Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 252 Make the werewolves give up their illusions

Jack was moved by Barnard's humble plea.

I was also deeply moved and inspired by Mr. Weasley's selfless dedication to the werewolves.

So even though it disliked Freya's ideas, it did not reject or refuse them.

In the cool night, it suppressed its restlessness, perched on the tree, and watched the three little wizards argue and hesitate for a moment. Under the protection of the magical fire summoned by the girl, they finally decided to walk into the devil's web.

The team of Sebastian, Jack, and Freya, because the trio is so reliable, has not shown any other qualities.

But elsewhere, as the practical lessons progressed and time went by, they gradually left relatively complex imprints on the minds of other young wizards.

For example, Na'Vi!

To be honest, Neville was terrified when he was defeated and dragged into the jungle by the giant wolf on the grassland.

As the giant wolf smashed through his armor charm with its head and bit him into its jaws, Neville had already come up with his own epitaph: "The pathetic, good-for-nothing Longbottom, whose bones were found in the wolf's droppings."

Yes, the moment the wolf's jaws caught him, Neville felt that his life was coming to an end.

He lacked Harry's wit, Hermione's erudition, and Ron's familiarity with Vaughn's character; he firmly believed in the authenticity of the Practical Lesson.

Then, amidst Neville's faint sorrow and longing for his grandmother and his parents in St. Mungo's, the giant wolf dragged him into the woods, to a banyan tree covered in aerial roots, and laid him there.

Also released were his companions, Seamus and Dean, who had been defeated and captured by the giant wolf just like him.

Poor Seamus, if Neville managed to cast the Ironclad Charm and barely managed to defend himself against the giant wolf, then Seamus practically gave it away for nothing.

No one knew what spell Seamus had cast. In the midst of the chaos, everyone heard a deafening explosion and saw Seamus, his head smoking and holding a still-burning wand, being blasted into the air by his own spell before landing with a thud in front of the giant wolf that had attacked him.

The giant wolf was stunned.

Dean Thomas wasn't much better off.

The guy tried to use the Flight Spell to deflect the giant wolf that was lunging at him, but in his haste, he accidentally recited the Summoning Spell instead of the Flight Spell.

Then, with a bang.

Amidst the billowing white smoke, a cow, still munching on grass, stood on Dean's rump.

The terrifying giant wolf didn't kill him, but he was nearly crushed to death by the cows he had summoned!

Dean, however, remained optimistic. After the giant wolf dropped the three off under the banyan tree and turned to leave, he stood up, clutching his backside, grabbed Neville, who was still lost in thought, lamenting his wasted life, and shook him vigorously: "Neville! Wake up! The giant wolf is gone!"

"what?"

Neville came to his senses, but was still a little confused and felt very tired.

Soon, Dean's screams made him realize why he felt so tired: "My God, Neville, you're bleeding so much—Seymour! Seymour!"

Simo did not respond; wisps of smoke rose from his hair, his eyes rolled back, and he remained unconscious.

Neville saw Dean frantically touching his body, his hands covered in blood when he raised them again.

Dean was so pale he looked like he was about to faint.

Neville, on the other hand, felt surprisingly calm. Perhaps it was due to mental relaxation caused by blood loss, or perhaps it was because he truly possessed the courage that belonged to Gryffindor?

Neville calmly instructed Dean: "Do you know the Glowing Charm?"

"I—I can, a little bit—"

"Then chant the incantation, Dean. And while you're at it, take off my clothes; I need to see where you're injured."

Dean shook his wand frantically several times before a small point of light appeared at the tip, and the soft glow immediately dispelled the darkness.

Neville strained to lift his neck and looked down at Dean's trembling hand as he lifted his robe.

puff!

A fountain of blood gushed out.

Neville heard Dean take a deep breath and let out a sobbing cry.

"It's alright." Looking at the gruesome wounds on his body and the blood gushing from them, Neville felt a wave of dizziness.

But his calm mind told him that he absolutely could not panic. He tried to control the tears welling up in his eyes and comforted Dean, "It's not too serious, Dean. It looks like—it's just a superficial wound. Yes, the blood color is normal. It shouldn't have damaged any internal organs."

In Dean's opinion, the blood was like a small fountain, which was definitely not normal.

He instinctively reached out to block it, but he wasn't sure if he was doing it correctly, so he just stood there helplessly.

After such a short delay, Neville was already starting to feel a bit cold.

He, who excelled in herbal medicine class, knew very well why he felt cold—it was due to excessive blood loss.

He opened his mouth, wanting to tell Dean how to treat the wound, such as what kind of herbs to find nearby to make a simple blood-replenishing potion, and what kind of herbs to use instead of Dictamnus dasycarpus to promote scab formation.

But the exhaustion caused by blood loss quickly overwhelmed him, and his mouth could only move in vain.

At that moment, outside the faint glow of the Firefly Spell, in the deep darkness, the ground covered with fallen leaves rustled.

Startled, Dean hurriedly grabbed his wand.

Then he heard a muffled voice: "If you don't want your teammates to bleed to death, I suggest you put down your wand."

As they spoke, the owner of the voice slowly stepped into the range of the glowing spell.

Dean Thomas looked over in shock. At his feet, Neville, whose vision was already blurring, also turned his head with difficulty.

The next moment, Neville felt as if he were hallucinating—the voice belonged to a giant silver-grey wolf, the same wolf that had bitten Neville and dragged him to the banyan tree not long ago.

However, this giant wolf, which had been so savage and ferocious not long ago, reappeared with several herbs in its mouth.

It looked at the two dazed little wizards, put down the herbs in its mouth, and its muffled voice became clear and deep: "There aren't many kinds of herbs around here. These are all I found for now. Take them and help him stop the bleeding as soon as possible. My companions are searching for blood-replenishing herbs nearby."

"——"

Dean and Neville were stunned.

Then, the two, still silent in astonishment, saw the giant wolf frown in a human-like manner. It tilted its head, casting a questioning look, and stretched out its paw to poke at the herbs on the ground: "Haven't you learned these yet? Thistle? Red thread grass? Mix them together and you have a simple hemostatic medicine. I've used it; it's quite effective at treating external injuries!"

Damn it!

Dean jumped up abruptly: "Y-you-you—you can talk?"

Giant Wolf:

—

Dean swore he saw a fleeting look of disdain on the giant wolf's face: "I'm a descendant of werewolves, of course I can talk. What do you take me for, a wild beast?"

It really wasn't a hallucination!

Having lost a lot of blood, Neville felt increasingly sleepy, and his eyelids finally gave way, so he drifted off to sleep.

From mid-air, looking down at everything below, Vaughn could clearly see that in the mountain forest "labyrinth" he had separated, many small wizard teams were receiving help from the giant wolf to varying degrees.

He watched silently, without a trace of expression.

Isabella also noticed the giant wolves' actions.

Vaughn hadn't told her before that the giant wolves were not only a warning to the young wizards, but also their protectors.

but----

"You really think this will work?"

Isabella, who believed she had seen through Vaughn's thoughts, remained noncommittal.

Upon hearing this, Vaughn shrugged and retorted, "You should know about my proposal to establish a werewolf class at Hogwarts, right?"

Isabella nodded.

This matter was not brought up publicly, nor was it even mentioned at the most recent Wizengamo Conference. Dumbledore had only discussed it briefly with the elected board members, without going into any depth.

As a result, the news was quickly leaked and leaked to media outlets such as The Daily Prophet by an "unnamed insider".

Fortunately, Vaughn has always been very public-minded and has a good relationship with the media. Moreover, the recent social hot topic is the heated protests by werewolves in North America. In addition, the "werewolf class" is just a rumor with no evidence, so newspapers such as the Daily Prophet suppressed the news.

However, the story still spread.

After all, the so-called "insiders" who leaked the information wanted more people to know what Dumbledore was "up to". Since the media channels were blocked, they would naturally choose other methods.

Initially, the matter was only circulated discreetly among pure-blood families, but soon, even wizarding families that had long been marginalized from the core of pure-blood families, including the Rozier branch from which Isabella originated, knew about it.

During the period of preparing for curriculum reforms at the start of the school year, more and more wizarding families began to discuss the veracity of the "werewolf class" issue.

Isabella received letters from the family patriarch and the main branch, inquiring whether she had heard any rumors at Hogwarts and whether Dumbledore truly had such intentions.

Of course, Isabella knew that she ignored them. During the time she was trapped in North America, her family didn't care about her life or death at all. Vaughn had even specifically informed the main branch about her situation through Wizengamo, but they just pretended to be helpless.

It wasn't that she felt sad or angry, after all, she had suddenly resigned from her job at the Ministry of Magic without informing her family, and was known in the family as rebellious and treacherous.

It's normal for her family to be disappointed in her and give up on her.

She simply felt that those people had a very narrow perspective, were nothing but a bunch of insects, and didn't want to bother with them anymore.

Vaughn was aware of this situation, so when Isabella nodded but didn't speak, he didn't wait for her reply and continued, "You know the attitude of your family, and those other wizarding families who also know this news, towards the werewolf class, right?"

Isabella was well aware that yesterday, the main branch had sent her another letter, with increasingly direct and severe wording, actually demanding that she investigate Dumbledore and the werewolves at Hogwarts.

They seemed certain that Hogwarts Castle had fallen into the hands of werewolves.

Their expressions were quite unpleasant.

"Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain." Vaughn said a phrase he had used countless times, but he always used it in similar situations.

He looked down into the maze-like jungle below, at the young wizards whose practice had just begun, but which he had deliberately increased the difficulty of, leaving them badly injured.

And then there were the giant wolves that, on his orders, helped the young wizard find herbs for healing, and who roamed back and forth in the forest.

Watching the young wizards face the giant wolf, their fear turned into curiosity.

Watching the giant wolves go from initial indifference and reluctance to surprise and shyness in the face of the little wizard's gratitude, their enthusiasm gradually increased.

There wasn't a trace of happiness on his face.

It felt like watching a pre-arranged drama.

He watched quietly, then asked, "Isha, C has been established for over half a year, experiencing slander, debate, verbal battles, understanding, and acceptance—do you think the wizards have ever moved that mountain of prejudice that represents werewolves?"

of course not!

This is a question that can be answered without thinking.

Yes, in the past six months or so, the English magical community, and even the international magical community, seems to have accepted C's ideas and recognized the effectiveness of the wolfsbane potion developed by Vaughn.

But the werewolf class incident made Isabella realize that such acceptance and recognition had ulterior motives.

Perhaps, as a commentator with a niche viewpoint said in a past issue of the Daily Prophet that she recently crammed, those who oppose C and those who support C don't actually care about werewolves.

Regarding C, bureaucrats see the potential for expanding their power.

Politicians are considering whether the once marginalized werewolves can become a new political group and bring about new political changes.

Not to mention those ambitious individuals who welcome any opportunity to shake up the old system, not for the sake of reform, but because the old system is being shaken open to create cracks, giving them the chance to manipulate things.

In the past, many opinions circulated in newspapers, whether opposing werewolves or supporting them.

Ultimately, their arguments and verbal battles were all about something that was still uncertain: the werewolves had been placed in Muggle society by Vaughn, and they had not yet affected the lives of the wizards.

The proposal of the werewolf class is different.

If this comes true, it means that werewolves will go from being just a term or a picture in a newspaper to truly entering their lives and the lives of their children.

As a result, dissenting voices grew louder!

Among the letters Isabella received from the main lineage these days was an old wizard from a wizarding family who had supported Vaughn and C in "The Quibbler." He had joined the main lineage in sending her a message, which was strongly worded and condemned the dangers and inappropriateness of the werewolf class.

Even though the werewolf class hasn't even started yet—

"That mountain is very difficult to move," Vaughn said calmly. "The fear and discrimination against werewolves has lasted for over a thousand years. Adult wizards grew up listening to scary stories about werewolves, and teenagers were taught how dangerous wolfification was. As a result, their beliefs became ingrained as adults."

"Werewolves are beasts, pests, and disasters. This mindset, instilled from childhood, is impossible to change, and I've never even dared to hope it could be changed—"

"—So, you're planning to use the giant wolf to influence these young wizards from a young age?"

Isabella walked over to Vaughn and looked down with him.

She felt she understood Vaughn's plan, but also couldn't quite grasp it: "Isn't this idea too idealistic?"

""

Although Isabella also felt that compared to the werewolf's ferocious appearance, the giant wolf's appearance was much gentler, with its fluffy fur and silver fur even appearing somewhat sacred under the moonlight.

If you ignore the glowing eyes, and to be somewhat offensive, they look like big dogs, which is certainly enough to confuse an immature young wizard.

But—they were just junior wizards after all, and for at least a few years, they couldn't make their own decisions.

Even if it affects the little wizard, so what?

The time cost is too high!

Immersed in her confusion, Isabella, of course, did not see the indifference in Vaughn's eyes.

Yes, using a giant wolf to influence a young wizard is too idealistic.

So, Vaughn never even had that idea!

A verse in the Muggle Christian Bible left a deep impression on Vaughn, who was not a believer:

I have not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword.

This passage has been interpreted in numerous Muggle religions throughout history, with subtle differences between the various schools. Some interpret the correct meaning of "weapon" from a scriptural perspective, while others explain it from a religious perspective, focusing on the attribution of faith and love.

But in Vaughn's view, this is actually about the dividing line between gods and mortals, between the superior and the inferior.

The use of weapons does not mean that Jesus loved war, although in the Muggle Bible, that God waged several wars of extermination against mortals.

But not this time.

It speaks of the purification of faith:

For I have come to set a man apart from his father and a daughter from her mother—a man’s enemies are the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his children more than me is not worthy of me.

This seemingly heartless statement, when translated into layman's terms, actually means very simple: take sides!

When God, who transcends all things, stands before mortals, it is to sow discord between their love and righteousness, so that they may wholeheartedly bear God's word, stand at God's feet, and face God's enemies.

Although he didn't claim to be the "I" in the previous "gospel," in Vaughn's heart, this was precisely the kind of expectation he had of werewolves—

If the wizard has no prejudice in his heart.

If the wizard readily accepts the werewolf.

If the werewolves successfully reintegrate into human society.

Then things will become more difficult for him.

Only when the external environment deteriorates and the world is against him will the werewolves see him as their only savior, and only then can he "better" unite the werewolves.

The proposal of the werewolf class was partly due to the fact that werewolf children's awakening of magical talent, without systematic education, would lead to the emergence of Obscurials. It was also because he knew that this plan would face significant resistance.

It was large enough to shatter the seemingly peaceful situation and completely intensify the conflict between wizards and werewolves.

It's so big that even werewolves have to give up their fantasies!

The purpose of proposing the werewolf class is for this reason.

This is also why he manipulated the werewolves into marching.

You may love your people more than me, or your parents more than me, but in the end, reality will tell you that you will only be free if you love me more than anything else!

In this vast little world, the evening breeze blows, the forest sways, and the waves seem to ripple.

Vaughn stood silently for a long time. At that moment, as the full moon hanging in the sky began to slide towards the mountain peak, he slowly spoke, not answering Isabella's question, but saying, "The time has come!"

It's time for our practical lesson!

An hour and a half is neither a short nor a long time.

In Harry's mind, it seemed like it had all passed in a flash.

One second, he, Hermione, and Ron were trekking through the dark forest, and the next, a strange sphere swallowed them up.

The scene before him suddenly changed, and he realized that the three of them were back on the grass where they had started.

Looking around blankly, Harry saw that his other classmates, including those despicable little snakes from Slytherin, were also being "spit out" by the suddenly appearing spheres.

Some were as confused as he was, looking around as if they had suddenly returned from their journey, while others were much more disheveled.

For example, Malfoy.

When he and his two henchmen were ejected from the sphere, they were rolling on the ground, screaming loudly. It took them a while to come to their senses, and their originally pale faces turned bright red.

It's unknown what he encountered in the jungle before being teleported back.

"it's over?"

As Harry was thinking, a muffled thunderous voice came from the sky. It was Professor Rozier: "I am glad to see that you have had one—no, two—practical lessons. Everyone has been actively involved in the course, fighting, adventuring, and giving their all. I am very pleased, but unfortunately, time is limited and today's lessons are over. Now, please line up and let Assistant Professor Vaughn Weasley escort you away."

All the young wizards on the grass were still a little confused. They subconsciously lined up and saw a huge, strange sphere rising up in front of them.

After being used several times, everyone now knows that it must be some kind of spatial magic.

Everyone walked in on their own.

Harry was at the very front of the Gryffindor line, and compared to the thick darkness when he entered, he was suddenly disoriented at the end of the class.

As Harry stepped onto the sphere, he clearly felt as if he were passing through a long tunnel with countless strange, distorted shadows and light.

However, that feeling was very short-lived.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the passageway vanished, and he and Ron, side by side, returned to the castle, to a dimly lit corridor.

Vaughn and Professor Rozier were already waiting there.

Neither of them spoke. Harry and Ron, who had rushed out, nodded and waited for the other students before leading everyone back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on the second floor of the castle.

The second floor is where classes are concentrated, including the Muggle Research Classroom, the Transfiguration Classroom, and the History of Magic Classroom.

When everyone returned, it was just as the Transfiguration class for the older students was ending. Harry saw the twins, who, along with a group of fourth-year Gryffindors and Slytherins, were standing at the other end of the corridor, peering in their direction.

Harry felt that he and his classmates must be terrible in the eyes of the twins.

Leaving aside his mental state, Harry still feels like he's in a dream—not long ago he was engaged in thrilling battles and adventures, and then everything suddenly ended.

He resisted the urge to pinch Ron several times on the way to check if he had gotten up late today.

His appearance was terrible. Harry didn't know what he looked like, but Ron looked extremely disheveled. His robes were wrinkled from running and fighting, covered in mud and dead leaves, and he looked like he had first jumped into the Black Lake and swam around, then rolled in the swamp of the Forbidden Forest.

He exuded an indescribable scent.