Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 36 Hagrid's Message

The last heavy rain before winter in the Scottish Highlands fell on Hogwarts in early October.

It was the night of the Slytherin practice match.

Wood sat alone in the empty Quidditch pitch, drenched in the rain, as if he wanted to drown.

Everyone knew that Wood regarded Slytherin as a strong rival and the biggest enemy standing in the way of his dream of "winning the Quidditch Cup before graduation". He thought that Gryffindor was secure with Harry, but after seeing Vaughn's performance, Wood fell into despair again.

Harry would rather he didn't despair...

From that day on, the Quidditch training arranged by Wood became even more crazy.

If he didn't still have a bit of rationality, he would even wish that everyone would not attend any classes and concentrate on practicing Quidditch every day!
The crazy result was that Harry was completely miserable.

Not only does he have to cope with an increasingly heavy workload, but he also has to attend Quidditch training four nights a week.

One day in mid-October, the haggard and emaciated Harry finally ran into Vaughan again. He seemed to have returned to his busy state recently, and he would never be seen after class.

Vaughn was startled by the dark circles under Harry's eyes. "What have you been doing?"

Harry gave him a sad look and said listlessly, "Homework, training... Don't Slytherins have to train?"

"Any more than that every Wednesday night is inappropriate and will affect your form."

"It's great that Flint, who looks fierce, stupid and foolish, actually understands this principle."

Vaughn didn't say anything. He was the one who set the training plan. Flint certainly disagreed, so he was taught a lesson by Flint with a disarming spell. Then Vaughn discovered... actually, having a fool as captain also has its advantages.

Since Flint couldn't beat him, he listened to him and didn't insist on the training plan. He could use it as a shield at critical moments, such as when others criticized Slytherin's tactics for being vicious.

"Harry, what do you want to talk to me about? If not, I'll leave first. I'm very busy lately."

Vaughan said.

This was not an excuse. He had been in Snape's office recently, using magical extraction methods to familiarize himself with various materials.

That's not an easy job.

Despite being processed, the materials taken from magical plants and animals still had residual magic, and his magic could not destroy them, so the progress was not fast.

Harry quickly grabbed him: "Nick Flamel!"

"..." Vaughn was speechless, looking at Harry's face that almost showed "premature aging". "You're so tired, and you're still thinking about it?"

Harry chuckled.

Vaughn pulled out a chocolate frog and said, "Remember the chocolate frog card you and Ron discussed when we first met? It says it right there!"

Harry jumped up, said goodbye to Vaughan in a hurry, and ran towards the Gryffindor common room.

Vaughan shook his head, ate a quick meal, and then rushed to Snape's office again.

Professor Snape has been in a better and better mood recently.

Maybe it was seeing Harry suffer, or maybe it was having someone to talk to about potions with?

No matter what, at least when he was marking homework recently, he was not like before, wanting to tear the parchment or call the little wizards who made mistakes in the paper and scold them with vicious words to make them cry.

After greeting Snape, who was gently waving his quill, Vaughan came to his seat and took out a piece of aconite.

He tapped the wand lightly with one hand, carefully injecting magic power into the Aconitum, and held the feather pen in the other hand, writing and drawing.

That was a record of the internal structure of Aconitum reflected in his mind and his speculation about its properties.

Make a classification first to facilitate subsequent experiments.

Time passes quickly in such concentration.

It was 6 p.m. when Vaughan put it down.

It was getting late, and Vaughan saluted Snape: "Goodbye, Professor."

Snape called out to him, “Weasley…” “Call me Vaughn, Professor.”

"W-well..." Snape shook his hair uncomfortably. "The Quidditch season starts next month, and the first game is against Gryffindor. How's your training going?"

"Not bad," Vaughan thought for a moment and said, "Flint plans to send two men to specifically target Harry. They're incredibly vicious and cruel."

Cruelty is the right thing to do. Snape was in a good mood and stopped paying attention to it. Instead, he asked:
"I see you've been focusing all your energy on Aconitum recently. Are you planning to use it as the main ingredient in your potion?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Hmph...it's extremely poisonous!" Snape said with an annoyed look, seemingly dissatisfied with his overestimation of his abilities. "When you've finished your analysis, write a paper and give it to me!"

It was obvious that they were afraid that he would be reckless and wanted to keep a check on him.

Vaughn agreed with a smile.

He really wanted to know what expression Snape would have when he finally discovered his research and development goal.

Vaughn left the Potions Office and went to the Great Hall, choosing to continue visiting the Ravenclaw table today.

The ladies are gentle and considerate, perfect for relaxing.

Unfortunately, just after chatting with Zhang Qiu for a few words, Harry, Ron and Hermione came over.

"Vaughn, you..." Harry just greeted Vaughn when he saw Qiu beside him, and then he stuttered for some reason.

"Hello, I'm Hahaha Harry..."

"Harry Potter, everyone knows your name."

Qiu Wenwan smiled, then waved to Vaughn: "You go ahead and do your work, we'll talk when we have time."

Harry stared at her back blankly.

Until Ron bumped into him: "What's wrong with you? Why are you in a daze?"

Harry finally came to his senses and saw the half-smile on Vaughn's lips and Hermione's suspicion.

For the first time, he felt that Ron was so cute.

His face flushed and he coughed twice quickly: "Vaughn, thank you for reminding us. We now know what Dumbledore hid in the castle."

He leaned forward and whispered stealthily, "It's the Philosopher's Stone..."

Seeing that Vaughn's expression didn't change at all after hearing what he said, Ron felt incredible: "Aren't you surprised at all? The Philosopher's Stone! We talked about it in fairy tales when we were kids!"

"I know what it is," Vaughan waved his hand. "From the moment you mentioned Nicolas Flamel, I knew it had to be the Philosopher's Stone. That was his greatest achievement."

"That's it? It can actually turn stone into gold!"

In Ron's eyes, this is the most magical function of the Philosopher's Stone.

Vaughn looked Ron up and down, then smiled and said, "Ronald Weasley, my dear brother, what do you think is the difference between me selling potions and turning stones into gold?"

"..."

Ron seemed to have turned gray and he didn't want to talk anymore.

Harry quickly pushed Ron away to prevent him from being hit again and having a mental breakdown. "Vaughn, Hagrid wants to see you."

Hermione beside him also said: "I'm sorry, Hagrid asked us if anyone else knew Nick Flamel, and we had to tell him."

Vaughn blinked. "Okay, when are we going?"

He just realized that he had been at Hogwarts for so long but had never been to the Forbidden Forest.

Negligence!

(End of this chapter)