Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 84 New Potions Ideas
"How did you find out?"

"It's Guoguocha. It smelled your residual scent and has been acting very anxious."

Vaughan did not take Hermione back to the Room of Requirement. Hogwarts at night posed no danger to Vaughan.

No need to worry about Filch, Mrs. Norris or Peeves like other little wizards.

So he took Hermione directly to the observatory.

This is the tallest tower in the entire Hogwarts. Except for classes, there is usually no one here. The two of them sat on the edge of the observatory. Guo Guocha curled up in Vaughn's arms, rubbing her head against his chest, purring and acting coquettishly.

"Guo Guo Cha, it turns out you were the one who exposed me."

"Meow~"

Guoguocha stretched out his body, his fur reflecting a layer of silver. That was the bright moonlight cast by the moon hanging in the sky, which covered everything that should have been shrouded in darkness.

Hogwarts Castle, standing on the top of a high cliff, is high enough to overlook all the surrounding scenery, not to mention the observatory. This is the best place to see the scenery that Vaughn found after arriving at Hogwarts.

Looking down at this moment, the black lake reflecting the moon is sparkling with fragments of crystal. The dark forbidden forest and the continuous mountains are connected into one color, stretching into the distance of vision. At the end of the horizon, the stars are looming in the mist rising from the forest.

Everything has a completely different aesthetic than during the day.

A quiet beauty.

The gentle wind ruffled the girl's hair. Hermione looked at the scenery in front of her and pursed her lips: "I have never seen the Scottish Highlands at night."

"is it beautiful?"

"Ok!"

Vaughn opened his satchel, pulled out the reply from the Grangers, and handed it to her. "I was hoping to find a chance to give it to you, but it took some time."

Hermione took it and asked, "Did Mom and Dad agree?"

"At least Mrs. Granger is happy. Mr. Granger is a bit hostile to me. He seems to think I cheated him out of his sweetheart!"

Vaughan shrugged, and Hermione smiled, a little shyly and a little sweetly.

Putting away the reply from her parents, Hermione asked softly, "Harry said you've been busy with the establishment of the Werewolf Affairs Committee recently. Is that true?"

"Oh, it's true."

"Then you probably don't have time to come back recently..." The girl loosened the nightgown that had been tightly wrapped around her and took out an exquisite box from her bosom, her cheeks blushing.
"...I was planning on giving it to you on the holiday, but since that's the case, I'll give it to you in advance... This is Valentine's Day chocolate..."

Is Valentine's Day almost here?
It's bad!

Vaughan suddenly realized that he had been so busy recently that he had completely forgotten about this matter.

I was a little panicked at the moment, but Vaughn remained calm on the surface and took it with a smile: "Thank you, I have prepared a gift for you, can I send it to you that day?"

"Hmm..." The girl nodded shyly.

Vaughn breathed a sigh of relief. It was a close call. He managed to fool the situation for the time being.

The next day, perhaps because he knew Valentine's Day was approaching, Vaughn slowly realized... the whole Hogwarts was filled with the atmosphere of youthful restlessness.

As he was wandering around the castle in stealth, he saw many senior students gathered in groups of three or five, enthusiastically exchanging tips on how to express their feelings.

Many people who used to scorn the legends now humbly stand in the crowd, listening to everyone say how effective it is to confess your love under the mistletoe, and that as long as you get the timing right, it will work the first time.

In their mouths, mistletoe has become a love potion.

It was not until he went to Snape's office that Vaughn realized that someone had actually tried the potion.

"Severus, help me take a look, I can't believe these two Weasleys got a batch of love potions from some unknown channel and are selling them all over the campus!"

Professor McGonagall's cheeks trembled with anger.

She has been getting angry more and more frequently lately, and it feels like her heart can't take it anymore.

Fred and George were dejected as she twisted their ears.

On the desk, there was a pile of confiscated bottles and jars. Snape opened one and sniffed it.

When Vaughn came in, he heard him say disdainfully, "Fake!"

Hearing this, Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief.

The proliferation of love potions is a serious matter. Although it can only bring false love, it is precisely this that makes it even more terrifying.

Think about it, when you are controlled by a potion and fall in love with someone you don’t like at all, if something else happens... how painful it will be when the effect of the potion wears off!
Unfortunately, this thing is hard to stop despite repeated bans. Senior students already know how to make it, and every Valentine's Day, the school can only conduct strict inspections to try to avoid accidents.

Compared to Professor McGonagall's relaxation, the twins couldn't accept it.

"How is that possible? These cost us 5 Galleons!"

"We checked, and the color and smell are exactly the same as what Vaughan wrote."

"Yes, Fred. Vaughn researched love potions two years ago. We secretly looked through his potion notes. There's no way his notes could be wrong!"

The twins looked at each other and whispered, "Is Snape trying to hack our potion?"

"It's possible, George!"

Snape's face grew long: "Weasley - you can whisper louder!"

As he spoke, he saw Vaughn come in, and his expression became intriguing: "Or, you should explain to Mr. Vaughn Weasley..."

The twins turned back stiffly.

Vaughn smiled. "I remember some people solemnly promising me that they would use the money for product development and not waste it recklessly... Fred and George, right?"

"Well, we can explain!"

"Yes, Vaughn. We want to make more money. Developing new products is too expensive, and we have too much Canary Biscuits left over..."

Fred and George tried to make excuses, but Professor McGonagall didn't give them the time.

She grabbed the twins' ears and dragged them out of the office. "Mr. Weasley, although you haven't committed a serious crime, reselling counterfeit medicine is still a serious violation of school discipline. Now, follow me to detention. It just so happens that your brother Ron Weasley can accompany you!"

The twins screamed as they were dragged away.

Vaughn ignored them. He walked to the desk, opened a bottle of potion and smelled it.

"Yes, it is indeed fake. It is dyed pink with honey syrup, which can only fool laymen."

"A famous new Potions Master, but his brothers are amateurs... humph!"

Knowing that Snape was upset, Vaughn didn't care about his ridicule. While looking at the herbs in the office, he casually asked, "Professor, what do you think is a good gift for a girl on Valentine's Day?"

Snape: "..."

He suspected Vaughn was mocking him!
But Vaughn was indeed thinking seriously, and he had little experience in this area.

In my previous life, I was just an ordinary person. I was under a lot of pressure when it came to dating, so I could only follow the crowd and send flowers to fool people.

Although this seems a bit exaggerated.

But now that he has power in this life and is under less pressure, he doesn't want to be so casual anymore.

It’s a pity that Snape is not the right person to consult. If he knew how to give gifts, he wouldn’t have been single for so many years!
After asking casually, Vaughn was about to borrow the fireplace and leave, but when his eyes swept across the crucible, he noticed something strange—

It was a pot of pink potion, and even in the dim potion office, it shone with a pearly luster. The most peculiar thing was its steam, which rose slowly in a spiral and condensed above the crucible for a long time.

"Love potion?"

Vaughan looked at Snape in surprise.

The corner of Snape's mouth twitched, and his dark eyes turned away uncomfortably. He explained dryly: "...for senior grade teaching..."

Vaughan went to the crucible and examined the potion carefully. With his current level, he was able to identify most potions.

He sniffed the strange, rich aroma of the love potion, which varied from person to person, and exclaimed, "It's a wonderful brew!"

Snape's mouth curled up.

But then he heard Vaughn add, "Crafty professor, you've been through a lot in private, haven't you?"

“…Humph, shut up!”

Vaughn shut up and sniffed the fragrance that lingered in his nose, which seemed like a mixture of multiple potions - the scent of aphrodisiacs, which everyone smelled differently, and was usually that person's favorite scent.

He suddenly had some inspiration.

Thinking back to when he met Hermione at the Black Lake a few months ago.

At that time, she was rejected by Harry and Ron, and she sat alone by the Black Lake and cried secretly. She was very sad at that time, and the reason was certainly not because of her deep feelings with Harry and Ron, whom she had just met for a short time.

Rather, she couldn't speak to anyone except the two of them and Vaughn.

To be fair, Hermione's personality at that time was indeed not liked by the playful little wizards. No one would like a competitive guy, and this guy also held a book every day, and two out of three sentences were about studying.

So until now, Hermione has never had a same-sex friend...

There is no one who does not desire friends. There is no unsolvable hatred between teenagers. It’s just that they are unwilling to give in or compromise, so both the excluder and the excluded gradually form a habit.

Vaughn rubbed his chin, and suddenly thought, could he refer to the scent of the love potion, which varies from person to person, and develop a social potion for Hermione?

The effect doesn't need to be too strong, as long as the girls in the same dormitory feel that she smells nice and is friendly, and are willing to gradually let go of the barriers.

Thoughts were turning in his mind, thanks to the time when he was developing the wolfsbane potion, and used the magic extraction method to summarize and count the material properties.

Vaughan quickly came up with a plan.

He was also very familiar with Snape's office. He waved his hand and a jar in the corner opened automatically. Several nymph petals flew out automatically under the effect of the levitation spell and floated in front of Vaughan.

As he input magic power, they immediately disintegrated and released their characteristics.

Noticing his movements, Snape became interested: "Do you have a new potion idea?"

"Yes professor."

"Hyblossom petals... you want to develop a new love potion? Something like a love potion?"

Snape guessed.

He still remembered that a few months ago, Vaughan used the birth of the love potion and the evolution of the properties of henbane to explain the influence of Muggle legends on magic.

He was a little excited. Vaughn hadn't touched potions for a long time since he developed the wolfsbane potion, and he felt a little disappointed.

Vaughn paused. "Uh, I just want to develop a Valentine's Day gift for my girlfriend..."

"..."

The budding hope in Snape's heart withered away. He pulled a long face and said concisely:

"Get out of my office!"

asshole!

How can a sacred potion be used to please a girlfriend?

Snape was furious.

Of course, it wasn't just because Vaughn used the sacred potion to please his girlfriend, but also because the bastard crawled in front of the fireplace and took away a large amount of materials and a golden crucible from his bag in front of him.

"Professor, you know, your dear student has almost gone bankrupt recently helping werewolves. He doesn't even have time to spend with his girlfriend..."

So, he softened his heart.

I watched as Vaughan filled his satchel, grabbed a handful of Floo powder, and disappeared in a cloud of green flames.

That night, he went to ridicule Dumbledore for not offering help. Dumbledore looked helpless and said, "Severus, I'm an old man over a hundred years old. I've worked hard to save tens of thousands of gold Galleons and some Muggle pounds, but he has siphoned them all off to a foundation that hasn't even been established yet... How can I help you?"

Snape's face turned pale.

Vaughan Weasley!
This liar, thief, cunning villain!
……

Vaughn, who almost broke Snape's defense, did not go to the Ministry of Magic, but teleported directly to the Crouch family -

Since the two established a cooperative relationship, Crouch contacted the Floo Network department and opened Vaughn's permissions.

The reason for coming here is because Vaughan promised to look into Crouch Jr.'s mind today.

Although his bottom line is relatively flexible, he always abides by the contract with his true partners.

At the previous questioning meeting, Crouch fulfilled his promise, so Vaughan would not have kept delaying and exploiting people's pain points.

When Vaughn appeared, Crouch was pacing back and forth in the living room restlessly.

Beside him stood a house-elf with large brown eyes, wearing a tea towel. Seeing Vaughn appear, Crouch immediately said impatiently, "When do we start? I'll have Gilgamesh take you to the basement… Sorry, to prevent him from escaping, I had to cast an Anti-Apparition Charm in the basement; only the elf's magic is unaffected…"

He became a little talkative, as if he was relieving his anxiety in this way.

Vaughan comforted him: "Barty, calm down. I told you, this is a long and meticulous job. Being too impatient is not a good thing."

"...I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I...I just waited too long and was a little anxious..."

Crouch took a few deep breaths, finally stopped pacing, slowly sat down on the sofa, and said tiredly.

Seeing that he had calmed down, Vaughn looked at the house-elf and said with a smile, "You are Winky, right? I'll be in trouble for you later!"

Shanshan, who had been standing there blankly without saying a word, suddenly had tears in her big eyes when she heard these words.

She screamed, "God, red-haired Mr. Weasley is so sweet, he cares about Winky..."

As she spoke, she looked around in panic, then hugged the table leg and slammed it hard: "Bad Winky, bad Winky! She suspected the gentle Mr. Weasley. She suspected that the master invited Mr. Weasley over to harm the young master, bad Winky!"

The table was banged against by her, and the legs soon broke with a mournful sound.

Vaughn: "...Barty, won't you stop it?"

Barty smiled bitterly: "Let her be, all house elves are like this."

Vaughan shrugged.

The Weasley family had never had a house-elf, and even after Vaughn made money, he never thought of buying one - this was not out of moral cleanliness, but because Vaughn knew that ever since the house-elves were defeated in the war and enslaved by wizards, their race had been cursed by wizards countless times over the years.

Their blood has long been filled with all kinds of strange spells, which also causes house-elves to usually have some problems with their brains.

Vaughn didn't want to raise a Dobby.

He no longer paid attention to Winky who was punishing himself, opened his bag, and took out the materials and crucible he had taken from Snape.

Crouch was a little surprised: "Do we still need potions?"

"Oh, no, this is a little gift I'm planning to make for my girlfriend... By the way, I'm staying at your house for the time being. Do you mind?"

“…I don’t mind…”

Crouch said dryly.

Suddenly, Winky appeared between the two of them. She blinked her big eyes and asked expectantly, "Master, Winky wants to help Mr. Weasley clean up a room. Is that okay?"

The two turned around and saw that the table had been completely shattered and was slowly being restored under the effect of the repair spell.

Looking at the big eyes that were sparkling with anticipation, Crouch's mouth twitched: "Of course -"

"Great, the master agreed to Winky."

Winky blew her nose vigorously and cried with joy: "Winky wants to please Mr. Weasley and make him happy, so that he will devote himself to treating the little master."

Watching Winky busy herself actively, casting a levitation spell to move all the things she had taken out upstairs, Vaughn teased, "Barty, it seems that in her heart, you are far less important than her little master."

Crouch was silent for a moment, his voice becoming hoarse. "She has always been taught by my wife. Before she died, her greatest wish was for her son to live..."

"Uh...sorry."

"It's okay, it's been a long time..."

Despite saying this, Crouch's mental state remained low. He stopped talking, and a trace of fatigue appeared on his old face.

This situation reached its climax when Winky helped Vaughn clean up the room and Apparated the two of them to the completely sealed basement.

The basement was not very big and there was nothing much to furnish. There were only a few braziers burning against the wall, providing some light.

In the middle of the room, a huge cage made of steel bars as thick as wrists came into view.

A frail figure was locked in a cage. He was wearing pajamas. It was obvious that someone had been taking good care of him. His medium-long hair was combed very smoothly, and there was only some stubble on his face.

But his eyes were dull.

When Winky appeared with the two of them, he didn't even react immediately, but stared blankly at Vaughn and Crouch.

Then, his expression gradually became ferocious.

"You damn old dog, you actually dare to come in front of me!"

He grabbed the cage and shook it hard, his eyes flashing with a faint light, staring at Crouch intently, his tongue licking his lips nervously, and cursing hysterically: "Are you thinking of the Imperius Curse again? Come on, your weak spell will only make me happy and make me remember the shame you brought me..."

He widened his eyes, desperately trying to squeeze his face into the crack of the cage, and opened his mouth to reveal a mouthful of sharp white teeth: "One day, I will escape, I will find my master, and when that time comes, I will make the master allow me to bite off all the flesh on your body, bite by bite—"

"Collapse!"

boom!
Vaughn raised his finger, and a powerful spell immediately knocked Crouch unconscious, and his hysterical and vicious words came to an abrupt end.

He turned around and saw Crouch slumped to the ground.

His son's hatred and curses could no longer conceal his old age, and his eyes were filled with tears.

Shanshan hugged her master's shoulders and cried with him.

Winky took Crouch away. For a father, an old man over fifty years old, it was a cruel thing for him to watch and hear his son insulting and cursing him with his own eyes and ears.

Despite his objections, Vaughan ordered Winky to take Crouch to rest.

Winky chose to obey—she could tell what was better for her master.

In the suddenly quiet basement, Vaughn looked at the unconscious Crouch Jr. and frowned slightly.

Although he had a feeling that Crouch Jr.'s condition might be very bad before coming, he was still a little surprised to see it to this extent.

Magic filled his eyes, and in his vision, Crouch Jr.'s body was wrapped in thick black mist.

They are so dense, deep, and dangerous that even the aura of life is obscured and suppressed, and only a hint of gray can be seen in the gaps between the rolling black fog.

"dark magic?"

Vaughn didn't know what the black fog was. He could only guess that it might be the effect of black magic.

After standing there with his eyes closed and thinking for a moment, Vaughn opened his eyes. His brown-red eyes lit up with magical light as he looked at little Crouch lying in the iron cage.

Little Crouch is floating!

Vaughan slowly sat cross-legged on the ground. In his vision, everything was losing its color and shape, only Crouch Jr.'s body wrapped in black mist was becoming clearer and clearer.

On a spiritual level that no one can see—in the majestic and magnificent archives of memory, his personality opened a door, and behind that door was endless darkness.

He stretched out his hand and grabbed wisps of mist from the darkness, which automatically wove into a cloak with wisps of mist hanging down in his hand.

Vaughn put on his cloak and took a step forward—

Outside, Vaughn's eyes spewed out a strong and illusory light. The light stretched and contracted, cautiously touching the black mist on Crouch's body, as if testing it.

The black fog didn't respond at all.

Then, the light suddenly penetrated!

At the same time, Vaughn's personality, wearing a white mist cloak, appeared in front of a quaint little building.

The small building seemed to have been built a long time ago. The stone walls were covered with moss, and wind and rain had left rough marks on the walls. Looking up, the eaves were drooping, and the faded rafters and damp dark green tiles were exposed to the view.

Everything is very old.

Vaughn looked around and found himself in a strange space. The small building in front of him was clear, but apart from that, the surrounding scenery began to blur when he was only about ten feet away from the building.

It feels like looking at a blurred photo.

"This is Crouch Jr.'s memory... Crouch's ancestral home? His childhood?"

Vaughn thought about it and did not go into the house, but went around to the back of the building.

There was a huge garden there, which was as clear as the small building and connected to a forested hillside.

The hillside is shaded by trees and covered with lush vegetation, with spots of sunlight filtering through the gaps between the branches and leaves.

Vaughan saw a hazy figure, that of a child, running through the woods.

"whee--"

The children's laughter rang softly in his ears. Vaughn blinked, and the figures playing in the woods disappeared without a trace.

This made him frown.

Memory is the brain's record of past experiences. The memory of normal people is very stable. The memory will present the same scene as the reality.

But some of what he saw now were more like... dreams than memories!
A bit weird!

Thinking about it, Vaughn took a deep look at the dense forest on the hillside, turned back to the small building, thought for a moment, and knocked on the door gently.

This action seemed to trigger some mechanism.

The small building, which was originally so quiet that not a sound could be heard, suddenly began to emit various sounds - the white noise of the TV and the humming music of the record player.

It seemed to be from the direction of the kitchen. There was the sound of dishes being washed and a female voice faintly shouting:

"Barty, dear, go open the door!"

squeak-

The door opened.

But there was no one inside the door, and the noises just now stopped abruptly.

Vaughan stood in front of the door, and the light that came from behind him cast his shadow and the outline of the door obliquely on the floor.

All that remains is darkness!

In the darkness, heavy footsteps came down from what should have been the stairs ahead. Then, a deep voice asked in the darkness, "Who are you looking for?"

Vaughan looked at the outline of the bright door and his own silhouette on the floor. He raised his head and looked in the direction of the voice: "Barty Crouch Jr."

"call--"

As far as the eye could see, it was all deep black, and Vaughn could see nothing.

All I could hear was the voice breathing heavily, "It's me, who are you?"

"My name is Vaughn Weasley, and I'd like to talk to you."

"Weasley... a familiar last name, I seem to have an impression of it..."

Vaughn remained calm. "Perhaps we've crossed paths before?"

"No... hehe, hahaha..." The voice in the darkness suddenly laughed nervously. He said, "A few days ago, I heard your name from Shanshan!"

"A thief who sneaked into my memory!"

boom--

Everything in front of him exploded with a loud bang, and Vaughn felt dizzy. The small building, the garden, the hillside, the dense forest... everything exploded into fine gravel. A violent force swept over them, like a sandstorm, and smashed down on him.

Amidst the loud bang, a voice shouted from all directions:
"Want to steal my memory? Hahahahahaha—come on! Take it all, feel free to experience my darkness, my distortion, my evil... Hahaha!"

Vaughn saw black fog emerging from the violent "sandstorms," ​​polluting and blackening everything it passed through.

They were approaching in an instant, and Vaughn raised his hand slightly, only to see a grain of black sand streak across the cloak.

In an instant, the mist hanging from the surface of the cloak turned from pure white to gray!

"pollute……"

Vaughn remained expressionless as he watched more gravel sweep in.

Watch as the cloak's color becomes darker and darker as they collide.

Soon, a wisp of mist turned black.

Vaughn waved his hand, untied his cloak, and threw it out.

The terrifying black sandstorm swallowed it in an instant, but it was originally a bait. The moment Vaughn threw out the cloak, he had already taken a step back.

As he retreated, the surrounding scenery changed instantly.

In the blink of an eye, Vaughn was out of Barty Crouch Jr.'s memory and back in the basement.

But he didn't move. His eyes, gleaming with magic, saw little Barty Crouch, who was supposed to be unconscious in the cage, slowly getting up, baring his white teeth and staring at him fiercely: "Why did you run away? Vaughn Weasley, you didn't expect that I would find you!"

(End of this chapter)