Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 78 Dumbledore's Powerful Connections

Time always slips away quickly without people noticing.

In Vaughan's memory, the snow and wind seemed to be just yesterday, but he was so engrossed in memory magic and various meetings that in the blink of an eye, the ice on the Black Lake had melted, the trees had sprouted, and the mountains surrounding Hogwarts gradually returned to their emerald green color.

Today is a rare day of good weather, and the spring scenery suddenly becomes bright.

Hermione found a tablecloth from somewhere, and the girl hummed a cheerful song while placing the food she brought from the restaurant on it.

Guoguocha, who hadn't seen his owner for two days, was gradually attracted by the environment after rubbing against Vaughn again and again. He chased a few butterflies with transparent wings and jumped around on the grass.

Vaughn lay on the grass and snapped his fingers, and a canopy of blue magical flames ignited between his fingers.

Then it floats into the air, swaying in the still slightly chilly spring breeze, providing some warmth.

In the black lake next to it, the giant squid also poked its head out from underwater, its thick tentacles creating waves in the water.

What a rare time to relax.

Looking at all this, Vaughan was a little dazed.

After an unknown amount of time, Hermione lay next to him and quietly held his hand.

Vaughn turned to look at her, and she subconsciously looked away, staring at the magical flames above.

"I can do this magic too," she said.

Then she wanted to scratch her head and ask herself why she always acted so competitive?
Vaughn laughed out loud, and Hermione's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"Let's not talk about magic today," Vaughn smiled, "otherwise this lunch will turn into a class discussion."

Hermione bit her lip and racked her brains for what to say.

But after thinking about it, she found that her brain, which she always thought was smart, seemed to be rusty.

She sadly discovered that there seemed to be nothing to talk about between her and Vaughn except studying.

Fortunately, Vaughn seemed to see her embarrassment and suggested, "You can talk about your family."

"Well, my parents are both Muggle dentists. Do you know what a dentist is?"

Seeing that Hermione looked like she was about to give a science lecture, Vaughn could only helplessly say, "Let's talk about magic. Did you perform magic for them when you went back for Christmas?"

"Yes." Hermione smiled sheepishly, "I performed Transfiguration, Levitation, and Fire Charms for them, and I even received a letter from the Ministry of Magic. They warned me not to let other Muggles see it, or they would expel me from Hogwarts."

Vaughan shrugged. "That's just to scare you. Even if a Muggle sees you casting a spell, the Ministry of Magic doesn't have the power to expel an outstanding student."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Speaking of which, what is Trace Thread and where is it?"

Ever since she received the warning letter from the Ministry of Magic at Christmas, she immediately went to the library after returning to Hogwarts to find out why the Ministry of Magic knew about her spell.

Unfortunately, she only looked for the word "zongsi", and there was no record of anything more specific.

"Tracing is a form of monitoring magic, or rather, a magical contract with little binding force. It's not in our wands or bodies, but on the day we receive the Hogwarts acceptance letter, once we confirm our enrollment, we are implicitly signing a contract. This contract allows the Ministry of Magic to locate our approximate location and the magical fluctuations occurring around us."

Hermione was very smart and immediately noticed the loophole: "So, if there are many wizards near where I live, the Ministry of Magic won't know that I'm casting spells?"

Vaughn nodded. "Exactly. So you see, I never worry about Trace."

"That's great..." Hermione said enviously.

After a moment of silence, Vaughn suddenly heard her ask softly, "Then... Vaughn, can I come to your house during the summer vacation?"

Vaughn turned his head, and the spring sunshine cast a hazy outline on the girl's profile.

It also made her brown eyes, which were full of anticipation, nervousness and shyness, as crystal clear as gems.

He smiled. "Your eyes are the same as mine and Ginny's."

"Huh?" Hermione was puzzled. She knew who Ginny was, but she didn't know why Vaughn suddenly said that.

Then, she saw Vaughn close his eyes and whisper in the warm light and breeze, "Ginny will probably like you very much."

Great joy instantly filled the girl's heart.

Hermione's heart was pounding wildly and she tried hard to control herself.

After the surprise, her uneasiness surfaced again. She even began to ask herself questions and answers: "Your family is full of wizards. How should I dress appropriately? Also, how do I get to your house? By train or by car? No... where wizards live, these things may not be available..."

Vaughn laughed.

"It's still early for summer vacation, I'll pick you up then!"

"Oh..." Hermione quietly moved her cheek closer to the grass to dispel the heat.

"By the way, Mr. and Mrs. Granger can come and play too. They probably don't know what a wizarding family is like yet, right?"

"May I?"

"You can write to them and ask them if I can take some time out from my meeting to send it to your parents. Do they think I'm a liar or something?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Then, Vaughan heard her whisper, "I told them about you. They'll know when they see your hair..."

"Oh--"

"…What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, I just feel like someone has been coveting me for a long time."

Hermione blushed and quickly got up. "The food is getting cold, eat it!"

Vaughn lay there for a while before getting up. The wind from the lake ruffled his fiery red hair. He watched the blushing girl put the food in order and waved to him.

........................

"Mr. Vaughan Weasley, I saw that you proposed in the Werewolf Affairs Committee's purpose document that the committee not accept donations from any individuals or organizations in society, nor accept financial grants from the Ministry of Magic. You are trying to keep the committee's organizational structure pure, but I want to know, those poor... pitiful but kind people, how do they sustain their lives? How do they maintain the wolfsbane potion they need every month?"

At night, the Wizengamot administration.

This huge conference room on the second underground floor is not only the office where the Wizengamot handles daily affairs, but also the meeting room for making decisions on major matters.

The classroom-like structure was filled with wizards in purple robes.

In the center of the room, a podium stood tall. Vaughn, also wearing a purple robe, was standing behind the podium, accepting questioning from the entire Wizengamot.

He glanced at the old wizard who asked the question, and his name immediately came to his mind: Alred Travers, who came from a pure-blood family and was one of the 28 sacred clans.

What a deep-rooted pureblood.

However, the Travers family is more of a fence-sitter. They have many branches, some of which maintain the pride of being pure-blooded, while others flirt with Muggles. This is certainly not due to serious internal divisions, but rather a survival strategy.

Use branches to stand on the side of pure blood and Muggles at the same time, put eggs in several baskets, so that no matter how the wizarding world changes in the future, Travers can continue.

"As long as you're not here to cause trouble."

With that thought, Vaughan replied loudly, "Your question is a good one, Mr. Travers, but I need to point out that the werewolves' poverty isn't due to laziness, but rather their circumstances and the public opinion that forces them to stay away from the human race. Now, with the wolfsbane potion, they can return to society and support themselves through labor and work."

"But your concerns are somewhat justified."

Vaughan spoke eloquently, "According to our research, there are currently over 2000 werewolves in England. Excluding Greyback and his lackeys, and counting only the wanderers who could be taken in, there are at least 1600. Roughly three-fifths of these are Muggles, Squibs, and native werewolves (wolf cubs born to werewolf couples). They are undoubtedly unsuitable for survival in the wizarding world, and the current size of the wizarding world cannot immediately accommodate even a thousand of them."

"Our temporary plan is to divert these werewolves to Muggle society. The large Muggle population base is enough for them to find jobs quickly and temporarily solve their survival problems."

Having said that, Vaughan paused. Seeing that the wizards began to whisper about his words, he said helplessly, "Yes, it seems that everyone has also noticed the problem - Muggle currency is equivalent to waste paper in the wizarding world."

"We have certainly considered this. So, when the committee is established, I will push it to set up an internal foundation. Dumbledore and I will provide the initial funds through loans to the foundation for operating Muggle gold. We will then use the gold to cooperate with Gringotts to cover the initial costs of the Wolfsbane Potion."

Of course, this is a stopgap measure.

Although Vaughn had the impression that the price of gold in the 90s had great potential, the economy of the wizarding world was very fragile due to its population size.

No matter how much the goblins in Gringotts like gold, they cannot exchange it without restraint. Otherwise, the influx of a large amount of gold may very likely cause the gold galleon system to collapse.

This was a question that Vaughn had already thought of before he set up the "Werewolf Affairs Committee."

Moreover, he was happy to see this problem arise. The wizarding world was too closed off, and he wanted to slowly pry open a crack to allow the wizarding world to have more contact with Muggle society.

Vaughn paused, giving the generally elderly Wizengamot members more time to absorb his meaning before proposing another solution: "...On the other hand, I hope the Wizengamot will allow the Werewolf Affairs Committee and the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation to reach an export cooperation on wolfsbane potion."

As soon as this idea was proposed, the Wizengamot members looked at each other in confusion, and many people involuntarily looked towards the corners.

There, sat a thin wizard who was about 50 years old.

Barty Crouch, a once very powerful and iron-blooded figure who became famous in the Wizarding War more than ten years ago, is now the Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation.

He is also a member of the Wizengamot.

Barty Crouch obviously didn't expect that the Werewolf Affairs Committee would involve himself. He looked at Vaughn in surprise, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he remained silent.

People around were whispering.

Everyone thought of the recent period when newspapers had been reporting that Vaughn Weasley had evil ambitions and was trying to tear apart the Ministry of Magic.

Is this a declaration of war against Fudge?
Otherwise, why would he ask to cooperate solely with the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation?
More importantly, the leader of this department is a sensitive figure like Barty Crouch.

This has to make many people think a lot!

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Amelia Burns, who was presiding over the meeting, had to shout loudly: "Silence!"

The huge sound waves suppressed the buzzing discussions.

After everyone sat up straight again, Amelia looked at Alred Travers, who had asked the first question, "Mr. Travers, do you have any objections or questions about Mr. Weasley's answer?"

Travers shook his head. "No, Ms. Burns, I'm satisfied."

"Then the questioning session continues. Next member, please!"

As she spoke, she glanced across at the old witch opposite, who understood what she was saying and stood up. "Mr. Weasley, I'd like to ask what your plans are for the subsequent development of the Wolfsbane Potion? Should the Werewolf Affairs Committee operate on a regular basis?"

"Yes, for now, there's no way to completely cure lycanthropy—I prefer to call it the werewolf virus. For the next version of the wolfsbane potion, I plan to address the issue of werewolves transforming during the full moon... So, judging by the current trend, the Werewolf Affairs Committee can't just be a temporary existence; it's likely to last for many years."

"Next...Mrs. Marchbank, you may sit down and ask questions."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Weasley..."

Under Amelia's chairmanship, the meeting proceeded in an orderly manner and several hours passed quickly.

It was late at night and Amelia announced a temporary adjournment and would continue tomorrow.

A group of purple-robed men walked out of the conference hall, chatting. Vaughn breathed a sigh of relief. As he stepped down from the platform, Amelia walked over to him, a smile breaking through her serious face.
"Thank you for your hard work, kid. Do you want to go to my office and get something to eat?"

"Yes, thank you, Ms. Burns."

"Call me Amelia. I've noticed you're not this polite when you're with Albus."

Amelia's office is also on the second basement floor.

Following Amelia all the way to the office, Vaughan met many Ministry of Magic officials, and everyone who saw him couldn't help but stop and watch.

If this floor didn't belong to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Amelia wasn't the head of the department and had such a commanding personality, officials from other floors would probably have come over too.

If you get to know her for a while, you will find that Amelia is not serious in private and likes to joke around occasionally.

Just like now, back in the office, she brought out two drinks and a few plates of dried fruits, and said to Vaughan with a smile, "You've been in the limelight in the Ministry recently. They all call you a 12-year-old ambitious person who wants to destroy the Ministry of Magic."

Vaughan shook his head. "That wasn't my intention, but the Ministry of Magic's system is too backward, and Fudge is a typical politician. If I don't want the wolfsbane potion I developed to become a political tool, and I don't want werewolves to become weapons, I can only find a way to make werewolf affairs independent!"

Although after more than a month of getting along, Amelia already knew that the child in front of her was deep-minded and not simple.

But when she heard him say this, she subconsciously comforted him: "Don't worry, Dumbledore supports you, and we all support you too."

Looking at Amelia's matter-of-fact expression when she said this, it was as if Dumbledore was her superior (although judging from the organizational structure of the Wizengamot, this was indeed the case).

Vaughan thanked him on the surface, but sighed in his heart.

Such was the appeal of the greatest white wizard of his time, even though Dumbledore, out of fear of power, had locked himself up in Hogwarts and didn't want to participate in the struggle.

But as long as he stands up, countless people will respond to him.

Some people agree with his ideas, some simply admire him as a person, and some, like Fudge a year ago, try to cling to the "White King" to add to their own political capital.

Vaughan has encountered many subtle overtures through various meetings these days, including today.

In Vaughan's opinion, the so-called questioning meeting is actually a place where things can easily go wrong. As long as the questioner deliberately makes things difficult, they can talk about trivial matters for many days.

He had been harassed by a member of a pure-blood family in the morning, but in the evening, Amelia had been in control of the entire meeting, and only Travers asked a relatively meaningful question.

When Vaughn's answer was more sensitive, Amelia immediately took control of the situation and did not give others the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

No wonder everyone likes to hug thighs...

Vaughn, in a good mood, drank a drink and talked with Amelia.

"...The inquiry meeting is still two days away. Although something unexpected happened this morning, I can guarantee that similar incidents won't happen again. Of course, you should also be more restrained. When you were answering Travers earlier, you shouldn't have brought Barty Crouch into this."

Amelia taught, "No matter how down and out he is now, he was once the most powerful candidate for Minister of Magic and a constant source of worry for Fudge. Look, just one year after taking office, Fudge couldn't wait to throw Crouch to the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation... That department clearly didn't want him to be involved in England's affairs."

"You proposed cooperation, perhaps with no other intentions, but outsiders wouldn't think your idea was so simple. People always prefer to complicate a simple matter, such as your intention to join forces with Crouch to overthrow the Minister of Magic."

Vaughn smiled and nodded, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking behind his smile.

Amelia didn't know either.

But as she had said before, if Dumbledore was going to support Vaughn, then she would too!
She heard Vaughn curiously ask, "So, is Crouch really down and out now? I saw him at the meeting, he didn't say a word, and he looked very old. He just lost some support because of his son. It shouldn't be such a big blow to him, right?"

"It's not just political reasons." Amelia sighed. "For a politician, losing power is only temporary. He became what he is now because of his family."

"Few people outside knew that Barty Crouch Jr. had died in Azkaban. Not long after, Crouch's wife also died of grief and longing for their son... The deaths of his wife and son completely broke him down. From then on, he began to keep a low profile and no longer wanted to get involved in many things."

Vaughn listened silently, sneering in his heart.

It seems that Barty Crouch has hidden himself very well. No one has noticed him over the years. His low profile is not really due to a deep blow.

He also abused his power for personal gain and, in order to fulfill his seriously ill wife's wish, switched her with little Barty using Polyjuice Potion.

So, the person who died in Azkaban was not Barty Crouch Jr., but a mother who died for her son.

The real little Barty is now controlled by Crouch with the Imperius Curse and is kept at home!

As if sensing Vaughn's interest in Crouch, Amelia had to remind him, "You'd better not try to win over Crouch. It's useless. He has lost all ambition now."

"Also, Fudge hasn't made any moves since the last incident. This is because the Wizengamot hasn't made a decision yet, and he can't get involved in Wizengamot affairs. But no one thinks he will tolerate this, so it's better not to give him an excuse. Winning over Crouch will do more harm than good!"

Theoretically speaking, her judgment was not wrong.

In the eyes of many people, Crouch has become a useless person or even a joke. In the eyes of politicians, such a self-deprecating guy has lost his only remaining value.

Vaughn smiled in the way she expected. "Thank you for reminding me. I was just curious."

The two chatted for a while before Vaughn declined Amelia's request to stay and stood up to say goodbye.

We'll meet tomorrow anyway.

After taking the elevator out of the second underground floor, Vaughan did not go to the fireplace area to use the Floo powder, but slowly walked out of the Ministry of Magic along the underground passage.

The Ministry of Magic is actually not far from the Muggle society. Just above the head is Whitehall, a very famous street in London.

Most of the Muggle government departments are concentrated on this street.

Vaughan cast an exorcism spell on himself to prevent his quaint Wizengamot robes from attracting the attention of Muggles. Then, using his magical eyes, he observed the nearby buildings and found a public toilet that was also cast with an exorcism spell.

That was the staff entrance, and Ministry of Magic staff could be transported to the fireplace area through the flush toilet in the bathroom.

This kind of malicious approach was obviously resisted by most of the staff. For example, Arthur really disliked it, but there were also some honest guys who rigidly abided by the department's rules.

Just like the young man mentioned earlier, who was holding a newspaper, was short and fat and looked easy to bully.

(End of this chapter)