Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 197 Vaughn's Anger and Willfulness

If Vaughn's guess is correct, the place where Michael Graves and the others disappeared is likely the location of the organization they were working with with the Muggles.

For example, the laboratory that Vaughn saw in Jack Graves's memory, which was researching artificial wizards, clearly violated the Secrets Act and the Rappaport Act.

The Federation will absolutely not tolerate anyone blatantly violating the Secret Service Law.

One of Akinbad's main purposes in coming to the United States was to investigate the "Purgers" issue.

Once those smaller families obtain evidence and submit it to the Federation, the Federation, having gained an excuse, will definitely intervene in a large-scale operation and seize the knife that has been handed to them.

"Should we call them clever or stupid? The 12 purebloods resisted the Federation for over a hundred years. Even when Grindelwald brought them to their most critical moment in the 20s-40s, they didn't give the Federation a single excuse to interfere. And now, these guys are actually trying to bring the Tiger into the fold just to climb up the ranks?"

Even though Vaughn understands that politicians sometimes make seemingly foolish decisions for their own benefit, he is still speechless at the "shortsightedness" of those small families after seeing through their deeper intentions.

The strategy is actually quite classic: using one tiger to devour another.

But why don't those people consider this: if you bring a tiger in, how are you going to get rid of it?

The Federation has been established for 300 years and has been independent from European influence for nearly 200 years. Now, every country in the world knows that they are desperate to control major powers.

Otherwise, how could the previously unsubstantiated issue of the Purgers have attracted Vice President Akimbad to rush all the way to America?

"Most importantly, whether it's the 12 purebloods, a small family alliance, or the Federation's large-scale intervention... in short, a unified Magic Congress and a centralized United States are not conducive to the development of WAC!"

But Vaughn also knew that if those people could send the Joker to contact him today, they would also try to contact Akinbad.

These "smart people" talk about sincerity, but their hearts are full of self-interest.

"It's just... I feel like I'm being looked down upon."

Vaughn scoffed.

Sure enough, when he stayed in the garden until evening and returned to the hotel in the afterglow that covered the streets, he met Akimbad in the hotel lobby.

The old wizard, whose injuries had just healed that morning and whose bandages had probably only recently been removed, still had a strange pinkish-blackish-red tinge on the side of his face where he was injured.

But he didn't mind at all, and warmly greeted Vaughn with a hug:

"Honey, thanks to you I'm recovering so quickly. Look, apart from the new skin being quite soft, you can hardly tell I almost got disfigured a few days ago!"

"Come on, to show my gratitude, I've specially instructed the hotel to prepare a sumptuous dinner... Oh, don't worry, the chef isn't one of those guys from the Magical Congress, but a wizard from my team. He's French and loves to hone his culinary skills in his spare time. If he ever retires, he'll definitely become a chef at a Muggle Michelin-starred restaurant... You know Michelin, right?"

If his so-called chef were East Asian, Vaughn felt he might still be willing to play along.

Let's skip the French food!

He dodged Akinbadra's tugging hand and said calmly, "Just say what you have to say, so as not to spoil your appetite later."

Akinbad's enthusiastic smile faltered slightly, fading a little: "Darling, I don't quite understand you..."

Vaughn interrupted him: "We've been allies for so long, even if we've lost our common interests, we should still have some feelings for each other. You've said yourself that you like to be straightforward, so wouldn't it be better for everyone to be honest with each other? Or is it that those distinguished congressmen haven't contacted you?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Akinbad sighed, "I'm sorry, I just didn't know how to bring it up. You know, my purpose in coming to North America is to investigate the 12 purebloods' violation of the Secret Code. Now, with the Department of Magical Security severely damaged and the Graves, Fisher, and other families temporarily stripped of power, this is the best opportunity to find out the truth..."

"I have decided to refuse the commission!"

Vaughn interrupted him again.

Upon hearing this, Akinbad frowned, then relaxed, his smile turning helpless: "I knew it would be like this. After spending so many days together, I know how intelligent and perceptive you are. I knew you would realize the intentions of those small family alliances, and I knew that once you understood, you would definitely not stand on their side."

But he still waited in the hotel lobby, wanting to give it a try.

After all, he had been getting along very well with the Federation, Vaughn, and the WAC alliance these past few days. Vaughn was incredibly mature and composed, always considering everything in a comprehensive way, so he hardly needed to use his brain.

This was a truly rare experience for an octogenarian wizard whose energy was waning but who still had to fight on the front lines.

Unfortunately, those carefree days were so short-lived!

But these days of getting along have made Akinbad realize that Vaughn, like him, is not someone who can be easily persuaded or compromised.

Therefore, he didn't try to persuade them further, but instead asked, "What are you going to do next? I have to remind you, they're extending a friendly offer to you; if you don't accept it, you're essentially putting yourself on the opposite side... This is a political struggle, it's black and white!"

"That's what I hate about it."

Vaughn sighed and said, "Whether it was the 12 purebloods before, or those small pureblood families now, they always act like they have me cornered, which makes me feel very uncomfortable."

"..."

This was the first time in so many days that Akinbad had seen Vaughn express his opinion so "willfully," and he suddenly had a bad feeling.

.........

Lupin encountered Tonks as he was leaving.

The witch, her hair now multicolored, chewed gum and threw a fist at him: "Hey, Remus!"

Since they went undercover together, perhaps because they had gone through hardships together, Tonks' attitude towards Lupin has greatly improved. He is no longer a familiar stranger like before, and he will take the initiative to greet Lupin when they meet.

However, it seems the change isn't quite what he expected...

Lost in thought, Lupin awkwardly exchanged fist bumps with Tonks, a greeting gesture Tonks had learned from the black people when he was undercover.

"Bro, where are we going?"

Tonks asked enthusiastically.

Yes, she would even call him "Bro"!

Damn it, how did we become "brothers"?

Lupin forced a smile: "Let's go to the restaurant to get something to eat. The Federation just called to say they've prepared a big meal... I was just thinking of asking you to come with me!"

The carefree Tonks, oblivious to Lupin's complex emotions, simply draped his arm around Lupin's shoulder and scoffed, "Haven't you had enough of those old folks yet? Aren't you tired of being stuck in the hotel all day?"

Lupin glanced at Tonks' small hand resting on his shoulder, a wave of emotion washing over him. He subconsciously replied, "It's alright. Anyway, I'm under house arrest now, so there's not much to do."

Speaking of this, Tonks became somewhat dissatisfied: "By the way, how long are we going to be under house arrest? And I have a feeling this house arrest is weird; what tricks is Vaughn playing?"

Lu Ping shook his head, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, and hesitated, "I don't know either..."

He really didn't know what Vaughn was planning. Although he was Vaughn's second-in-command, Vaughn was a deep thinker and rarely talked to others about his own thoughts and plans.

As the two chatted, they walked out of the corridor and saw two Federal Congress Aurors wearing top hats standing on either side of the elevator entrance.

They were "auxiliary control personnel" sent by the Magical Congress, distributed throughout the hotel building, responsible for carrying out the "house arrest" of the WAC and the Federation.

Upon seeing them, Tonks' expression sombered: "Hmph, ungrateful Graves..."

Lupin quickly tugged at her clothes, stopping her from continuing.

The two Federation Aurors naturally heard Tonks and looked somewhat embarrassed, as they were survivors who had received help from the WAC and the Federation a few days earlier.

The two were even the unfortunate souls trapped in the Dark Curse when Jack Graves first betrayed them. If Vaughn hadn't arrived later and summoned the Allied Forces to rescue them, they would most likely have died at the hands of those traitors.

After a moment of awkward silence, the Federal Auror on the left forced a smile and greeted them:

"Good evening, Remus, and Miss Tonks."

"Good evening, Liam and Joaquin. The Federation has prepared a lot of delicious food. Would you like to try it?" Lupin invited politely.

The two Federation Aurors clearly understood that he was just being polite, and politely declined with a smile. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Lupin pulled Tonks away.

From afar, the two could still hear Tonks's complaints:

"Why are you pulling me... I didn't say anything wrong. Just a few days ago we were helping them, and now..."

"Oh well, they're just following orders from the Magic Council. They haven't really restricted our freedom..."

As the elevator car doors closed deep inside the elevator lobby, Lupin and Tonks' voices quickly faded away.

The two Federation Aurors looked at each other for a moment. The Auror named Jaaquin looked dejected: "Liam, instead of sending four other teams, Donald sent us to carry out the house arrest and supervision work of the WAC and the Federation. What is he thinking? I'm suffering to death here."

"Who isn't?" Liam sighed. "But he really has no one else to rely on... Who knows if there's another Jack or Evelyn among the other four Auror squads that didn't participate?"

"Sigh..." Joaquin sighed as well. "Thinking about it, he really has it tough. The family's situation hasn't been good lately either. On one hand, they have to guard against other families' underhanded tactics, and on the other hand, they're fighting tooth and nail for the position Michael vacated. They simply don't have the spare resources to mobilize resources to support him in Congress. Lately, he's been dealing with Congressional inquiries all by himself, and those despicable little families are making things difficult for him at every turn!"

"Yes, actually Donald has done a very good job. I also received news today that the entire committee has ordered an investigation into Michael's disappearance."

"How do we investigate? That door key?" Joaquin asked, puzzled at first, then suddenly realized.

"Yes, it's the last piece of evidence that Michael and the other six committee members had contact with before they disappeared, and it's even closely related to their disappearance. If we're going to start an investigation, we'll definitely start with it."

"But wasn't it destroyed by the Fisher family? The remains were handed over to the Major Crimes Division..."

Liam sighed, "The door key is indeed destroyed, but if we can find a wizard who is proficient in spatial magic, we can still restore its destination coordinates."

"Didn't the Fisher family stop them?"

"No... After all, Commissioner Fisher has also disappeared. The deputy director of the Major Crimes Investigation Division is a complete coward. He gave in as soon as the plenary committee issued an order. He can't be relied on. And to be honest, this might have been at the behest of his family... I heard that the Luo family, which is in charge of the Magic Law Enforcement Division, did not oppose the plenary committee's order either."

Joaquin gritted his teeth: "Those idiots, don't they want to put the conflict aside yet?"

The 12 pure-blood families are a system of hereditary privilege. In the division of power among the relevant agencies under the Magic Congress, the Graves family has hereditary positions in the Department of Magical Security, and other families naturally have their own hereditary positions as well.

The Fisher family’s traditional territory is the Major Crimes Division.

This is a department that was established more than 100 years ago. Its functions overlap to some extent with the Department of Magical Security. In other words, its existence itself is a check on the hereditary positions of the Graves family by other families.

Therefore, despite their cooperation, the two families have always harbored deep-seated grudges.

As for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, it was also established more than 100 years ago. Unlike the department of the same name in the Ministry of Magic of England, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the Magical Parliament is only responsible for law enforcement and does not have a legislative body like "Wizengamo".

Its appearance was actually compensation from the Magical Congress to the Graves family, and it remained within the Graves family's sphere of influence until the 20s.

Then, in the late 20s, Percival Graves was imprisoned by Grindelwald, who used his identity to cause a great disaster in the North American wizarding world. The department was subsequently taken away by the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Seraphine Picqueri, and given to the Lorraine family.

The relationship between political forces has always been like this: there is no harmony and friendship, no long-term united front, and no eternally unchanging superiority or inferiority.

Their daily routines have always been both compatible and contradictory.

The two sighed deeply.

However, Liam remained relatively objective, saying, "I think Fisher and the Rothschilds might not just be trying to kick us when we're down. After all, if we're completely wiped out, as members of the 12 purebloods, they probably won't fare much better."

"I suspect that the reason they agreed to the plenary committee's order was probably to investigate the reasons for the disappearance of the seven committee members and their whereabouts."

That possibility certainly exists.

However, Joaquin still scoffed, "That's probably a minor factor. Twelve purebloods—there aren't any good ones among them!"

"...Dear Joaquin, you've insulted yourself too."

"Hmph, if they're going to criticize, they're criticizing the main faction. What can we lower-level people decide? To be honest, Jack and Evelyn's betrayal... I just feel..."

"That's enough!"

Liam quickly stopped him, peeked into the corridor to make sure no one was there, and then lowered his voice to scold, "You'd better keep your grievances to yourself. Besides, what good are those traitors? Don't forget, we almost died at their hands."

Joaquin was still unwilling, but dared not mention those traitors again. After stammering for a while, he suddenly said in a low voice, "I think that rather than watching the family be devoured by those jackals bit by bit, we should find another way out."

"What other way out is there now?"

Joaquin gestured to his feet, about to say something, when the elevator behind them dinged as it stopped.

The two exchanged a glance, immediately shut their mouths, straightened their bodies, and pricked up their ears to listen to the sounds behind them.

The elevator doors opened with a scraping sound, and a familiar voice came from the other end:

"...You don't need to say any more to me. I've already made it very clear that cooperation requires mutual respect. They didn't give me any respect. What friendship? It's just empty talk. All I heard in their words was charity and arrogance."

Another familiar elderly voice, tinged with anxiety: "But that's how things are between organizations. Asking for exorbitant prices, then haggling, elevating one's status, and putting on airs are all common occurrences. How can you be so willful just because of some sense of respect?"

The sound of voices, accompanied by footsteps, drew rapidly closer.

Soon, Liam and Joaquin saw Vaughn Weasley, dressed in a flowing velvet robe, stride out of the elevator.

Babajid Akinbad stayed close by.

He seemed to want to say something more, but when he stepped out of the elevator and saw Liam and Joaquin guarding the entrance, he hesitated and stopped.

Vaughn, who also noticed the two, didn't say anything more and went straight to his suite.

Akinbad followed closely behind.

After a brief period of noise, the corridor fell silent again, with the sound of doors opening and closing deep in the hallway.

Joaquin winked at Liam: "They seem to be arguing about something?"

"Hmm!" Liam didn't want to answer his nonsense; wasn't that obvious?

Joaquin continued, "Organizing forces, cooperating... guess what, isn't someone trying to win them over?"

"Of course, what they meant was..."

Liam's words came to an abrupt end.

Seeing that he seemed to have realized something, Joaquin scoffed, "Given the current situation, which party would be so eager to contact the WAC and the Federation, these two external forces?"

Liam hesitated for a moment: "Porter? Weiss? Stewart?"

This was the first thing that came to his mind. Before Jack Graves' betrayal, the long-standing disputes within the Magic Congress were not a secret.

Almost all wizards within the system knew that WAC was invited by the "Evermony Gang," and the Potter, Weiss, and other families had always been biased towards WAC and Vaughn Weasley.

"Maybe." Joaquin shrugged, his slightly narrowed eyes flashing with uncertain light. He lowered his voice: "Actually, he might be another way out for us."

Liam was taken aback: "Who?"

"Vaughn Weasley!"

"..."

Liam was stunned, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Ignoring his surprised expression, Joaquin continued:

"I really like him. You know how desperate I was that night. If it weren't for him bringing the allied forces and suppressing Jack, it's hard to imagine what would have happened to us. After the battle, he didn't make things difficult for us at all. Instead, he brought us back for treatment..."

"To be honest, Liam, I have a much higher opinion of Vaughn Weasley than those despicable purebloods in Congress, the high and mighty Mainline, and those so-called 12 purebloods who only care about their own interests and have no humanity whatsoever."

"If I were Donald, humph, why would I bother protecting that damn Graves family? Wouldn't it be better to lead us, the surviving remnants, to join Vaughn Weasley? Putting everything else aside, Vaughn Weasley treats werewolves like human beings, let alone us?"

"..."

Liam, still reeling from the shock, remained speechless...

……

Late at night, Woolworth was still busy.

A series of events a few days ago, including the sudden disappearance of seven committee members, seriously disrupted the normal order of the entire committee.

At the same time, the heavy casualties suffered by the Department of Magic Security inevitably affected the division of labor and procedures that the various departments of the Magic Congress had been accustomed to for many years.

From the moment Donald returned to Woolworth with the devastating news, this governing body of the North American magical world, after a period of chaos, began a series of adjustments and reshuffles as the Pureblood Alliance, excluding the 12 purebloods, officially took control of the Academy Council.

Putting everything else aside, just the fact that MSA (Magic Security Agency) agents scattered across various locations were recalled within a few days, and the resulting sudden increase in personnel, created a large number of problems that kept all departments busy.

As Jacob hurried through the hall clutching a document, he saw a scene no different from daytime: paper airplanes and documents flying around, employees carrying various documents coming and going, and everyone speaking at a frantic pace, as if they were trying to make the most of every second.

However, he wasn't in the mood to pay much attention to those things.

He walked through the lobby, into the magical elevator, and all the way to the Magical Security Department floor. Squeezing through the crowds just as dense as those in the lobby, he ignored the warnings of his secretary, whose voice was already hoarse, and barged into Donald's office.

I saw a haggard Donald.

His brother, who always paid attention to his appearance, looked very disheveled at this moment. His usually sharp suit was wrinkled, his tie was ripped off, and his hair was hanging down in a mess, covering his dark and puffy eye bags.

Seeing Donald's appearance, Jacob, who had barged in, was taken aback: "The questioning session didn't go well?"

Donald glanced up at his younger brother, then lowered his eyes again, shaking his head slightly. "It's never been smooth sailing... What's wrong?"

Jacob hesitated for a moment, then handed over the document: "This is a report from the hotel, Liam. I think this phenomenon needs to be closely monitored."

Upon opening the document, Donald saw a line of large, handwritten text:

[Investigation Report on Several Aurors Suspected of Being Brainwashed by Memory Magic]

"..."

Seeing Donald open the documents, Jacob took a breath and prepared to rest for a while.

He was familiar with his brother's office. He went to the corner cabinet and found a bottle of whiskey. Then he went to the shelf compartment and found the glass his brother had hidden. He poured himself two glasses of whiskey.

(End of this chapter)