couldn't control the turmoil in his heart.

Although Dumbledore's plan had begun before the start of the school year, and although he had long been prepared for Harry to confront Voldemort, Snape found himself less calm than he had anticipated when the moment finally arrived and the plan was about to be launched.

The potion simmering in the cauldron churned, releasing a rich fragrance. Usually, the aroma would calm even the most agitated heart.

But today, they failed, just like that night more than ten years ago.

"Call the gods to protect you!"

In the dimly lit basement, as he whispered softly, a faint silver-blue light gradually appeared, so gentle that it seemed to contain endless tenderness and affection.

Snape didn't try to control himself; he just stared blankly as the light gradually intensified and a translucent doe emerged from it.

Its bright, pure eyes looked over, and Snape was momentarily lost in thought, before being jolted back to reality by a sudden pang in his heart.

Long ago, his guardian deity was not a doe, until more than ten years ago.

That night, his world collapsed. Ambition, resentment, ideals, obsession... all vanished with the death of his beloved.

In a sense, the Severus Snape of the past had already passed away that night, as he held Lily's body and wept bitterly.

What is alive now is merely an empty shell, refilled with love and regret!
Snape's cheeks felt a little warm. He raised his hand to wipe them, his expressionless face showing a few glistening drops of moisture on his palm in the faint glow of his Patronus.

He watched indifferently as they grew cold and then evaporated.

He turned his head away, no longer looking at the Patronus, and simply ordered, "...Go to the castle and keep an eye on Harry Potter..."

The doe gently touched him, and as he flinched as if burned, she lightly leaped and disappeared into the wall.

Snape was left alone, sitting blankly in the now dimly lit room, like a lifeless puppet.

……

"Harry, wait, why are you running so fast?"

Outside the castle, on the path leading from the edge of the Forbidden Forest to the castle's side gate, Hagrid, holding a lantern, struggled to keep up with Harry and his two companions who were running at full speed.

"You went to the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night to have the centaurs tell your fortunes? And the centaurs made prophecies about Harry and Voldemort? Quirrell is Voldemort? Merlin, can someone explain this to me? What's going on?"

The mountain path was difficult to walk on at night. Harry had already fallen several times. He had sprinted all the way here, and his lungs were burning with pain.

He wasn't in the mood to reply to Hagrid, and Hermione wasn't much stronger than him; she was barely holding on. Only Ron, though not particularly bright, had solid muscles and still had some strength left.

"Isn't it clear enough? Hagrid, Vulcan... The mysterious man isn't dead. He's currently inside Quirrell, possibly a remnant soul or something. He wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone to prolong his life—we told you long ago that someone wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone, but you adults just wouldn't believe us!"

Perhaps it was Ron's words that finally made Hagrid's thoughts clear, and he was frightened by the amount of information contained in them. Hagrid slipped and fell to the ground with a thud.

The trio had no time to pay him any attention and, despite Hagrid's cries of "Harry, don't be impulsive," they continued their arduous journey toward the castle.

When Harry finally reached the side gate of the castle, he was already out of breath, but the sense of urgency in his heart urged him not to stop and to push the door open immediately.

But Hermione stopped her: "What if we run into Filch if we go straight in like this?"

"There's no time to worry about him now..."

“Filch won’t listen to your explanations. He’ll just think we’re making excuses and then he’ll keep arguing, which will only waste more time.”

"What should we do then?" Ron's eyes widened, a wicked thought creeping into his mind: "Should we cast a curse on him?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at him: "Don't always think about casting curses on everyone. I know the Disillusionment Charm, although it's not very good, it should be enough to fool Filch..."

Ron urged, "Then hurry up and cast the spell!"

"Ronald, can you please let me finish?" Hermione said angrily.

Seeing that she was really angry, Ron didn't dare to speak and obediently shut up.

Hermione ignored him and looked at Harry: "Harry, do you have any plans? Should we talk to Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore?"

Harry blurted out, "Dumbledore, of course!"

"Do you know the password to the principal's office?"

“I…” Harry was speechless, realizing his mistake. Of course, he didn’t know that the passwords for Hogwarts changed every day.

Although he had heard Vaughn say that the password to the headmaster's office was usually the name of a candy from the magical world.

But... there are so many candies in the wizarding world, who knows which one Dumbledore will use today? Besides, as a complete novice in magic, he doesn't even know all the candy names!
Hermione wasn't surprised to see him stunned; she was used to her two friends' recklessness and folly. "If you don't have a plan, could you listen to my thoughts?"

"Uh, of course."

Hermione nodded in satisfaction: "My suggestion is that we split up and go find Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Vaughn separately. Of course, our goal is still to make sure we find Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall and Vaughn know the password to the Headmaster's office. You have no objections to that, right?"

Harry shook his head blankly.

Professor McGonagall is the vice-principal, so she definitely knows the password; Vaughn is even more so.

“Very good.” With a few words, Hermione, who had taken command of the small team, began to assign tasks: “Harry, you go find Professor McGonagall. I’ll take care of Vaughn. I know the password for Slytherin House. As for Ron, you go to the headmaster’s office on the eighth floor and wait for us. You can also try to guess the password. The password is the name of a candy in the wizarding world, which you know best among us.”

Seeing Hermione's efficient and effective division of labor based on each person's characteristics, Harry suddenly realized that he hadn't really gotten to know her properly.

Until today, at least Harry had never realized that Hermione had such leadership qualities.

He felt a little strange, but he didn't reject it. On the one hand, Hermione was his good friend, and on the other hand, he was self-aware.

"Okay, it's up to you."

Seeing that he agreed, Ron, who was used to letting others make the decisions, naturally did not object.

Having finalized their plan, Hermione took a breath and began chanting the Disappearance Charm. As she inscribed the spell, the three of them vanished one by one.

Meanwhile, Snape, who was lost in thought in the basement, looked up and saw the Patronus return, bringing news that Harry Potter had returned to the castle.

“I’m sorry, Lily, Dumbledore said it’s all for Harry’s sake…”

Muttering to himself, Snape dismissed his Patronus and stood up.

When he stepped out of the basement, the Snape who would stare blankly, shed tears, and apologize was completely gone, leaving only a cold, lifeless shell.

He will use this body to once again contact and deceive his former master, to fulfill Dumbledore's plan, and also to fulfill the vow he made more than ten years ago in pain and regret.

Harry thought Hermione was probably exaggerating when she said she wasn't proficient with the Disillusionment Charm.

Not just unskilled, they're practically complete novices!
Professor McGonagall's office was on the second floor, the closest place to Harry, but Hermione's spell started to fail as soon as Harry got halfway there.

To make matters worse, he also saw Peeves, the prankster who had become mentally twisted ever since Vaughn taught him a lesson last year.

Unable to retaliate against Vaughn, it spent its days trying to cause trouble for other night-wandering wizards, even going so far as to cooperate with its "arch-enemy" Filch.

If Peeves saw him, it would definitely yell and summon Filch, and might even alert Quirrell, whose office was on the same floor but in another corridor. While Peeves wasn't looking, Harry quickly hid behind a large pillar.

All he can do now is pray that Peeves will leave quickly, or that someone will come and lure it away.

For example, those upperclassmen who know about the Hogwarts secret passages and love to explore them at night.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to the increasing pressure of recent exams, or perhaps because today's Quidditch match had already exhausted their enthusiasm, not a single one of the older students who used to frequently outwit Peeves and Filch was present today.

Instead, as time went by, Hermione's illusion spell completely lost its effect, and Peeves was about to wander into the vicinity.

Just as Harry's heart was racing, he was desperately trying to figure out what to do and regretting not bringing the Invisibility Cloak with him today.

A voice suddenly came from afar.

The voice trailed off, each word sounding like it was being squeezed out of the throat, as it spoke slowly and deliberately: "Pikachu—what are you doing here?"

It's Snape!

Harry pricked up his ears; he was sure he hadn't misheard. No one else in all of Hogwarts spoke like that old bat.

Sure enough, Peeves' wicked and smooth voice called out his name: "Severus—oh, no, you're not that crybaby anymore, you're now the esteemed Professor Snape, hee hee!"

"Oh, and Quirinas Quirrell too, the new crybaby, hee hee, what kind of wicked scheme are these two crybabies up to instead of sleeping?"

Quirrell?

Harry's heart skipped a beat!
I barely managed to resist the urge to peek out and could only try my best to concentrate and listen to what was happening over there.

He heard Snape say indifferently, like a still pond, "Get out of here, Peeves!"

Then, for some unknown reason, Snape did something, and Harry only heard a thud, followed by Peeves' furious cursing: "Damn Snape, damn Quirrell, Peeves will remember you, we'll see!"

Peeves ran away, flying right over Harry's head, scaring him so much that he cowered under a pillar, too afraid to utter a sound.

However, Peeves, who was grumbling, didn't notice him. Harry noticed that there was a faint black aura surrounding it, which seemed to make it very uncomfortable.

After Pippi left, the corridor fell silent.

Just as Harry was wondering if Snape and Quirrell had already left, he heard Quirrell's stammering voice: "Sissyphus, why did you call me out?"

Snape's voice deepened, reminding Harry of a snake slithering on the ground: "Quirinus, are you still after the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Oh--"

Quirrell let out a choking sob, "I, I didn't..."

"Hmph, you can't fool my eyes, Quirinus." Snape scoffed. "I can only say that your stupidity has opened my eyes. You gave Hagrid that dragon, didn't you? You wanted to get the method to get past that three-headed dog from him?"

"It must have been a waste of your sunken brain. And I must congratulate you. Vaughn Weasley brought that dragon to Dumbledore, and that old madman easily connected it to Hagrid's big mouth. After that, he readjusted the mechanism of the Guardian Stone and eliminated the three-headed dog from the mechanism. What do you think, genius?"

But faced with Snape's sarcasm, Quirrell could only sob, "I didn't... I, I don't know what you... what are you saying..."

boom!
With a muffled thud, Harry heard Quirrell groan in pain, seemingly being pinned against the wall by Snape.

“You should be grateful that you still have someone loyal to your master like me to clean up your messes. Otherwise, Dumbledore would have caught you red-handed long ago. You should be even more grateful that I have cultivated some connections in the Ministry of Magic over the years and, after much effort, finally managed to use Vaughn Weasley’s situation to transfer him to the Ministry of Magic along with Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall.”

"Tomorrow... no, it should be today, today. This is the longest I can buy. To do this, I will temporarily disrupt the operation of the Filu Network to ensure they don't come back."

"The biggest obstacle is gone. You'd better take advantage of today to complete the task your master assigned you!"

"This is the last chance before summer vacation. Dumbledore will move the Philosopher's Stone away during summer vacation, so if you mess this up again... you'll have to think carefully about what kind of place you should find as your grave!"

Snape's venomous words made Harry pale and break out in a cold sweat.

He suddenly felt that everything that had happened today was like a nightmare with no end in sight.

The centaur's prophecy, Voldemort, the cruel reality of Dumbledore's transfer, and... Snape's true colors!

He suddenly wanted to laugh at himself for having studied Occlumency under Snape. During that time, he had changed his opinion of Snape more than once, thinking that the Potions Professor was not a bad person. He thought his dislike for him was probably too biased!
You're such an idiot, a hopeless fool, Harry Potter!
Harry's heart clenched, making it hard to breathe. He wanted to scream, to vent his anger wildly.

But he controlled himself. He knew this was not the time to be resentful or willful. He had to pass on the information he had gained from this unexpected encounter to his friends.

He must protect the Philosopher's Stone on the day Vaughn, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall leave!

Sometime later, Quirrell's sobs had ceased to be heard in the corridor. Harry peeked out and saw only a few candlesticks burning quietly in the direction from which the sounds had come. Quirrell and Snape were both gone.

Harry didn't dare to delay and quickly ran back to the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry didn't lose his mind.

Even though he felt like his chest was on fire, he could still tell what was most urgent.

He needed to return to the Gryffindor Tower, retrieve his Invisibility Cloak, and bring Ron and Hermione back—he needed to share information with his two friends; he needed their wisdom and their support.

Vaughn's existence prevented Harry from becoming arrogant and stubborn, as he had originally followed the path of his destiny, immersing himself in the unique "savior persona."

This is also normal.

When there's a peer around you who completely outclasses you, even if they don't intend to influence you, their very existence serves as a constant reminder:
What are you so arrogant about? There's someone even more powerful than that!
Under Vaughn's relentless beatings and torment, Harry now has a very clear understanding of himself. He knows he is not a "savior," nor does he possess any powerful magic capable of killing Voldemort, and his mind isn't even that sharp.

Just like those ordinary little wizards around me, and even inferior to them in some aspects.

His only advantage is probably that, as the "boy who survived a great calamity," he is quite popular and at least holds a unique position in the hearts of professors and the principal.

But this sole advantage has vanished in the information Snape just revealed.

Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Vaughn were all transferred away from Hogwarts by the treacherous Snape. Harry was horrified to discover that none of his main supporters at Hogwarts were there!

Now, all he can rely on are Ron and Hermione.

Back in his dorm room, Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak from under his bed. Neville, in the next bed, was startled awake. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, saying, "Harry, what are you doing? You look terrible."

Harry wasn't sure what his face looked like, but he figured it must be a mess. He gave a perfunctory reply: "I'm fine, Neville, go back to sleep!"

He didn't invite Neville along because he didn't want to involve more people.

If possible, he didn't want to involve even Ron and Hermione.

Donning his invisibility cloak, Harry hurriedly went out.

……

Hermione stood in Vaughn's empty dorm room, looking completely bewildered.

Her journey was anything but smooth. First, she overestimated her Disillusionment Charm, and after going down to the dungeon from the first floor (Slytherin House only occupies a part of the Hogwarts dungeon, located in the dungeon maze), the spell began to lose its effectiveness.

Fortunately, even Filch and Mrs. Lorris rarely patrolled the dungeon, which was gloomy and dark, and even the animals were afraid of it.

Peeves never comes here, because there is a Blood Man Barrow here, the ghost that Peeves fears most.

This gave Hermione enough time to solve the problem of getting lost in the maze—the dungeon maze seemed to have a different route at night than during the day. It took her a long time to finally find the stone wall with the words "Seaview Room" carved by Vaughn, recite the password, and successfully enter.

But Vaughn wasn't there!

Hermione didn't know where he went, and there was no one she could ask.

Just when she was at her wit's end, she heard a light, hopping sound outside the door. She quickly ran out and saw Guoguocha jumping around and sniffing around, as if trying to figure out who had trespassed into its territory.

Upon seeing her, Guoguocha snorted, then meowed and happily rubbed against her feet.

Normally, Hermione would have hugged and rubbed it, but she wasn't in the mood today: "Fruit Tea, is Vaughn behind us?"

Hermione noticed the dew on Fruit Tea's body; it had come in from outside. A cat that can't speak can't answer commands, so someone needs to open the door for it.

But to Hermione's surprise, Fruit Tea shook its head repeatedly. It broke free from her embrace, squatted down, opened the little pouch hanging around its neck, and reached in with its chubby paws to rummage around. Surprisingly, it pulled out a Walkman just like hers.

The fruit tea sticks out its claw; carefully press the play button, and Vaughn's voice immediately rings out:
"Pureblood forever!"

This is Slytherin's latest password.

Hermione's expression was a little strange. The demonstration of the fruit tea was obvious; Vaughn wasn't with it, and might even have left Hogwarts.

But here's the problem: what kind of urgent matter could have prevented Vaughn from even notifying her and entrusting her with taking care of Guoguocha?
He had never done this before when he was in trouble.

As she was pondering, Guoguocha meowed twice and then pulled a transparent medicine bottle out of her pocket.

A misty fog floated in the bottle, but the fog wasn't the main point. The main point was a crystal-clear water droplet enveloped in the fog inside the bottle!

Hermione could sense that the water droplet contained a strange power!
This is……?
Seemingly understanding her confusion, Guoguocha put down the bottle, first flapping its two front paws, and then pointing the bottle opening at its eyes.

"Uh..." Hermione paused for a moment before realizing that the fruit tea seemed to be demonstrating the source of the water droplets in the bottle. Watching the fruit tea blink frequently and catch the droplets with the bottle's opening, she tentatively asked, "Tears?"

"Meow!"

Fruit Tea shouted happily, and then began a new demonstration. It struggled a few times as if it were seriously injured and dying, lay down, and then put the bottle opening to its mouth, simulating the action of "drinking" water droplets. Then it immediately stood up with great energy and stared intently at Hermione.

"Meow~"

do you understand?

Hermione understood, of course. Tears, drinking, resurrection... There might be many other magical things in the wizarding world that she didn't know about, but she happened to know one that had such powerful effects: tears. It was one of the symbols of Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, and was recorded in "Hogwarts: A History of the School".

The Phoenix's Tears!
The magical world has many medicines that are incredibly effective at healing injuries, such as White Pepper, which is learned in the first year. However, Phoenix Tears is still highly praised in "A School History" because, in addition to healing injuries, it can also detoxify and even alleviate some of the damage caused by dark magic.

Hermione was unaware of the conditions under which Phoenix Tears were formed, but from the records, they were undoubtedly very precious.

But now, a cat has taken three bottles of these precious treasures out of a bag of dried fish and placed them in front of her.

Fruit Tea's chubby paws pushed the three bottles of Phoenix Tears toward Hermione.

"For me?"

"Meow!" Fruit Tea nodded.

Hermione frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Did Vaughn ask you to give this to me?"

Obviously, a cat couldn't possibly possess such a treasure.

Moreover, in her memory, Guoguocha wasn't a very generous person.

Unless it is ordered by its master.

This time, Fruit Tea didn't respond, as if it had suddenly turned into an ordinary pet that couldn't understand human speech, and licked its paws: "Meow!"

Things started to get a little strange.

Leaving the Slytherin common room, Hermione stared blankly at the three bottles of Phoenix Tears in her hand, a strange sense of unease filling her heart.

Why did Vaughn suddenly leave?

And why did you give yourself Phoenix Tears, and even three bottles of them?
She couldn't understand it, but subconsciously felt it was strange.

Hermione!

Just then, she heard Harry's voice.

Turning around, they saw Harry and Ron's heads floating in the deep darkness of the dungeon maze a few steps away.

Hmm, it looks pretty scary at first glance.

That's an invisibility cloak; she's used it many times.

Hermione walked over, and Harry pulled up his Invisibility Cloak to cover her as well. He glanced at the Phoenix Tear in her hand and asked, "What is this? You didn't find Vaughn, did you?"

(End of this chapter)