Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 228 The Siege of the Ministry of Magic

Old Dumbledore had already told him that on the day Harry encountered the notebook, he tried to stop him, but was directly dispelled by some unknown force from observing the web of fate.

Fate, this capricious "god," does not want anyone to ruin the stage "he" has carefully prepared.

It was precisely because of Deng Xiaoping's example that Vaughn never considered taking the notebook directly. Trying to test fate is one thing, but recklessly courting death without taking a gradual approach is another.

He's not crazy, how could he possibly provoke someone he doesn't understand?

"Alright, since Harry is alright for now, let's not talk about these depressing topics." Dumbledore beckoned, and a tray floated over.

The tray was filled with juice. Old Deng took a glass and handed it to Vaughn, clinking glasses with him: "I'll be troubling you a bit lately, kid. A toast to you—and to our upcoming, troublesome new semester!"

Yes, the new semester is going to be tough.

This was true for both Dumbledore and Vaughn.

-

The appearance of the Horcrux notebook puts Harry in constant danger, and the interference of fate leaves Dumbledore helpless.

He had no idea what kind of process this stage of fate would take, or what kind of outcome "fate" wanted to see.

The unknown is what makes people fearful.

Compared to Dumbledore's worries and vague fears about the new semester, Vaughn simply had worries—about the werewolf class, international university exchange and cooperation, the development of a new version of the wolfsbane potion, and so on.

Especially the werewolf class.

The resistance is too strong!

"—The werewolf class idea is too radical, Albus. I'm having a hard time convincing the Board of Governors. You know they all have children or younger family members at Hogwarts. What reason can I give them to ignore the werewolf threat?"

"Don't talk about so-called human rights. My old friend, you and I both know how stubborn wizards are. The ideals promoted by the WAC are indeed good, but in some people's eyes, the idea of ​​treating werewolves kindly, letting them walk in the sunlight and live normal lives—Merlin, there's nothing more insane than that!"

Vaughn lingered by the window for a while longer, reading and organizing the memories transmitted by Guoguocha, and then filing them away.

Then, when they returned to the banquet and found Dumbledore, they overheard an old wizard with a long, white beard complaining to him.

Vaughn knew the old wizard; he had seen him in Wizengamo.

The other wizards call him Old Velma. He is now over 130 years old and was a wizard of the same era as Mrs. Marchban. Vaughn knew him because Mrs. Marchban introduced him to him.

Old Verma kept a low profile in Wisengamo, rarely expressing his opinions or taking sides. His political stance, like his age, was conservative and old-fashioned.

Translated, it means very stubborn.

Therefore, although old Velma and Dumbledore were very close in their personal friendship, he might not necessarily support Dumbledore if their political views differed.

Conversely, when it comes to werewolf matters, old Velma and purebloods like Lucius Malfoy get along quite well.

To make matters worse, he and Lucius Malfoy were both elected to the Hogwarts Board of Governors in 1990.

It should be noted that although the name of the Board of Trustees sounds like the board of directors of Hogwarts, as if it owns the school.

However, according to the English system, the school board is more like a supervisory board. It does not have daily and teaching management authority at Hogwarts, but only supervisory authority (the above is not fabricated, but a system revealed by the original author in an interview).

The authority over the daily operations and teaching management of a school rests with the principal, vice-principals, professors, and other faculty and staff.

Financial control rests with the Ministry of Magic—the two major public expenditure items under the Ministry of Magic of England are Hogwarts and St. Mungo's.

Of course, this does not mean that the supervisory power exercised by the board of directors is weak; in fact, it supersedes the management and financial powers.

The purpose of establishing oversight power is to monitor faculty and staff as well as the Ministry of Magic's funding, preventing a lack of checks and balances between these two parties if they make mistakes.

Therefore, in the "future," only a board of trustees without ownership rights can vote to remove Dumbledore from his position as headmaster.

The Board of Governors rotates every few years, and the members who can participate in the selection are not concentrated among certain families, but rather from the entire English magical world; any well-known person can serve.

Lucius Malfoy was elected to the Board of Trustees because of his status as the head of the Malfoy family, while old Velma was elected because of his status as a member of the Wizengamot family, as well as his seniority and reputation accumulated over 130 years.

Now, this veteran wizard is giving Dumbledore a real headache.

"Old Velma, ever since Vaughn invented the wolfsbane potion at the beginning of the year, Wizengamor, the Ministry of Magic, and the Association of Extraordinary Apothecaries have repeatedly verified that the wolfsbane potion's effects are very stable. Werewolves aren't as bad as you think—"

Before Dumbledore could finish speaking, old Velma interrupted him: "Don't try to convince me, old friend. You know I have a monstrous head, full of dead ends. I advise you to think carefully and not always be led by the nose by a child!"

A few hours later, the dinner ended.

After bidding farewell to the strangely dressed old wizards, Dumbledore and Vaughn dispelled the magic in the banquet hall, allowing the automatically operating cutlery and trays to return to their proper places.

Then, the waiters, who had been enchanted with a confusion spell, filed in to clean and tidy the banquet hall.

This scene seems somewhat incongruous, as Wizengamor, responsible for upholding the Statute of Secrets, is actually the Ministry of Magic's largest private property and employs the most Muggles in Muggle society.

Dumbledore was clearly used to this, and he paid more attention to the attitude shown by old Velma than to criticizing Wizengamot.

"—The safety of the children is the key to whether the werewolf class can be allowed to open. You've seen old Velma's statement, my dear. His attitude is a very clear microcosm—Hogwarts opening a werewolf class isn't about shouting a few slogans for WAC in the newspapers, but about their own interests and the safety risks to their children."

"Therefore, those who oppose us regarding the werewolf class are not just purebloods, nor just old Velmar and his stubborn conservatives, but most wizarding families, including those who now support you and the WAC."

Vaughn took a sip of his juice and remained silent.

Dumbledore continued, "The old strategies are almost useless against these people. No matter how much you guarantee the stability and reliability of the wolfsbane potion, the reality is that they, and their ancestors, grew up listening to the terrifying legends of werewolves and wolfification. If the existence of werewolves does not threaten them, they can still listen to what you have to say rationally."

"But now, you're going to bring werewolves to their children—how many people do you think will disregard long-standing prejudices and firmly support you? Weasley? Prewitt? Or Travers?"

Upon hearing these surnames, Vaughn sighed.

Weasley was his paternal relative, and Prewitt was his maternal relative, but in reality, neither family was particularly fond of his WAC.

Since the WAC was founded, they have never tried to reconnect with Arthur and Molly, or to recruit Vaughn; the two companies have only provided limited support to Vaughn in Wizengamo.

In contrast, Travers might be more supportive of him. The Travers branch has always been a staunch supporter of Vaughn, and Vaughn sometimes finds it strange that the family that first joined him is so "blind" to him.

If you can't understand it, then don't consider it for now. After all, even if Travers supports it, it's meaningless given the direct or indirect opposition he heard at the banquet today.

After a moment's thought, Vaughn said to Dumbledore, "Then let's not consider the Board of Governors approach for now."

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore asked curiously, "You have another way?"

He hadn't considered whether Vaughn would give up; that wasn't the Vaughn he knew, that wasn't Vaughn's character.

Sure enough, Vaughn smiled and said, "Although the Board of Governors has a lot of power, it only has the power of oversight. This power is not obtained because the members of the Board of Governors hold Hogwarts assets and are naturally and reasonably able to interfere in the affairs of the school, but rather it is the power granted to them by the wizarding community and the law."

As he spoke, he turned to look at the dazzling, night-lit city of London, a slight smile playing on his lips: "In that case, let's find a way to have the people and the law strip them of their rights!"

Old Deng was taken aback, then frowned: "Deprive? You—"

"You don't need to worry about this for now, Albus."

Vaughn turned around, interrupting him, his gaze calm and deep: "Thank you for your help, but school starts soon, so you should think about the other details of our deal first—it'd better be quick. Remember what I told you? The point where the notebook and Harry's fate intertwine might just be the Chamber of Secrets—"

"Merlin, Harry, you look terrible."

In the morning, Ron was making a big fuss in the washroom on the first floor of the Burrow.

Harry looked at the faint dark circles under his eyes in the mirror and sighed, "Thanks for reminding me, Ron."

"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well?"

Harry didn't know how to answer.

He felt that he had rested quite well, with his magical notebook chatting with him and fruit tea by his side, but for some reason, he woke up feeling sore and aching, as if he had been busy all night.

Of course, the young savior did not take these slight anomalies to heart.

Even Ron didn't seem to care much.

The two bickered and joked as they left the bathroom. It wasn't until they arrived at the dining room for breakfast that Harry realized he hadn't seen Vaughn again.

He asked Ron, who scoffed, "Who knows where he went, ever since he created WAC?"

After that, this house became his hotel, whether he was going to America for a visit or to attend a banquet.

The meeting—if it weren't for Mom cleaning, I bet he wouldn't have slept in his own room for a single night—that damn ghoul in the attic has been causing trouble all summer, and he still hasn't cleaned it—”

Ron kept complaining.

But Harry was secretly laughing.

He could tell, of course, that what his good friend seemed to be complaining about was not what he actually meant at all; it was more like—a kind of worry.

After laughing at his friend's stubbornness, a thoughtful look flashed in Harry's eyes.

The reason I'm paying attention to Vaughn is because Guoguocha went to his room again last night.

Last semester, Harry, who had plenty of experience being tormented by Vaughn, was found by Fruit Tea on many occasions when he was "out of control" and unconscious.

Therefore, he knew better than anyone that the enormous cat was far more than just a cat.

Harry couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Before he could think further, Mr. Weasley walked in from outside, a newspaper tucked under his arm. Instead of sitting in his usual seat, he came to Harry's vicinity.

Harry sighed inwardly, knowing why Mr. Weasley had come.

Since we were chatting yesterday about going to King's Cross Station for school, he casually corrected a few of Mr. Weasley's misconceptions about Muggle transportation. Mr. Weasley believed that Muggles, besides driving,

Public buses should have a similar mode of transportation as Feilu Network.

Harry corrected the misconception and then explained the existence of the subway to the Weasleys.

This mode of transport immediately piqued Mr. Weasley's interest.

Yesterday, the other party kept asking questions, and Harry was exhausted from explaining, which resulted in more and more questions.

For example, right now: "Harry, let's continue our conversation from yesterday—"

Mr. Weasley was filled with curiosity about everything Muggles.

His interest wasn't just about knowing what tools Muggles had; he also wanted to get to the bottom of how those tools worked. Poor Harry, a complete slacker who hadn't even finished high school, was nowhere near able to answer such profound questions.

Throughout breakfast, if it weren't for Mrs. Molly occasionally "suppressing" Mr. Weasley, allowing Harry a moment to catch his breath, he suspected he would have suffocated from the endless barrage of questions.

They probably realized that they had indeed drained Harry's knowledge reserves.

Half an hour later, Mr. Weasley reluctantly unfolded his newspaper again.

I'm finally free!

Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he heard Mr. Weasley scream, "Merlin, what are these werewolves doing—!"

The Weasley children, including Harry, were startled and immediately gathered around. On the newspaper spread out in front of Arthur, a huge photograph occupied the entire front page of the Daily Prophet.

The photo shows a group of ragged wizards.

The crowd was dense, numbering at least several hundred. They held up their wands and shouted something as they made their way through Gringotts and Diagon Alley.

Pass through the Leaky Cauldron!

Take to the streets of London!

The large headline text floats above the photo, flashing a warning red light:

Werewolves have breached Diagon Alley and are advancing towards the Ministry of Magic! Danger!

Looking at the shocking headline, at the werewolves in the photo parading with their wands raised, at their solemn, indignant, and fanatical faces, and at the few dozen or so Aurors around the parade, facing the huddled werewolf wizards with expressions of dread, yet only able to retreat continuously.

A tense and somber atmosphere immediately enveloped us.

Harry was dumbfounded.

What's going on?

Yesterday, Mr. Weasley was complaining that without news from Vaughn and WAC, the Daily Prophet was becoming boring again.

Why is today so exciting all of a sudden?

What exactly happened?

Harry's questions were clearly unanswerable by anyone in the Burrow; only the werewolves could provide the answers.

Let's turn back time to yesterday —

As the sun dipped below the distant horizon, François awoke in his Liverpool dormitory.

He drew back the curtains, opened the window, faced the sea breeze, and silently gazed into the distance, where the setting sun cast a golden glow on the sea.

The silhouettes of Muggle ships coming and going were reflected in his pupils.

This is a sight he has rarely seen in the past 30 years.

François is 36 years old this year. As you can tell from his name, he is a French-American. Before he was 8 years old, all his knowledge came from his hometown in the American Midwest.

At that time, he could never have imagined that one day he would come into contact with werewolves and magic.

On his eighth birthday, he experienced his first magical outburst, which ruined his birthday party and attracted a werewolf who enjoyed hunting wizards.

A few days later, on the night of the full moon, the werewolf broke into François's farm and bit him in front of his parents and brothers.

This poor Muggle family has absolutely no knowledge of magic, werewolves, or wolfification.

Unsurprisingly, the following full moon, François transformed into a werewolf and slaughtered his entire family. François would never forget it. The next day, when he regained consciousness and saw his naked body, now back in human form, the coldness and pain in his heart when he saw the mutilated corpses of his parents and brothers.

He could never forget the excited, cruel, and perverse expression on the face of another werewolf, also completely naked, who appeared at the farm gate and stared at him and the mutilated corpses of his family.

François still doesn't understand why that werewolf did that.

He would occasionally ponder these questions as a child, but after nearly 30 years of being ostracized by both Muggle society and the magical world, he has given up on finding the answer.

Because it's meaningless—

Some people's evil is without reason. Perhaps that crazy werewolf just wanted others to experience the pain he had gone through.

Or perhaps, the reason he contracted wolf disease and patiently waited a month for it to manifest and transform was simply to take revenge on the wizard.

Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter anymore.

François, who murdered his family with his own hands, entered a period of darkness from the night he lost his mind, and never saw the light again.

Even after he tracked down the werewolf and took revenge himself, this despair was not alleviated in the slightest.

What good is revenge?

That damned bastard achieved his goal the moment he bit him; he dragged him from an ordinary, normal life into the abyss.

Let curses and malice spread like a plague upon him.

They turned him into something neither human nor ghost.

He no longer belonged to the "world under the sun," and could only hide like a mouse, retreating into the deep mountains and forests, becoming numb in loneliness and despair.

For many years, he thought that this was how he would spend the rest of his life.

So when the names Vaughn Weasley, Wolfsbane Potion, and WAC echoed in his ears, no one knew how much this man, who had struggled in the abyss for nearly 30 years, craved them!

The longing was like that of a drowning person who had spotted a blade of grass!

Even with doubts and a slim chance, he still held on tightly to it.

Upon learning that Vaughn was in Boston, he headed to the East Coast without hesitation. Similarly, when Vaughn was preparing to bring the North American werewolves he had gathered back to England...

François was also among the first werewolves to respond.

He had no so-called homeland complex, nor any Muggle national sentiment; America or England made no difference to him.

It was Mr. Vaughn Weasley who saved him and promised to let him live in the sunlight.

So, he went wherever the other party told him to go!

Although life in England was different from what he had expected and he was not entirely satisfied with it —

After watching the sunset for a while, as the last rays of light faded, François closed the window, picked up his washbasin and towel, and prepared to go to the public bathhouse to wash up, then have his meal, and wait for his night shift.

Yes, he is now a Muggle worker.

François was dissatisfied with this very point; he had thought that after arriving in England, he would enter the magical world and make a name for himself under Mr. Weasley's guidance.

Instead of concealing their magic and disguising themselves as a useless and dirty Muggle.

They waste their lives on the production line of mutton chickens.

"When will this end?!"

Lost in thought, François walked past a group of North American werewolves, but he ignored them; these guys were not his kind.

The North American werewolves who followed Mr. Vaughan Weasley to England are currently divided into two groups: one group consists of people like François who are unattached and willing to embrace a new life.

The other group is the complete opposite.

They were unwilling to leave North America, as they still had family and friends in America. However, due to the circumstances at the time, they had no choice but to come to England in order to avoid being purged by the Magical Congress, which had suffered significant losses.

"A bunch of ungrateful bastards—maybe I should tell Mr. Matthew and Mr. Weasley to be wary of these opportunists?"

Of all of Mr. Vaughan Weasley’s confidants, François liked Matthew the most.

Because the two had similar experiences, both were persecuted by evil werewolves, infected with werewolf syndrome, and slaughtered their relatives with their own hands when they lost their minds.

That was a past they didn't want to look back on, a shadow of guilt and regret gnawing at their hearts, but also the driving force that kept them going.

They all want to completely change the current state of werewolves.

Let the werewolf walk in the sunlight.

To prevent werewolves from becoming tools of evildoers.

Let wolf-like behavior be eradicated completely!

In contrast, François was not so close to Remus Lupin, Barnald Jr., William, and others, whom he considered too weak.

They've actually started to become complacent!

During his time in England, François had been quietly observing. He noticed that the presence of the WAC had made the English werewolves content with their current situation.

They returned to civilization from the wilderness, and with the help of Mr. Weasley and Wizengamo, obtained the jobs they had always dreamed of and lived normal lives.

So they began to slack off and become weak.

"We've finally made it back into society, so we absolutely can't cause any more trouble."

"From now on, we should keep a low profile in our actions and conduct, and avoid escalating the conflict between werewolves and wizards."

"Mr. Weasley has done enough for us; we should stop causing him trouble!"

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