Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 156 Passion, Blindness, and Madness

Sure enough, amidst the murmurs of conversation around them, Amelia announced the candidates' speeches.

Akinbad stood up and asked, "Gentlemen of the Executive Board and Vice Presidents, may I and Mr. Vaughn Weasley express our thoughts in the form of a two-person debate?"

Before the bystanders could even react...

After a very brief "exchange," the executive committee members and vice presidents approved the application.

dong dong!

Amelia struck the gavel, waking the bewildered onlookers, and gestured to Akinbad and Vaughn: "The Executive Committee members agree to the two candidates' statements. Please come to the stage!"

Yes, this whole scene was just a "show" from the very beginning.

The proposer was Babajid Akinbad.

This "young and vigorous" man, who had been active in international politics for many years and was over 80 years old, did indeed, as Vaughn had predicted, have no intention of shaking Vaughn's position at the first conference.

He proposed running for office and then spoke in a “debate” style simply because he, like those in the spectator seats, was eager to know what Vaughn’s plans were for WAC.

To be more precise, he wanted to know if Vaughn Weasley had the ambitions he suspected!

In exchange, he will represent the federation and cast all his votes for Vaughn!

"...Tsk, what a troublesome fellow..."

When Vaughn got up from his seat and walked to the podium, he gave Akinbad a friendly smile, but inwardly he became increasingly cautious about him.

Akinbad made the proposal before the conference began.

Both Dumbledore and Amelia were tempted.

It was obvious that the newly formed WAC was fragile, with no precedents to follow and was "hostile" to the Ministry of Magic under Fudge's leadership in England.

Although the presence of the werewolf committee and Wizengamo is enough to secure Vaughn's election with a high number of votes, if the representatives of the International Federation, under Akinbad's leadership, abstain or oppose the election, it will undoubtedly cause the already sensitive public opinion to fluctuate again.

Public opinion may not influence decision-making, but it can attract ambitious individuals, incite dissidents, and undermine the current unity.

Amelia and Dumbledore, who both crave stability, simply couldn't resist the "olive branch" extended by Arkinbad.

Even Vaughn couldn't resist!
If things can go smoothly, who would want setbacks?
As for Akinbad's true purpose, Vaughn, Dumbledore, and Amelia all knew it; wanting to know Vaughn's thoughts was only one of the reasons.

To be more realistic, it's actually a strategic retreat by the other party—

Since they can't stop Vaughn from being elected anyway, and they've already tested the pure-blood families' attitudes, they might as well put on a show and repair their public image!

In the past few days, Akinbad has been subjected to open and covert criticism and ridicule from many people due to revelations from so-called insiders.

After all, he was a high-ranking and powerful old wizard. If he spoke harshly to a 12-year-old child in front of his old friend (Dumbledore), he would have no way to reason with him anywhere.

Akinbad doesn't care about his reputation, but he does care about his political ambitions!
Countless thoughts surged through Vaughn's mind.

But what the many wizards and werewolves saw was only two wizards, nominally rivals but actually smiling broadly like old and young friends, embracing and greeting each other warmly on stage.

Standing on the podium, Vaughn and Akinbad politely declined each other's invitations, but Akinbad's attitude was more resolute, and he let Vaughn speak first.

A magically created pillar of light hanging from the ceiling, like piercing sunlight, enveloped Vaughn.

The stark contrast of light and shadow made it impossible for Vaughn to see anything outside the beam of light.

He could only vaguely sense that everyone was watching him, holding their breath.

After a moment of silence, Vaughn pressed his wand to his throat and spoke in a loud voice: "I know what everyone is waiting for. In the past few days, there has been a lot of speculation in the newspapers about how I will develop this organization after being elected president of WAC."

"Yes, WAC is a completely new organization that has never appeared in the magical world before, and it is mainly composed of non-wizards."

"Being completely new means there are no templates to refer to. How should it operate? What is its positioning? If we continue to break it down, these questions will turn into a lot of headaches and troubles!"

"For example, how WAC works!"

"Many people probably still remember what I said when I first proposed the WAC concept at the beginning of this year: WAC does not accept any external investment, does not accept funding from the Ministry of Magic, and does not accept donations from the public... To this day, I still adhere to this principle, because any investment, funding, or donation involves demands and bargaining. If we want to solve the werewolf problem, we must absolutely not let them get involved in the wizarding struggle!"

“But…” Vaughn paused, then said, “This raises a question: where does WAC get the money to operate?”

The audience, from committee members to observers, were all surprised that Vaughn would start his speech with such a weighty question.

Akinbad, who had been listening nearby, suddenly interjected: "If the federation wants to provide funding, is it not allowed even without making any requests?"

“No!” Vaughn shook his head. “Although you can say that the Federation has no demands for the money, in reality, by providing funds, you have already seized control of WAC’s finances. When the lives of more than 2000 werewolves are completely controlled by the Federation, it will naturally control the entire WAC. At that time, it can make any demands it wants!”

Wow!

The audience gasped in hushed astonishment; no one had expected Vaughn's answer to be so blunt.

But Mr. Akinbad didn't seem to mind. A smile still lingered on his dark face as he continued, "Your idea is too alarmist, Mr. Weasley. Of course, I understand your concerns, but don't you think it's too idealistic?"

"As you just said, without external funding, where does WAC get its money?"

“I believe that over the past few months, you and Dumbledore have tried various methods, but in the end, you still arranged for the werewolves to work in the Muggle community, and the consumption of wolfsbane potion for more than 2000 people for half a year relied entirely on loans from you and Dumbledore... Can I assume that you refused to let WAC accept external funds just to make it easier for you to control it?”

At the edge of the hall, Nymphadora, who had overheard these words, exchanged a glance with Kingsley.

“That old bastard…” Nymphadora gritted her teeth.

But to her alarm, the people around her were whispering amongst themselves, clearly indicating that Akinbad's words had taken to heart.

Just then, Dumbledore raised his hand from below the stage: "Excuse me, may I speak?"

The 13 executive council members seated around the table exchanged a few words, and then Remus Lupin spoke up, saying, "Agreed, Mr. Dumbledore!"

"Thank you, executive committee members."

Old Deng stood up and said lightly, "I want to clarify something here. The WAC borrowed money from me and Vaughn in pounds sterling, mainly for Muggle financial operations. As for the funds used by the werewolves for their wolf poison, they actually used the profits from financial operations to buy gold and silver from Muggle society and then exchange them at Gringotts."

"So strictly speaking, my loan to Vaughn doesn't affect WAC's finances. On the contrary, WAC has been returning a portion of the interest to me every month for the past few months, and I've actually made quite a bit of money!"

Dumbledore winked mischievously.

This……

People listened with some confusion. They had no concept of finance, so they naturally didn't understand how terrifying it was for the wizarding world to acquire gold and silver from Muggle society and then exchange them for Galleons and Sickles at Gringotts.

Even Akinbad on the stage was clueless; he opened his mouth, about to say something.

Vaughn continued, "Yes, this is one of the financial solutions I've come up with for the WAC. Of course, it's still quite small at the moment. Once I'm elected president and have the legal authorization, I plan to further deepen our cooperation with Gringotts. The goblins would love to receive high-purity gold and silver from Muggle society."

Akinbad seemed surprised that his question would be resolved in such a way that was beyond his comprehension.

He frowned and continued, "So, Mr. Weasley, is your so-called financial...financial return sufficient to support the expenses of over 2000 werewolves?"

Vaughn shook his head and admitted, "No, so it's just one of the solutions."

Akinbad's expression relaxed slightly:

"So there's still a gap? What are your plans to do about this gap?"

Vaughn remained calm: "This involves another arrangement of mine—the international trade of wolfsbane!"

"..."

The entire venue was completely silent.

These wizards, most of whom grew up in the magical world and may never have had any contact with Muggles in their lives, simply couldn't understand what Vaughn was saying.

Even some who frequently interact with Muggles (like Kingsley) actually have traditional wizarding mindsets and a rather limited understanding of Muggle economic theories.

They could only watch blankly as Akinbad on stage waved his wand, summoning a cloud of mist that transformed into a giant world map above the hall, while he spoke eloquently:

"As we all know, the werewolf problem is not just a problem in England, but a chronic disease all over the world. Werewolfism is prevalent all over the world, even in Nauru (one of the world's smallest countries, with a population of only 13,000)."

"Countries with strong wizarding power, such as England, France, and Germany, are certainly capable of limiting the spread of werewolfism and dealing with magic leaks caused by werewolf activity. But what about other countries? What about small countries like Nauru? What are they supposed to do?"

As he spoke, Vaughn looked at Akinbad.

The Ugandan shaman hesitated for a moment before saying, "When they discover werewolves, they usually pay shamans to stay in the area and handle the incident."

"How was the result?"

"...not ideal..."

The so-called hired wizards are basically black wizards who have roamed around from various countries. Expecting them to deal with werewolves is no better than fantasizing about werewolves healing themselves.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Vaughn smiled and snapped his fingers.

The map in mid-air rotated, with scarlet wolf head markers dotting every region and corner of the map.

Then, an arrow extended from England and radiated outwards to the whole world!

"Now, they have a second option. Once I am elected president of the WAC, I will send people to contact the Ministry of Magic of all countries and tell them that they no longer need to send money to those untrustworthy mercenary wizards, but can instead purchase wolfsbane potion from the WAC."

"This agreement can even include some extended services. For example, when the werewolf problem is very serious in certain small countries, WAC will also provide werewolf mercenary services during the full moon. We can form multiple werewolf teams that are not afraid of werewolf disease to support countries in need during the full moon, capture werewolves who maliciously spread werewolf disease, and so on..."

The audience was stunned as they listened to the 12-year-old boy on stage presenting his ingenious ideas on "international trade of wolfsbane medicine".

Before today, they never imagined that a WAC, a strange so-called international trade, could be manipulated in so many ways by the other side.

The key point is that, apart from that Muggle finance, everything else sounds perfectly reasonable!
Put yourself in their shoes, how much of a threat do werewolves pose?
too big!
Even in England, where there are many wizards, many wizards grew up listening to scary stories about werewolves. The contagious nature of werewolves after they transform on a full moon night terrified countless families.

If England is like this, what about those small countries with extremely limited population, land area, and number of wizards?
Putting everything else aside, just the provision of wolf poison and werewolf mercenary services is enough to make small countries eager to make a move!
On the podium, Akinbad also seemed somewhat dazed.

For the first time, he realized that the boy in front of him was completely different from his past opponents.

The other party's vision, way of thinking, perspective on problems, and methods of solving problems... are all too strange.

Many of these were beyond his comprehension.

For the rest of the time, Arkinbad was in a deep thought, letting Vaughn explain his various "ideas" on stage—to the wizards, those weren't just ideas, they were practically creations!

Vaughn even mentioned the idea of ​​a "second version of the wolfsbane medicine".

"...As I said in my pre-meeting speech, the first version of the wolf poison was unsuccessful to me; it was a product of my compromise with the werewolf virus."

With the wand pressed against his throat, Vaughn's loud and powerful voice echoed throughout the hall: "But this compromise will not last forever, nor will I stop here. I will relentlessly challenge the werewolf virus. Since it can be created by dark wizards, it will surely be eradicated..."

"Next, I will try to solve the problem of werewolves being unable to control their transformation on the night of the full moon. The next step after that, I will try to reduce or even eliminate the infectivity of the werewolf virus..."

"All of this is because I hope that these fellow werewolves, these innocent victims, can be freed from the discrimination inflicted upon them, can walk in the sunlight with their heads held high, that little Barnal can go to school like a normal Muggle teenager, and that William can return to his family and reunite with his wife and daughter!"

The atmosphere in the venue gradually heated up.

Bathed in the intense light, Vaughn raised one hand and clenched his fist:

"This is both my ideal and my promise!"

In an instant, the entire venue erupted in cheers, and the flashbulbs of cameras went off like crazy!

Nifadora felt herself getting fired up again.

A cacophony of sounds rushed into my ears, gradually coalescing into a unified shout:
"Vaughn!"

"Vaughn!"

In this venue where light and shadow intertwine, the enthusiasm and blind passion of the people completely broke through the boundaries between darkness and light.

The Aurors who were maintaining order could no longer stop them.

Several wizards dressed in bizarre Muggle clothes rushed onto the stage and excitedly surrounded Vaughn.

Akinbad was pushed aside by them, and no one paid any attention to this important figure anymore. Even the werewolves in the committee seats became restless and surrounded him.

It seemed as if everyone was cheering.

Election? Is there still any suspense?
……

Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

The three wandered the streets of the Little Huijin district.

Although it's called a "district," it should actually be called Little Huigkin. Located in the northernmost part of Surrey, just south of Stans, a wealthy town with an international airport and Hampton Court Palace, is a different story. (Little Huigkin is a fictional district; the location described here is based on official settings.)

Stans and the surrounding towns are known as the commuter city.

This means that the people living in this area are all wealthy or middle-class people working in London.

The natural environment of Stans and Little Huigkin districts must be exceptional to attract such discerning residents; with lush greenery and harmonious landscapes, they are very pleasant places to live.

Of course, the boys and girls who "run away from home" are not yet at the age to appreciate their surroundings.

They were just wandering around aimlessly when they finally found a decent-looking restaurant to rest for a while.

"Ron, you said Mr. Weasley brought you here, where is he?"

"Dad went to visit a friend, and he said we don't need to worry about him... Why is it all fish and chips, pies... Harry, would you like a cake? I've never had a Muggle cake before!"

Looking at the menu in his hand, Ron drooled as he poked at the menu with his wand, trying to make the pictures on it move.

"All you ever think about is food!" Hermione snatched the menu away with a look of disgust and quickly ordered her food.

Of course, she still ordered a cake; after all, it was Harry's birthday, and it was important to have a proper ceremony.

Besides, she paid for it.

Ron, needless to say, couldn't even scrape together 1 siscoct from all his pockets, let alone Muggle currency; he couldn't even produce a penny.

Harry, who was actually quite wealthy, is now penniless because he ran away from home in such a hurry.

Harry was embarrassed. He awkwardly rubbed his pants and said to Hermione, "I should have treated you... Why don't you two stay home tonight? After the Dursleys are asleep, I'll go back and get the money pouch, and we can take a Knight bus to Diagon Alley!"

Ron wholeheartedly agreed to the proposal.

Hermione wasn't too interested. She preferred to go home and read more books rather than play around. Just as she was thinking about how to politely decline, a familiar figure caught her eye outside the window.

It is Mr. Arthur Weasley.

He stormed into the restaurant waving a newspaper, ignoring the astonished Muggles, and waved the newspaper at the three of them, laughing happily:
"Kids, Vaughn has become president! A unanimous election! Unprecedented! Hahaha—"

Hermione, who had been thinking about Vaughn all along, immediately looked delighted and took the newspaper.

Harry was also very happy, but Ron had a different focus: "Dad, how did you find us?"

Arthur winked at his youngest son: "Silly boy, if I hadn't put a tracking spell on you, how could I have let you guys run around like that?"

Let's go back to 10 minute ago.

Nymphadora felt that everyone had gone mad, including herself.

The large hall, which could accommodate more than a thousand people, was in complete chaos.

From the moment Vaughn finished speaking until the committee voted, the hall was almost never quiet.

Most of the people left their seats, watching the stage with fervor. The Aurors who had been guarding the various key points outside had to come in to maintain order, but the human wall they had formed looked shaky in the face of the increasingly excited and large number of onlookers.

Nymphadora and her colleagues held hands and struggled desperately to avoid being knocked over by the crowd.

A series of frenzied faces flashed before her eyes, their mouths agape, howling deafeningly, waving their arms at Vaughn Weasley, and shouting at Amelia, who was overseeing the vote count.

"Vaughn Weasley, one more vote!"

Snapped!
"Vaughn Weasley, one more vote!"

Snapped!
Behind her, she could faintly hear Amelia counting out the votes, while in front of her, the crowd clapped and stomped in response. The powerful infectiousness stirred up by Vaughn Weasley almost made Nymphadora scream along, making her heart tremble!

Vaughan Weasley!
This manipulative little devil!

How did he do that?
Nifadora couldn't understand it. She felt like her brain was about to run out of oxygen. Maybe it was because of the crowd, or maybe the crazy atmosphere at the moment had burned up the oxygen in her blood.

That's absolutely insane.

Because she didn't hear any other name from Amelia, only Vaughn Weasley.

At a certain moment, the crowd cheered.

A young wizard grabbed Nymphadora's arm and shook it violently, his face flushed as he yelled at her, "Did you hear that? Vaughn Weasley was elected unanimously, unanimously, not a single person abstained, including those damned representatives of the International Federation!"

Nymphadora resisted the urge to cast a spell on him, then saw him turn around, grab another short, stout wizard holding a camera, and shout:

"What are you waiting for? Send the news back, send the photos back, let people see this crazy night, this crazy world, this crazy WAC!"

The next moment, his excited roar was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd.

The Aurors were also submerged.

The crowd surged through the blockade like a tidal wave, rushing into the venue and shouting for Vaughn, who had returned to the stage and was now bathed in a beam of light.

In the surrounding shadows, in the area representing the International Federation of Political Parties and other committee members, some people remained “calm.”

But looking at the crowds who seemed possessed, chanting and shouting around Vaughn Weasley, a chill couldn't help but creep into their otherwise calm hearts!
For some reason, they began to regret it.

Especially the representatives of the federation, as if their vote today had unleashed something terrible.

On the outskirts of the frenzied crowd, Akinbad frowned, lost in deep thought...

……

The enthusiasm of the people exceeded everyone's expectations.

The meeting was so disrupted that it almost came to a standstill, as even the werewolf committee members present joined in the celebration of Vaughn's election.

It wasn't until more than 10 minutes later that Dumbledore himself intervened, casting a mass silence spell to barely bring the situation under control.

The Aurors, having regrouped, quickly cleared the spectators from the meeting room with the cooperation of the newly elected WAC Executive Committee. The next segment was an internal WAC meeting, where the newly appointed Chairman and the Executive Committee would assign a series of tasks.

This segment was originally intended to be shown publicly, but it's clearly no longer appropriate for them to remain bystanders.

The bystanders left.

But not many of Vaughn's people dispersed.

"What an exciting speech, my dear."

Dumbledore grasped Vaughn's hand, emotionally wiping away his tears, and murmured, "Thought-provoking, awe-inspiring, I knew you wouldn't let me down..."

Vaughn smiled and pried his hand away: "Thank you for the compliment. Besides, the speech has nothing to do with you. I just hope you won't beg me to accept other people's deals next time."

"What a vicious statement, when you yourself agreed to Babajid's proposal."

Vaughn didn't care about Old Deng's complaints.

The second to shake hands was Babajid Akinbad, a man with a striking face and dark skin that made his face look like an obsidian-carved wizard. He shook Vaughn's hand firmly.
"You've impressed me, young man."

“You are more trustworthy than I imagined,” Vaughn said calmly.

Akinbad made a soft, unintelligible sound in his throat, then said in a voice as rough as rock: "The basic framework of things is rules, and strict rules are built on contracts. This is my basic philosophy on how the world works... Don't think too badly of me, young man, but don't think I'll back down either. I'm waiting for you to run WAC well!"

He smiled meaningfully.

Vaughn remained calm and unmoved.

After Akinbad, Vaughn spent a few more minutes thanking the committee members who came to congratulate him, and he also took the opportunity to get to know the other 13 members of the Executive Board.

According to the charter that Vaughn originally formulated for WAC, 6 out of the 10 committee members must be werewolves, in order to ensure that 60% of the seats are not too passive in decisions that concern the overall interests of werewolves.

Meanwhile, Remus Lupin is also among the three vice presidents, which gives the werewolves a relative advantage in the management team.

In fact, this is the result of months of wrangling and compromise among the three parties.

Similarly, the appointment of three vice presidents was also an over-allocation to accommodate each of the werewolves, Wizengamo, and the International Federation.

The vice president of the werewolf faction is Remus Lupin, which goes without saying.

The vice president appointed by Wizengamot is Tiberius Ogden, an old acquaintance of Vaughn's. This old wizard is an old friend of Dumbledore and one of Dumbledore's closest allies in Wizengamot, besides Mrs. Gershilda Marchban.

Vaughn was very satisfied with this choice. It represented both the goodwill of Wizengamot and served as a deterrent. Ogden was too senior, and his fiery temper and strong sense of justice could balance Lupin's relatively passive personality.

The last vice president was nominated by the federation. His name was Pierre Chevalier, and as you can tell from his name, he was French.

Bald, around 60 years old, with an ordinary appearance, looking like those French fishermen in the Provençal countryside sitting on the Mediterranean coast, their faces rosy from the sun.

Very inconspicuous.

He spoke very modestly to Vaughn: "Mr. President Weasley, it would be an honor to serve under you for the next four years."

Don’t reach out to hit the smiling person.

Faced with such a humble attitude, Vaughn could only respond with a polite smile: "It is my good fortune to have your assistance!"

.........

Hermione got out of bed very early in the morning.

After quickly washing up, she hurriedly ran back to her bedroom and opened the window. A moment later, an owl flew in carrying a newspaper.

Its round eyes stared at Hermione.

Hermione recognized it; it was the owl that had driven away after she fed it cat food last time. But she wouldn't mistreat the little guy today.

When she came back last night, she specifically asked Harry to borrow some of Hedwig's snacks, which made Hedwig so angry that she chased after Harry and pecked his hair.

I gave the owl 5 copper nuts and some treats in exchange for a newspaper, leaving the adorable little fellow happily lingering in the house enjoying his snacks.

She opened the newspaper.

The front page featured a photo of Vaughn standing in a beam of light, one hand raised in a fist, surrounded by flashing camera lights and a crowd of people clapping and cheering.

The title is identical to last night's urgent report.

[The WAC election is over, and Vaughn Weasley has been unanimously elected as the first president of the WAC—an unprecedented achievement!]

Unlike last night's brief report, today's front page provided a detailed account of the process, including Vaughn's two speeches, some "twists and turns" in between, and the author's comments:

[...This was an unforgettable night, a solitary sage calling out to the world. But this night was also great, because we heard the sage's voice; we heard his ideals and perseverance, his wisdom and purity, even with a clown like Atkinbad standing in his way...]

The praise and bias between the lines made Hermione's scalp tingle.

She quickly flipped to the second page and saw the author's name—Rita Skeeter—at the bottom of the article, before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

This woman is terrifying!

Suppressing her discomfort and shyness, Hermione quickly finished reading Rita Skeeter's article, then flipped to the second page, where the first page still featured reports about WAC and Vaughn.

However, this report is much more "normal".

[...During the debate, Mr. Vaughn Weasley elaborated on his plans for WAC. From his speech, we can see that this venerable inventor and potion master has a very clear and mature mindset, as well as many incredible creative ideas...]

[But at the same time, he was also sincere. He tried his best to free WAC from its constraints and allow it to stand in the world with a relatively objective and pure identity. He was also keenly aware of the unavoidable flaws and shortcomings of WAC as a new organization and made various plans in advance... As I write this, I feel a deep sense of jealousy.]

I'm envious of Vaughn Weasley's genius. I used to disbelieve in the nonsense of "natural talent," but this 12-year-old wizard has completely changed my mind!

But I envy the werewolves even more. How fortunate they are! Perhaps it is the millennia of suffering that have finally brought them a savior, a messiah who thinks of them in everything, shelters them, guides them, and redeems them… England, when will you find such a leader?

(End of this chapter)