Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 178 Dumbledore's Successor
"It is said that Wilkinson predicted that the Muggles would completely decline from their peak in the coming decades. We have not obtained the specific content of the prophecy, but according to reliable sources, the Magical Congress has accepted Wilkinson's prophecy and formulated a series of plans with the prophecy as the core."

"Do you have a specific plan?" Vaughn asked.

Akinbad shook his head: "No, the 12 purebloods kept the plan strictly confidential, and even used the 'Loyalty Spell.' Under the constraint of the spell, those involved in the plan could not reveal even a single word to anyone other than those in the know."

"Moreover, that was more than 20 years ago. The Federation tried for a while but found that there was no progress in intelligence gathering, so they sealed up the relevant records. If I hadn't heard your previous analysis that the Third Salem might be a bait for the Magic Congress, I wouldn't have remembered this."

Akinbad's expression was grave.

He makes the connection because, currently, all the members of the Third Salem are Muggles.

Based on the limited intelligence the Federation has obtained, the "Wilkinson Prophecy" is most likely a plan targeting Muggles.

This forced him, and even the Federation itself, to think about how many organizations similar to the Third Salem had the Magical Congress created in the 20 years since the "Wilkinson Prophecy" in 1968.

How many Mongol chickens do they actually control?
What do they want to do?
Compared to Akinbad's concerns, Vaughn's thoughts were less complicated.

His concern stemmed from the information revealed by Akinbad, which suddenly reminded him of the fun things that might happen on the internet in the "future."

The term LGBT has evolved to the point where almost half of the 26 letters of the alphabet are now used for various abbreviations.

Therefore, there are more than 90 different genders.

There are also environmental and animal protection organizations that use terrorist attacks to promote environmental protection concepts.

The various magical events that occur in reality are referred to as "magical attacks" on the "future" network, used to describe their magical and unbelievable nature.

But now, judging from the Wilkinson Project revealed by Akinbad... the way the "future" Muggle society has evolved might really involve "magic"?
This……

Vaughn was momentarily at a loss for what expression to make.

Inside the briefcase, Vaughn and Akinbad continued exchanging information, meticulously speculating on all possible scenarios and preparing for any eventuality.

On the banks of the Charles River, the guardian spirit controlled by Vaughn appeared, not just to overhear their conversation, but to meet with them.

The cat-shaped guardian's eyes, like those of the starry sky, gazed at the night sky.

Without alchemical talent, Kingsley and Lupin could not see the silken "nets" hanging down from the sky under the night.

They gathered densely above the forest floor, hovering and circling.

more and more.

The guardian spirit deftly tilted its neck to dodge a drifting "ribbon".

Those people have tightened their surveillance even more!

Squatting on the grass, he remained silent for a long time before asking, "Did you encounter any people who resembled wizards among those Muggles today?"

The two exchanged a glance. "No."

Kingsley hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Mr. Weasley, isn't there something wrong with this so-called Third Salem Movement?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Its timing is very opportune, coinciding with the WAC and the Federation's stay in Boston. Moreover, its membership is quite complex; most of them originally belonged to other organizations and were temporarily sent here. I'm worried..."

"Are you worried it's a bait to lure us in?"

The guardian deity turned around.

Kingsley saw a hint of a smile in those silvery-white eyes that seemed to be inlaid with starlight, and he suddenly realized, "You knew all along?"

The guardian flicked its tail, offering no reply, but simply saying, "Remus, Kingsley, go back to the crowd. Don't worry, there's no danger for now... The people behind this shouldn't be ready to clash with us yet."

Or perhaps they haven't reached a consensus internally.

Vaughn was not surprised by this. The essence of politics is the contest and game of interests between different organizations. This is true between countries, and it is also true within the same country.

Even a unicameral magical parliament cannot take care of everyone's interests or unite everyone under one will.

If someone wants WAC and wants to take the Wolfsbane Potion from him, then there will inevitably be an opposition—regardless of morality, character, or integrity, it may simply be that the opposition doesn't want the other faction to continue to grow stronger!

"However, in any case, dragging it out like this is more in line with my demands. The longer it drags on, the more advantageous it is for me... I need to think of a way to keep this situation going!"

As Vaughn was thinking, the faint light emanating from the guardian suddenly brightened.

The next second, it disintegrated, turning into a large swath of light mist that vanished without a trace before it even hit the ground, just as it had come.

As Kingsley and Lupin watched their Patronus disintegrate and vanish on its own, they both knew that Vaughn had lifted the Patronus curse.

The two exchanged a glance, and Lupin blinked: "Kingsley, what were you talking about with the Chairman just now? What bait?"

"..."

Kingsley suddenly envied Lupin. He was over 30 years old and, although not exactly a blank slate, he hadn't been tainted by those petty, dirty things.

Mr. Weasley also took a liking to him, seemingly enjoying his somewhat naive and straightforward personality.

Unlike myself...

However, having such a "clumsy" person as a colleague... is actually quite good, at least he's a good person.

Everyone likes their friends to be good people!

Therefore, he explained amicably, "Third Salem, they were most likely sent by the Magic Congress to deliberately lure us into this investigation."

"and then?"

"Then there are many more tactics. They might just be trying to attract our attention, or they might be luring us over to deliberately create violent conflict in order to achieve goals such as diverting our attention or smearing us. For example, if those Muggles shoot at you, would you fight back?"

"I will stop them!"

"Who can prove that you only intervened and did not use more force?"

Lupin was somewhat puzzled: "Isn't it enough if I don't hurt anyone?"

Kingsley smiled: "Yes, you can certainly do it, but believe it or not, you won't hurt the person who only tries to stop you, but you'll turn around and be shot eight times and die. Once he's dead, how will you explain yourself?"

"..."

“This is still one possibility. What if there are wizards hiding among those Muggles who suddenly attack you? Would you still be able to stop them without hurting them? Maybe you can say that you can not fight back, which would be even better. They could just kill you and me. In that case, even if Mr. Weasley knew that there was something fishy about the whole incident, he would have to plunge into the conspiracy that had been laid out long ago, because we are his subordinates and he must be responsible for our sacrifice.”

These words sent chills down Lu Ping's spine.

It wasn't just the conspiracy and treachery described in those words, but also because he suddenly understood Vaughn's intention in arranging for them to contact the Third Salem.

Vaughn knew there was something wrong with Third Salem, but he still went along with it by sending them over, clearly to lull the people behind the scenes into a false sense of security and keep the possibility of conflict within a certain range.

This made Lupin feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Seemingly sensing his thoughts, Kingsley patted him on the shoulder: "Don't overthink it. Those in power have more to consider than we do. At least Mr. Weasley hasn't abandoned us. He's even sent a Patronus to accompany us nearby. If anything goes wrong, he'll be able to come to our rescue... Guess what Fudge would do in the same situation?"

There's no need to guess; Umbridge is a prime example.

Vaughn turned her into a toad, and Fudge didn't say a word. In the routine correspondence between the Ministry of Magic and the WAC delegation these days, Umbridge wasn't mentioned at all.

They have the audacity, and a great deal of audacity, to use this as an excuse to bully the Shakel family and plunder their assets!

Kingsley and Lupin's conversation was accurately transmitted to Vaughn's mind on the other side of the city.

Vaughn, who had just seen Akinbad off, smiled slightly.

Kingsley was indeed a very ideal subordinate; he had high emotional intelligence, was sensible, and knew when to advance and retreat.

On the one hand, he wasn't a genuinely kind person. He noticed the problem but dared not speak up, fearing suspicion of sowing discord. He thought that keeping silent was for everyone's benefit, but little did he know that fools were a minority in this world.

Even if he doesn't say it, Lupin will understand later, and his concealment today will sow the seeds of a rift in his working relationship with Lupin.

On the other hand, unlike some self-proclaimed clever people who thought that pointing out Vaughn's ruthless side would make Lupin resentful and ruin his future.

He not only pointed out the significance of the Guardian's appearance and resolved Lupin's inner conflict, but also used Fudge as a comparison—to be honest, anyone with a little moral sense would seem like a saint compared to Fudge, that kind of oddball.

"It's definitely more comfortable using people like this."

With a sigh, Vaughn stopped paying attention to that side.

The situation of Kingsley, Lupin, and Tonks had given him the answer he wanted—whatever the reason, the Magical Congress did not yet have the intention to immediately become hostile to the WAC.

This is good news.

The light of magic shone brightly, and the experiment continued.

Time seemed to stand still in the suitcase. As this round of experiments ended, the progress of side quest ③ on the system panel in my field of vision quietly moved forward another step:
Side Quest 3: Research all the magic of the fire dragons and figure out their basic principles (in progress)

【Progress: 5/10】

[Reward: 100 Magic Scales, Spell Development Module]

Vaughn glanced at the mission progress briefly before flipping to the next page.

[Host: Vaughn Weasley]

[Magic Scale: 594 (500 for an ordinary adult wizard)]

【talent:……】

[The curse: ...]

【curse:……】

[Ancient Magic: Soul Stealing Charm LV0 (1/4), Vorn's Living Disintegration Ritual]

[Alchemy Level 0 (5/20)]

[Potion: ...]

【Reputation Points: 42】

Compared to a few days ago, the spell list is almost unchanged, except for the Ancient Magic section, which now includes a new spell: "Vorn's Living Disintegration Ritual".

It is the method that Vaughn developed for his experiments. Its core is transfiguration, supplemented by potions, various monitoring and observation spells such as the Sense Charm and the Reveal Charm, and some basic and compound rituals that Vaughn borrowed from ancient books.

This eventually led to the creation of this Frankenstein's monster.

However, this does not prevent it from being truly useful. It has a clear structure and uses Muggle scientific concepts, integrating cultivation, observation, and analysis, and plays an extraordinary role in live experiments.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this groundbreaking nature that the system judged it to be a kind of "magic" rather than a simple experimental procedure.

However, it is clearly still immature, or rather, it has borrowed too many "mature" elements, so it cannot be considered a spell. The system only barely classifies it as ancient magic, and it has not even been given a level.

Vaughn believed his knowledge was considerable; he had learned over 500 spells so far, though few were actually usable in combat, with most being life magic or tricks.

But these spells are also cumulative, and can help in understanding the meaning behind the pronunciation of various spells and the effects that can be caused by the trajectory of a wand swing.

Even so, his research on live experiments was not successful. At least for the time being, he was unable to condense the "Vorn Live Dissociation Ritual" into the originally envisioned "Dissociation Spell".

"Time, time... we still need the spell development module!"

He sighed inwardly, then stopped thinking about it and looked at another place where things had changed—the reputation points!

"42 points... Today is August 12th. Reputation points are settled around the middle of each month. The date is fine. The previous monthly growth trend was 20 points. Now it's 22 points more than last time. That means it's growing 2 points more each month."

This undoubtedly expanded the reach of his fame once again.

It should be due to the establishment of WAC, the implementation of the "International Trade System for Wolfsbane Medicine", and the impact of his delegation's visit to North America.

Looking at the points, Vaughn didn't touch them.

"At the current pace, completing side quest ③ in the near future should be no problem. Even if the fire dragons are physiologically different, their core evolutionary logic and fundamental blood energy system are largely the same. The research and development will only accelerate, as long as the other 5 fire dragons are delivered in time." The mission is nearing completion, and the spell development module is about to be obtained.

Vaughn was unsure what conditions were required for the spell development module, but by inertia, it was impossible for the module to be used without incurring costs.

If we consider modules as machines and consumables as energy, the only things he currently possesses that meet this condition, besides magic power, are reputation points.

So even though there are still many spells that require reputation points, Vaughn left them behind to avoid the awkward situation of completing the quest, obtaining the module, but being unable to use it.

"Now we're just waiting for Oliver and the others to bring my fire dragon."

The wait wasn't too long.

Next, while shifting his focus to studying werewolves, Vaughn also multitasked by having his Patronus keep an eye on Kingsley, Lupin, Tonks, and the third Salem.

They remained largely unchanged. The next day, the Third Salem continued to organize a march, and that night, as before, a group of people gathered in the wild to party, drink, and make merry.

Vaughn's guardian spirit remained hidden in the shadows, watching Kingsley and Lupin, who wore masks of pain, while having to feign compliance with those oddballs, and found it not tedious at all.

Then, on the same night, Oliver arrived with a fire dragon.

Emerging from the underwater "ghost ship," the sea before my eyes was not as clear and blue as it appeared on land or from a ship.

Boston has been built for over 200 years, and the Bay Area has accumulated countless amounts of household waste, including various plastics, cardboard, glass, tires, building materials, broken bicycles, and lumps of cement pillars that look out of place and strange.

Leading a few of his men, Oliver left the "ghost ship" and disdainfully walked around a concrete pillar in front of him—even though his entire body was made of a mutated form of the Bubble Head Curse, making him look like he was wrapped in an inflatable suit of bubbles, and he couldn't touch the seawater at all.

Because he knew very well that those cement pillars were "sealed" with the corpses of Muggle chickens.

This is a favorite practice of American gangsters—cheap, efficient, and discreet. After all, nobody would bother going out into the ocean to retrieve a heavy lump of cement.

The people of Boston should be thankful they live by the sea, rather than near a freshwater lake or reservoir. At least seawater is undrinkable, while freshwater lakes and reservoirs might be safer...

They swam along the seabed to the port area, then surfaced, took out their flying brooms, and slowly flew into the air.

Following Oliver, a burly wizard complained, "Could we take the land route next time? Or spend less time underwater? I feel like I can smell something rotten in my breath."

Beside him, a shorter witch with gray hair nodded in agreement: "Yes, it was like walking through a graveyard, ugh—"

"The scuba diving mantra does not come into contact with any substances in the seawater. The only substance that can enter the mantra is dissolved oxygen in the water, which is very clean."

At the back of the group, a young wizard with short blond hair pushed up his glasses and explained in a serious tone.

The burly man and the witch rolled their eyes at his explanation.

“Oh my god, Clint, we were just venting.”

"Look at you, you're as boring as a Muggle scholar!"

As the team leader, Oliver ignored the team members' complaints and grumbles. He looked around and saw that Boston Harbor was much quieter at night than during the day. The berths in the distance were filled with ships of all sizes, and in the deep-water harbor further away, only one cruise ship was emitting its bright lights.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet."

Oliver turned around and instructed his team members, "We're going to Mr. Weasley's place now. Everyone, stay close to me. Clint, what's the situation with the surveillance in this city?"

Upon hearing his words, Clint pushed up his glasses, and a glint of light appeared in his eyes.

Clint looked up at the sky and shook his head at Oliver: "The sky is full of 'ribbons,' the whole city is surrounded..."

He paused, then pointed to the city center and then to the Charles River: "My talent is only so-so. I can only vaguely see that those two sides are the key areas of concern. The city center should be the hotel where Mr. Weasley is staying. I don't know about the Charles River."

"So blatant?"

"Not really, after all, those with alchemical talent are still a minority." Clint shrugged. "Besides, hasn't the Magical Congress always been this arrogant? Those Yankees always act like it's nothing when they do these things. If you can't find them, they pretend they don't exist. If you do find them, they can still shamelessly ignore it. Otherwise, how did the Dreamcatcher get its reputation? Any wizard who has ever been to America knows the name of this alchemical marvel!"

"call--"

Oliver sighed in annoyance: "No weak points?"

"At least apart from the sea area where we are now, I haven't sensed it anywhere else."

Before Oliver could ask anything more, the gray-haired witch couldn't help but interject: "Captain, the family only asked us to cooperate with Weasley. This time, you not only brought the ghost ship, but also recruited all the family's manpower in North America... Isn't that going too far?"

Upon hearing this, both the burly wizard and Clint looked at Oliver.

Clearly, the gray-haired witch's question reflected their own doubts.

Oliver opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

It's worth mentioning the composition of the squad he led.

The group did not come from the same family. Oliver was from the Greenwell family, the strong wizard and the gray-haired witch were from the Baird family, and Clint was from the McLean family.

The reason why these families were able to come together can be traced back to the time of Voldemort.

As is well known, in the eyes of the Death Eaters, no wizard outside of the Holy 28 races is considered human.

Therefore, the Greenwell, Baird, and other wizarding families not recognized by the Holy 28 had secretly formed an alliance more than a decade ago when Voldemort ravaged England, uniting under Dumbledore to deal with the rejection and attacks from the pure-bloods.

Even after Voldemort fell from power and the Death Eaters were wiped out, the Little Alliance did not disband.

On the one hand, everyone suspected that Voldemort was still alive, and the catastrophe in the wizarding world might return at any time—of course, two months ago, it was confirmed that Voldemort was indeed not dead.

On the other hand, the purge of the Death Eaters was not thorough. Although the pure-blood families suffered heavy losses, their power was not greatly diminished, and the smaller families still needed to stick together for mutual support.

Furthermore, after the formation of these small alliances, these families shared resources and exchanged information, and everyone tasted the benefits of unity.

This goes without saying; each family has its own area of ​​expertise.

For example, Oliver's family, the Greenwell family, has always been keen on expanding its branches, with branches distributed throughout the magical world of Europe and North America. Through these branches, the Greenwell family can help other families within the Small Alliance to expand their businesses to Europe and North America.

Baird is similar; their ancestors were Muggle nobles with a strong foundation in both Muggle society and the magical world. In short, this foundation is wealth.

It's like a treasury for the smaller alliance.

The McLean family has a history of producing many alchemists, making them a renowned alchemical family in the traditional sense. Within the Small Alliance, they are positioned as producers.

This model of alliances, where each family plays a different role, brings more benefits than drawbacks, so the continued existence of these small alliances is only natural.

However, their relationship only remained at the stage of mutual benefit!

The Little Alliance is not a Death Eater; they do not share the Death Eaters' unified goal of "eternal purity" and "returning magic to pure blood."

Without a unified goal and program, it is naturally difficult to reach a consensus on some issues.

When cooperation was limited to business in the past, this situation of "difficulty in reaching a consensus" was not yet prominent.

Until some more difficult problems arose:
For example, the different families had different attitudes toward helping Vaughn Weasley.

Clint and his two companions received orders from their family a few days earlier, instructing them to temporarily set aside their work and follow Oliver's instructions to "assist" Mr. Vaughn Weasley, who was visiting North America.

They were unclear about the extent of the so-called help, because the family's tone was ambiguous, without clear requirements or direction.

Only Oliver was different.

A month earlier, when he was ordered by his family to buy a fire dragon for Vaughn, the head of the family, George Greenwell, had told him to "do his best"!
A week ago, when the family sent him an encrypted letter, appointing him to lead a team to support Vaughn Weasley, it still had only one meaning:
Give it your all!
[...Dumbledore made it clear that he would pass the leadership of the Alliance to Vaughn Weasley... This was a perplexing decision in the eyes of the Baird, MacLean, and Ross families. Perhaps it was arrogance, or perhaps hesitation about Weasley's age; in any case, they did not show enough respect for this future leader.]

But is my nephew, a wizard recognized by Dumbledore as his successor, a wizard acknowledged by both Aldridge Travers and Barty Crouch, not enough to command our respect? Moreover, his achievements far exceed what is expected of his age…

[Perhaps the long period of peace has made the Baird, McLean, Ross, and other families forget what irresistible power is. As far as I know, they have quite a few complaints about helping Mr. Weasley, including about buying the dragon. These arrogant fellows think that our future leader is infringing on their interests... How foolish!]

[However, this might not be a bad thing for us. Aldridge Travers has already gotten ahead of us, trying to stand out from Mr. Weasley. With these fools as a contrast, our loyalty only seems more precious... Of course, I don't want internal strife within the team. Your task is to concentrate all your abilities to assist Mr. Weasley. Internal strife under this premise is a very short-sighted behavior and will not help you highlight your abilities. But at the same time, I believe you have enough wisdom to make our future leader realize who his loyal followers are, right?]

The letter from the head of the family, who was also his uncle, and the hidden meaning in the letter came to mind.

Oliver had mixed feelings.

According to his uncle, what he should do is ignore all opposition, do his job well for Mr. Weasley, and at the same time, make things difficult for the other families in front of Mr. Weasley.

That's the only way to maximize Greenwell's profits.

But these people around him are all his old friends...

They had been running the alliance's business in North America together for several years. In this unfamiliar country, they didn't get much support from their families and could only rely on each other.

Especially since last year, North America has been effectively divided.

Attacks, massacres, populism, revanchism... all sorts of rabble run rampant in this country. As foreign wizards, they have encountered countless dangers and overcome countless difficulties together.

If possible, he didn't want the three of them to miss the opportunity because of their respective families' ambiguous attitudes.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at his companions, and instead of answering the gray-haired witch, asked, "Last time you met Mr. Weasley with me, what kind of person did you think he was?"

The three of them looked at each other.

Clint pushed up his glasses: "From what I know, he's a very powerful potions master, a scholar with exceptional theoretical knowledge, innovative abilities, and practical experience!"

This is a typical personal perspective.

Oliver nodded and looked at the gray-haired witch: "Melody, what about you?"

The gray-haired witch Melody tilted her head and pondered, saying, "I haven't had much contact with him and can only rely on rumors. What impressed me most about him is that he is quite shrewd and a very politically astute wizard."

"Zack?"

“Me…” The burly wizard named Zack scratched his head. “I’m different from both of them. In my memory, he… should be a powerful wizard? I’m not sure. Remember when I told you? Last time when the fire dragon was delivered, it was me and that wizard under him named Lupin who transferred the fire dragon into the suitcase. Betty almost lost control of her bladder the moment she saw him… You know how smart Betty is, she’s practically human.”

As he spoke, he scratched his head and laughed, "To be honest, I'm quite grateful to him for not killing Betty."

Betty is the name Zak gave to the Hungarian wood bee.

He really liked fire dragons, but of course he didn't dare disobey his family's orders. Even though he knew that the fire dragons he bought would likely meet a bad end when they were delivered to Vaughn, he still carried out his family's orders.

Hearing the three completely different answers, Oliver showed no surprise, but instead became even more serious: "That's the problem. Potions master, politics, magic... He has made a deep impression on you in three areas. Is that normal?"

"..."

The three exchanged a glance, and suddenly felt a sense of dread.

Yes!

They had rarely spoken to each other about Vaughn Weasley before, and had no idea that Vaughn Weasley might be seen differently by others than by them.

Is this normal?

Of course it's not normal!
Only when a person becomes exceptionally strong in a particular field will they generate rumors and leave a lasting impression on others.

What's more, Vaughn Weasley is only 12 years old!
After the three of them had digested a little, Oliver continued:
“I shouldn’t have said this, but we are friends, partners who have been through thick and thin together. I can’t watch you be dragged down by your families.” Oliver looked around at his teammates and lowered his voice: “Dumbledore has already decided that he will hand over the leadership of the Alliance to Vaughn Weasley in the future.”

"What……"

"Damn it, when did this happen?"

"I've never heard of it."

The three of them looked surprised.

Oliver sighed. "He made it clear at an alliance meeting a few months ago, but obviously your family is resistant to the decision and didn't even tell you."

Not everyone can be deeply involved in family affairs.

While Clint, Melody, and Zach are considered mid-level members of the family, they are clearly not involved enough in decision-making.

A minute ago, they might not have felt anything about the news, but after Oliver had just asked them individually what they thought of Vaughn.

Their thinking has changed somewhat.

(End of this chapter)