Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 176 Prophecy and the Rise of the Magic World

Everyone went mad; this wizard could belong to any faction.

Despair gradually settled over her. The wizard didn't speak again, but just stood beside her, seemingly waiting for something.

After a long while, someone flew over, bringing a strong wind that stirred up the dust on the ground.

Isabella overheard their conversation:

"We caught another one!"

"Yes, the route is clear, we're heading to Boston."

Is it a werewolf?

"It doesn't seem like it. She can shapeshift, maybe she's an Animagus. Werewolves seem to be unable to learn this kind of magic because of the werewolf virus."

"Huh? You actually read Vaughn Weasley's paper? Werewolf virus... Ugh, a term imported from the Mudbloods, it sounds disgusting!"

"You've seen it too, haven't you? I think his theories have some merit. Let's not talk about him anymore. What should we do with this witch?"

The wizard who had just arrived remained silent, seemingly hesitant, before finally replying, "Take him back... It would be a waste to kill him."

"Are they short of materials again?"

"Hmm." The man seemed unwilling to talk more. As the air currents swirled, he seemed to fly up again. "Be careful on the way. The werewolves seem to have noticed our hunt. The full moon is approaching, and these beasts are getting stronger and stronger. What does the Weasley call it again—the activation period? It seems that with the arrival of the full moon, the werewolf virus will stimulate their bodies and magic."

"Ha, I knew it, you've seen more than I have."

"Long-winded!"

The sound faded into the distance, and Isabella felt herself float up again. The wizard who had captured her conjured a rope and tied her to the flying broom while she lay on her back.

“Damn America…why did I ever think of coming here? Oh yes, my dear aunt invited me, how wonderful…”

"I shouldn't have trusted anyone from that family. They said they'd accompany me on a tour of America after I arrived, a truly epic adventure, but when I got here, I couldn't find them anywhere..."

Silently complaining, listening to the whistling of the flying broom cutting through the sky, she couldn't help but curse the Magic Congress in her heart.

Those bastards confiscated her flying broom under the pretext of control after she entered the country. If she still had the broom, she wouldn't have been living like a wild beast these past few days, exposed to the elements...

Oh, no!

"With the Dreamcatcher there, even a flying broomstick can't cross the border... Damn Magic Congress! Dictatorship, corruption, disgusting, they even registered my wand... Wait!"

Isabella suddenly woke up.

How were you initially discovered?

All the way from Minnesota to New York State, in order to avoid the purges, she almost always kept her shapeshifting magic active, except when she was in deserted mountains and woodlands.

Even if one day, due to maintaining the cat form for too long, her consciousness was distorted by her body's instincts, and she truly began to see herself as a cat, she never considered stopping the transformation.

Based on past experience, the probability of her being discovered should be very low.

Her wand has been tampered with!

When the Magical Congress registered her wand, there was a statement that her wand would be marked, but this magical method had already been removed by the members of the resistance organization months ago when she joined.

But the reality now tells her that things are not that simple.

Recalling the organization's sudden annihilation and the immediate annihilation of all its secret strongholds, Isabella already had a guess about the answer.

But it's too late to realize this now.

"Sigh... why call it America? It should just be called Hell..."

Isabella stared helplessly at the sky.

Silently gazing at the moon, a dejected Isabella suddenly thought of Vaughn and how they met.

It wasn't really that dramatic. It was just about a bored girl who had nothing to do after graduation. Because she was obsessed with potions, she subscribed to the magazine "Extraordinary Potions" and found a little-known paper in it with a very unique perspective.

At that time, Vaughn was not yet famous, and his paper did not even attract the attention of the industry. Only a few editors who were responsible for reviewing the paper wrote some editor's notes and the like. There were some support and some rebuttals, but nothing much happened.

Only when she was bored, as if she had discovered a new continent, did she gradually generate buzz by writing letters to communicate with Vaughn and using different aliases to criticize the editors who refuted Vaughn's paper.

Wizards are much like Muggles; they can't stand reading serious technical articles, but they're quite into controversy and arguments.

That's why Rita Skeeter was able to thrive in the wizarding world!

Isabella disliked Rita Skeeter, but she heard that Rita Skeeter suddenly started supporting Vaughn. Others didn't know why, but Isabella had a vague idea.

Perhaps Rita Skeeter has already been recruited by him!

She remembered their first correspondence, their first meeting, and their first afternoon tea in the Lovegood family's orchard.

His maturity and wisdom made it impossible for Isabella to treat him like a child.

He is a leader with great personal charisma.

Lost in her memories, Isabella noticed the wind was getting quieter and came to her senses. Finally, she had other reference points in her field of vision, which had only included the sky and the moon.

The treetops are constantly receding.

Seemingly approaching its destination, the flying broom descended.

Gradually, streetlights and neon lights began to appear.

There was also the sound of cars whizzing by.

After a while, the flying broom finally slowed down completely and stopped in front of a small building. The gate of the courtyard of the small building opened, and someone came out to greet them.

"Good evening, Georgie. Why did you bring back a live one?"

Isabella heard the middle-aged wizard, known as George, reply, "It's not a werewolf. It would be a waste to kill it. I'm going to send it over there."

"Are they short of materials again?" the person who greeted them asked casually.

Georgie gave a mumbled response, followed by a soft incantation.

Isabella felt the ropes binding her loosen, and a levitation spell lifted her up, allowing her to follow behind the two.

The person who was there to greet her made a point of coming over and glancing at Isabella.

Isabella saw him too.

He was an unremarkable bald, fat man, wearing a plaid shirt, rolled-up sleeves and an apron, exuding a down-to-earth vibe, looking more like a Muggle than a wizard.

Isabella felt that the outfit looked familiar, very much like the disguises of several underground safe house owners she had encountered.

"Perhaps this is a secret outpost of the Magical Congress set up in a Muggle town?"

she thought.

Beside her, the bald, fat man glanced at her a few times, then smiled at Georgie:

"She's quite pretty, with black hair and blue eyes. She might be French. Maybe you should consider talking to her and starting a family together."

Georgie seemed too lazy to pay attention to his teasing, and as he led Isabella into the courtyard, he asked, "Has the others returned? I heard from Joe that the werewolves seem to have discovered our movements? What happened?"

"Yes, things are a bit bad. This afternoon, our outer patrol noticed signs of a magical battle in a forest. They found two bodies there... You probably don't know them, Norton and Haley, a pair of bastards. They're dead. Judging from the scene, those two guys were ambushed. At least 10 wizards shot spells at them. The images from the wands show that they only had time to cast the Ironclad Charm before being overwhelmed by a large amount of magic in an instant."

Georgie paid no attention to the unfamiliar dead man: "Are you sure it was done by a werewolf?"

"Of course, I went to the scene and saw the werewolf's mark—claw marks that scratched the tree bark. I can't think of anyone else who would deliberately leave such a mark except for those wild beasts. Surely no one would frame them?"

Given the current situation in the United States, there is no need to shift the blame.

The armed forces of each anti-magic congress wished they could take the blame for every attack on the magic congress, as that was how they made their name!

Georgie only subconsciously raised some questions, because in his view, being ambushed by werewolves was rather counterintuitive.

"Those beasts have always lacked organization and discipline, how did they suddenly unite?"

"It's unclear at the moment; we'll probably have to wait for further investigation."

"What did they say?"

"What else can we say? We're just told to be careful, but the hunt for werewolves must continue... Damn Weasley, he's entangled with the Federation and has an officially recognized visitor status. The higher-ups haven't reached a conclusion on how to deal with him, which is just a hardship for us unlucky guys on the front lines."

"What's there to argue about? Hmph, just an official title is enough to make them cower in fear!"

"Some gentlemen still care about their international image, that's just how politics is. Let's not talk about such unpleasant things. I just made some food. You've been busy all day, take a rest and wait for everyone to come back."

"Thank you, let me take care of this lady first."

Isabella, who was listening intently, felt a jolt in her heart as she saw George approach her, his raised wand emitting a fleeting red light.

Then, darkness descended.

Stunning Curse!
hateful!

The girl, desperate to know more about Vaughn, drifted into a deep, unconscious sleep, and her world fell into silence.

This situation continued for an unknown period of time until, at some point, a series of noisy sounds gradually arose from the boundless darkness.

Isabella struggled to regain consciousness like a drowning person, and finally, her senses returned.

"Joe? Joe? What happened? How did he get injured like this?"

"Damn it, don't yell at me. How should I know? He was already like this when I met him."

"You encountered someone? There's no one else nearby?"

"No, no one. His flying broom was dragging him around in the sky, I..."

"Idiot! Idiot! Is your head filled with shit? Joe is bait! Georgie, tell everyone!"

Noise, clamor, and flickering lights.

Overwhelmed by a flood of sensory information, Isabella, who had just woken up, had a splitting headache, but she still forced herself to keep her eyes wide open.

The senses gradually adapted to everything.

She finally saw that she was trapped inside something, a container that looked like a coffin. It was enchanted, and in her magical vision, she could see chain-like patterns crisscrossing and coiling on the inner wall in front of her. The container had an observation window, presumably designed to check on her condition.

This also made it convenient for her to look outside through the observation window.

It was a scene of utter chaos!

"Ouch - ow -"

A wolf-like howl came from afar, a howl that seemed to tear through the night.

Following closely behind, more and more wolf howls rang out from all directions.

"Werewolf—"

Someone screamed.

The wizards in the courtyard immediately became agitated. Although they had hunted many werewolves in recent days, it was clear that when the number of werewolves reached a certain level...

Even these butchers feel fear!

Amidst the howling of wolves, a deafening roar erupted.

The courtyard wall was blown up!
Amidst the rising debris and dust, several sharp-looking figures appeared in the smoke, accompanied by crackling sounds that seemed to distort space.

"Avada—Kedavra!"

A terrifying green light suddenly rushed into the crowd.

"what!"

Several screams rang out from the crowd. Suddenly, an undefendable killing curse struck down several unfortunate souls in an instant.

This also completely ignited the wizards' fear.

All sorts of magical lights appeared, accompanied by shouts, wails, and screams...

One after another, dozens of werewolf wizards appeared around, traversing space. Some wizards from the Magic Congress also abandoned their companions and Apparated away.

The chaos caused by the battle reached its peak almost instantly, and then quickly subsided.

Soon, the battle came to an end.

Flames spread under the moonlight, and the smoke from the explosion was still billowing. Some of the wizards who had been standing in the courtyard had disappeared, perhaps they had teleported away, or perhaps their bodies had vanished without a trace.

There were fewer than ten people left, including Georgie, some sitting, some lying down, some motionless, and some still groaning.

And all around, behind the raging flames, were ragged wizards.

The firelight illuminated their eyes, making them look like a pack of predators hunting their prey!

A tall Black man walked in from outside the yard, the orange flames parting at his feet. He approached Georgie and the bald, fat man. Both were badly injured; Georgie was missing an arm.

The fat man seemed to have suffered internal injuries, spitting out mouthfuls of blood.

In the bright firelight, the black man remained expressionless. He surveyed the two men's injuries, pointed at the bald, fat man, and turned to instruct, "He seems to be of higher status; he can stay. And this one—"

"Pah!" Perhaps knowing his fate, Georgie spat at him. "Beast!"

The black man's face suddenly darkened.

But he didn't get angry. He just grinned, revealing his snow-white, menacing teeth: "Since you despise us and think we are beasts, then let's keep you until the full moon... Let him experience for himself what it's like to gradually become a beast. What do you say?"

"Hahaha--"

His suggestion was clearly endorsed by the others around him, who whistled and cheered.

Georgie's face grew paler and paler. He howled, trying to struggle and curse, but a wizard came up, gagged him, and dragged him away.

The bald, fat man was also dragged away.

The Black man straightened up, looked around, and shouted, "My brothers and sisters, search this building and the surrounding houses, and see if these scum are imprisoning any of our compatriots."

At his call, the werewolf wizards sprang into action.

Inside the room, Isabella trembled slightly. The wizards of the Magic Council were either dead or had fled; she should have been happy.

At least she no longer has to be sent to some mysterious place in Georgiero.

but……

Looking out the window at those ferocious werewolf wizards, Isabella didn't feel that her situation was any better!
She is not Vaughn, nor is she some kind of person with an unrealistic, overly compassionate heart. Based on her education and understanding, while there may be good werewolves, they are more likely to be lawless thugs!

Especially the werewolves of America.

But her situation left her with nothing to do but watch anxiously as a disheveled witch, wand in hand, opened the door to the room.

The witch glanced at the two children hanging in the room and Isabella locked in a coffin, then paused, saying, "Peters, you'd better come and see for yourself."

"how?"

The black man walked over into the yard, and to Isabella's surprise, he paused for a moment when he saw her.

Isabella didn't have the energy to think about why; she blinked frantically, hoping these people would at least let her say something.

From Georgie's previous conversations with others, she still didn't understand why the people of the Magic Council were hunting werewolves.

But she could at least guess why the werewolves were heading to Boston.

Because Vaughn is there!
Even though she didn't know much about werewolves, Isabella knew how important Vaughn and his WAC, and his wolfsbane potion, were to werewolves.

please!
Please allow me to say a word!

Isabella blinked desperately at her only movable eye.

To her despair, neither the witch nor the black man looked at her again as they walked out of the room.

Then... he pulled out a phone that was as big as a brick:
“Ms. Pandora, we…we think we’ve found the witch you mentioned…yes, she looks a lot like the one in the photo…”

……

With another full moon experiment concluded, Vaughn fell into deep thought.

"What's wrong? Is the research not going well?"

The sound coming from the rest area in the distance interrupted Vaughn's thoughts. He turned around and saw Akinbad holding a pot of tea, leisurely waving at him under the huge canopy of the oak tree.

Vaughn, somewhat exasperated, temporarily suppressed his doubts and walked over: "Don't you have anything else to do?"

"Of course there are many things, but I don't like the outside environment," the old wizard said with a smile. "Just thinking about someone watching my every move from the sky makes me very uncomfortable. Don't tell me you're hiding here because you're really engrossed in your research and there's no other reason."

When he exposed him, Vaughn remained unfazed: "I have a lot of research tasks, unlike you who have so much free time. The existence of the dreamcatcher is only one of the reasons."

"Ha, you really do have alchemical talent. I knew you'd been hiding here all this time because you saw those 'nets' hanging down from the sky. You cunning brat, you didn't even warn me."

"The Federation has coveted America for centuries, so don't tell me you don't know about dreamcatchers."

Akinbad poured Vaughn a cup of tea and said helplessly, "There's a difference between being able to see it and not being able to see it. At least you people with alchemical talents can know when the Dreamcatcher will appear, but we can't sense it at all."

As he spoke, he sighed, “Every time I come to America, I can deeply understand why Muggles are afraid of wizards… The unknown is what’s most frightening.”

Vaughn took a sip of tea: "You have a good ability to adjust your mindset. I thought what I told you before would make you worry for a while."

“After decades of ups and downs, my mentality has been toughened up.” Akinbad smiled. “You’re the one who’s amazing. Your friend is stranded in America, his fate unknown, and you’re not worried at all. And those werewolves, the Magic Congress can think of things we can think of too. Aren’t you worried that Woolworth Building will use you to stop those werewolves from coming?”

Vaughn's expression remained unchanged as he calmly sipped his tea.

Akinbad suddenly realized: "You have other helpers outside?"

Vaughn smiled but didn't answer, though his meaning was clear.

As early as the beginning of summer vacation, he arranged for Pandora Lovegood to come to America, and she was "smuggled" in through Muggle channels.

He was leading a delegation himself, and the business he was doing involved dealing with officials, so he needed to have an officially recognized identity.

Pandora doesn't need that; she's very powerful and knows all sorts of strange and wonderful spells that she's researched herself.

In addition, Vaughn's high-profile visit to North America attracted a lot of attention from both the government and the public, so a "foreign tourist" wandering alone would probably go unnoticed.

This makes it easier for her to do things.

For example, investigating Isabella's whereabouts, or Vaughn's arrival in America, triggering the greedy desires and sensitive nerves of everyone from the Magical Congress to the civilian militia.

First, recruit a group of werewolf wizards!
Vaughn was never one to passively accept things...

"I have received authorization from the Federation to gather all personnel in the American Commonwealth. They will be arriving soon. When will you be ready?"

After a few casual words, Akinbad's expression turned serious, and he asked...

For him, the most important task at present is dealing with those suspected artificial wizards, the "Purgers," and the Federation also attaches great importance to their reports.

Wizards are the foundation of the magical world.

Any action that could potentially shake this fundamental principle would provoke the hostility of vested interests, and without a doubt, the Federation, as the only supranational organization in the world, is the biggest beneficiary of this situation.

Its rise to power and suppression of major magical nations such as England, France, and the United States was due to the strong support of the large number of wizards gathered from the remaining smaller countries.

The wizarding population is the core foundation of the Federation. Therefore, although the Federation has always promoted the Law of Secrecy, it has never tried to separate the wizarding world from Muggle society like some pure-bloods do.

The expansion of the wizarding population is closely related to Muggles, and the Federation is not that short-sighted!

Now that the Federation is on high alert after learning that the United States may be creating something like artificial wizards, it agreed almost without hesitation when Akinbad contacted the Federation to gather all its forces.

Even if Akinbad's demands would expose their undercover agents in America and destroy more than 200 years of hard work, they would not hesitate!

Vaughn was well aware of Akinbad's urgency; the Federation would never allow the existence of "artificial wizards."

Or rather, we cannot allow the technology of artificial wizards to be in the hands of a magical superpower like the United States!

They are not only afraid that the United States will take this opportunity to grow bigger, but they also have to consider the issue of technology diffusion. Once a new technology emerges, the possibility of leakage and diffusion becomes infinitely large.

What stage has the technology of "artificial wizards" reached? What is the success rate? What is the cost? Are there sufficient technological barriers?
These are probably the questions they are most eager to know.

Similarly, Vaughn wanted to know these things as well.

So when Akinbad approached him to propose a collaboration, he did not refuse.

“I have already notified the families I am working with. In the next couple of days, they will bring their people from America under the guise of delivery.”

Sipping his tea slowly, Vaughn no longer hid anything: "My men have recruited a group of werewolves, and they will arrive in Boston soon. However, as you said, Woolworth Building won't just sit and wait for me to gather my forces; they probably already know about my actions..."

Dreamcatcher's all-pervasive surveillance has temporarily prevented Vaughn from contacting Pandora.

Although it was unclear what was going on with Pandora, based solely on his analysis of the situation, Vaughn could deduce that the closer she and the werewolves got to Boston, the greater the resistance they would encounter.

The steam from the teacup rose gently.

His gaze pierced through the rising steam as Vaughn looked ahead, but what he saw was a different picture—what the guardian spirit outside was seeing.

On the rooftop, a silver-blue cat squinted its eyes; the world within its sight was completely obscured by a curtain hanging from the clouds above.

Alchemical symbols twinkled in the night sky, densely packed, like stars fallen to earth.

Like silk fluttering in the wind, they glide smoothly and invisibly over every building, every inch of space, and every corner of the city.

Boston has become a walled city!

……

Under the same night sky, in New York.

Even late at night, this international metropolis remains brightly lit.

"Mongol..."

As the luxury limousine slowly drove along Fifth Avenue, Michael Graves, with one arm resting on the window, looked out at the world of Muggles on either side of the road.

The polite smile he had when he met Vaughn and Akinbad was gone from his face; his expression was stern, serious, and cold.

This seems to be his true nature.

Cars roared past, and no Muggles noticed the slow-moving private car, but they still instinctively gave way.

Even though one of them was clearly fleeing.

"Woo——"

The sirens of the police car swept past, and the flashing red and blue lights made Michael Graves frown. A short while later, he heard gunshots coming from afar.

bang bang bang-

Gunshots quickly filled the air, and people screamed and ran away from both sides of the road, while others cheered loudly, either drunk or delirious.

A look of disgust flashed across Michael Graves's face: "...They're all filthy, despicable creatures!"

Why do chickens exist in the world?
Even more absurdly, wizards can be born among Muggles!
He hated Muggles, ever since he was a child, loathing their stupidity, anti-intellectualism, arrogance, and madness... He was born when Muggles were entering their so-called golden age, and throughout his childhood, he never saw any bright humanity in them.

He only saw them living a life of debauchery, lost, degenerate, and insane in abundant material possessions and hedonism.

The 60s were a turning point.

Before the 60s, the Commonwealth magical community generally believed that Muggles were the greatest enemy of wizards. After the 60s, this trend changed—of course, it was the purebloods' perceptions that changed.

"...The barren spirit of the Muggles cannot keep up with the productivity they have. They call themselves one of the two poles of the world, but look at what their younger generation has done? Alcohol, drugs, sensual pleasures, and what about hippies... The Muggles are deeply mired in the revelry of entertainment to the death and consumerism."

"They claim to have reached the pinnacle, but I see them about to fall into the abyss. The monster of capital has already opened its bloody maw, and so-called 'freedom' will eventually face a backlash. This process may take decades, but it will surely come, because I saw it in the prophecy..."

This is a speech given by then-Member Patrick Wilkinson at a congressional session in 1968 on whether to reinstate the Rappaport Act.

The Wilkinson family, one of the twelve original Aurors, controls the Department of Mysteries at Woolworth House, just as the Graves family does.

Unlike the Department of Mysteries in England, the Department of Mysteries does not have a silencing mechanism. All the prophets and alchemists under its command obey only Wilkinson's will!

The Muggles are destined to decline, swallowed up by the prosperity they themselves created. At that time, it will be the opportunity for the magic world to rise and solve its deep-seated problems once and for all!

Patrick Wilkinson's speech laid the foundation for a series of subsequent policies of the Magical Congress.

This includes the reinstatement of the Rappaport Act, and even the drafting of a series of laws to strengthen the segregation of wizards and Muggles, such as the First Amendment and the Second Amendment to the Rappaport Act. It also includes plans to crack down on the Vanguard organization and infiltrate the Muggle government.

As it turns out, Wilkinson's predictions to Congress back then were correct.

The car chase and gunfight ahead gradually subsided, but the suspect did not seem to be dead. A man's frantic roar could be faintly heard from the other side, and the Muggles who had been scattering and fleeing gathered around him again.

The luxury limousine, maintaining its constant speed, slowly drove through the area where the crowd had gathered. Michael heard onlookers shouting:

"What right do you have to pin him down? Even if he's a criminal, shooting civilians in the street..."

"You should treat him!"

"My God, this is so cruel!"

"..."

Michael's face twitched; even now, he couldn't understand the Muggles' thought process.

"Fools sacrificed by capital..."

That's the only way he can describe it.

Ignoring the growing commotion of the Muggles by the roadside, Michael opened a document in his hand.

This is a report.

(End of this chapter)