Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 280 "A Born Devil" - Vaughn Weasley

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John remained silent. He looked up at Vaughn, whose expression was as calm as a statue, and a chill and a sense of unease rose in his heart.

That was fear of the other person's character—and jealousy!

This is infuriating!

From their first meeting, Weasley never gave them a second glance. Yes, back in the Alabacia Mountains, these werewolves had indeed lost their composure due to the sudden encirclement by the Aurors of the Capitol, and had...

Isabella Rozier had a bit of an unpleasant incident.

But didn't we all fight side by side in the end?

Why is he always so indifferent and uncaring towards them?

Why does he always seem so confident and superior?

Perhaps it was out of resentment, or perhaps it was to see what this person who made him feel fear and jealous would do if he realized that he had made a mistake and his defenses had been breached.

John Mill burst into laughter: "Hahaha—Mr. Weasley, our esteemed Chairman, you may not care about my reasons for betraying you, but do you think I'm the only one among the North American werewolves who betrayed you?"

Vaughn looked at him calmly, and waited for his laughter to subside before saying, "Yes, it's impossible for you to be the only one. There are many people who are dissatisfied with the status quo. Even without John Mill, there's Bruges, Jack Halder, and Alan Thaler—"

With each name Vaughn uttered, John Mill's heart sank a little deeper.

Because those names belong to people within the North American werewolf group who have openly or covertly supported and sided with him.

He exhaled and slowly stood up. The slightly chilly night wind swept through the unfamiliar woods, swaying the surrounding fiery monsters that seemed to be eyeing him menacingly, and also ruffled his robes, making his weary body appear even more fragile.

It was just speculation before, but now it's confirmed.

When did François join your ranks?

He asked.

Vaughn didn't hide anything: "It was from the very beginning."

John Mill looked puzzled: "I never suspected him, because many people, including myself, speculated that he killed Alexander and his companion and then framed a non-existent English wizard, if he had been your subordinate all along—"

Across from him, Vaughn nodded: "He did kill the man, it was my order."

Why?

As soon as the question left his mouth, John Mill realized he had asked a stupid one. What else could it be? With so many werewolf wizards coming from North America, who wouldn't be tempted?

He went to great lengths, even risking becoming a traitor, to dismember C in order to obtain this military force.

Those English "big spenders" were not spending lavishly on Galleons for charity or Muggle humanitarian purposes; they were also trying to seize control of werewolf wizards.

So, what's different about Vaughn Weasley?

The only difference is that the other party is on a higher level. By killing two disobedient troublemakers, he creates a harsh external environment in the minds of North American werewolves, and then by inciting conflict between werewolves and wizards, he forces the North American werewolves to depend on him.

Even John Mill, who witnessed the entire month-long protests, felt that Vaughn Weasley hadn't contributed much to the instigation process.

All he needs to do is stir up trouble among the North American werewolves, making their "victim" status less perfect and more flawed, and the wizards will spontaneously escalate the conflict.

The real world is always harsher on the weak.

John was momentarily lost in thought at this conclusion. He glanced at Vaughn with a complex expression, a half-smile on his face: "So you're not a saint after all."

"There are no saints in the real world, John, but my plans for the North American werewolves are not as superficial as you think. What I need is not their force, but their very existence—"

Vaughn wanted to explain his strategy of unifying voices and directions to expand his magical power, but seeing the mocking expression gradually appearing on John's face, he stopped talking.

The person in front of you may not understand your ideals.

To be precise, probably not many people can understand this; otherwise, why would he need to use trickery to bind the werewolves to his chariot?

It is precisely because no one understands that we need their loyalty and their unquestioning obedience, rather than letting our hearts be consumed by doubt, resistance, and rebellion, thus wasting our energy!

On the other hand, John, having learned of Vaughn's "purpose," became excited, seemingly proving that Vaughn was not a saint but a despicable and dirty schemer, which gave him a certain psychological and identity satisfaction.

He burst out laughing again.

He laughed for a while before stopping, panting, "Hehehe—since you were willing to play with fire to kidnap a werewolf, why did you suddenly decide today not to let me go anymore?"

Before Vaughn could answer, he continued, "Let me guess, is it because things seem a bit out of control to you? You suddenly realize that you've only revealed the slightest flaw, and a flock of vultures has charged at you wielding Galleons. In just over a month, so many North American werewolves, driven by money, power, and desire, have gathered around me. You, esteemed Mr. Weasley, savior of the werewolves, feel threatened?"

"Hahaha, I actually made the great Vaughn Weasley feel threatened!"

His hearty laughter echoed through the woods.

He stared at Vaughn with excitement and mockery, eager to see the other man enraged.

But to John Mill's surprise, it didn't.

Vaughn simply watched him laugh calmly, watching his laughter falter and fade away.

John didn't quite understand.

Did the other party not understand?

He decided to be more blunt: "You've made a huge mistake, Mr. Weasley. You've opened a Pandora's box. Your indulgence over the past month has shown the outside world the possibility that werewolves might escape your control."

"I admit, your sudden move today caught us all off guard, but at the same time, you also failed. Do you know why?"

"Because you let my backers go! You shouldn't have come to arrest me, sir. Betrayal within the werewolf ranks can be dealt with through purges and appeasement. Arresting me is meaningless. The only ones who can't be let go are those backers, those who dared to interfere. Otherwise, if they go unpunished, more people will become restless—you can control the werewolves, but you can't control those wizarding families!"

John Mill's smile grew even more smug.

He no longer hoped that Vaughn would let him go, which actually made him more willing to go all out. He didn't want to grovel and fawn over the guy he envied.

He wanted to expose the opponent's mistakes and salvage his last shred of dignity through a victory or defeat in another field.

but----

Vaughn remained calm, simply saying to him, "No, John, you are more important than you realize."

John laughed wildly: "You think you can force them to reveal their identities from me? Hahaha, forget about it, Weasley. I've been dealing with those guys for over a month and I've never seen their faces, I don't even know their names. Those old geezers are much more cautious than you think!"

'

Vaughn stared at him in silence for a moment, then suddenly sighed: "Actually, through François's reports and seeing you jumping around like this, I sometimes feel that it's a bit of a waste to sacrifice you. C lacks a manager with such strong initiative as you."

"But now it seems you're nothing special after all."

To be honest, John Mill was quite pleased when he first heard Vaughn's praise.

It was a rather twisted emotion; he was both jealous of Vaughn and vaguely convinced of him. That's why he found it particularly hard to accept when Vaughn belittled him at the end of his conversation.

He challenged, "Speak! Let me hear your sophistry!"

Vaughn was not angry at his provocation, nor did he show any emotional fluctuation. He simply said sincerely, "Dear John, this is what disappoints me. Your understanding of reality is still at the level of rigorous logic. You believe that the world needs concrete evidence to protest and hold people accountable."

"?"

John Mill looked puzzled. Although he didn't understand what nonsense the other person was talking about, he had a bad feeling.

On the other side, Vaughn said nothing more, but instead pressed his wand against his forehead and slowly drew out a strand of silver thread.

The twinkling lights of memories and thoughts shimmered on that silver thread. Vaughn stretched it out, tapped his wand, and then cast a mist spell, imbuing it with the memories.

Before long, the swirling mist shifted and transformed, recreating the scene from my memory.

The scene is the same unknown forest where the two are now, and they are standing opposite each other, just like they are now.

The difference is that in the memory of the reappearance of the mist, they did not have the same normal dialogue as they do now. The eyes of "Vaughn Weasley" formed by the mist shone with a captivating blue light, bewitching "John Mill".

A hazy, seemingly distant conversation drifted through the mist, subtle yet clear: "John, who is supporting your activities to split C and attempt to enslave the werewolves again?"

"Many—Malfoy, Bosde, Lestrange, Nott, Parkinson—"

One by one, pure-blood surnames that even John Mill, who was not English, would be familiar with, were uttered from his own mouth in that altered memory.

John's face grew increasingly ashen as he listened.

Those surnames encompassed most of the 28 sacred races. What was even more terrifying was that the person in his memory hadn't stopped and continued reciting surnames. Although they were unfamiliar, judging from the pure-blood surnames mentioned earlier, they were mostly well-known wizarding families in the English magical world.

He stared at Vaughn in shock: "Are you crazy?"

"Of course not. I just wanted to tell you that this is the logic of how the world works. Sometimes, some things don't need evidence, they just need an excuse. My dear John, you are my excuse."

"—You're crazy, no one will believe that!"

"But no one can be absolutely certain that they don't believe it. As long as it can't be proven to be completely impossible, then the possibility exists."

Vaughn's calm expression was sincere. "For me, C or werewolves don't need to have one or more specific enemies. That would be too clear. On the one hand, it would guide the werewolves to hate which family or families, and on the other hand, it would force the enemies to unite more deeply and oppose me."

"Instead of that, let's muddy the waters completely and use your testimony to drag all the suspected families into it. The advantage of this is that the werewolves will realize how powerful the forces opposing them are, how stubborn the real obstacles to pursuing equality are, and how far their vision of walking in the sunlight is from being realized."

"On the other hand, this indiscriminate confession will also create conflict within the enemy's ranks. Families who did not participate certainly know they are innocent, but they are unsure whether the other families on the list are real or not. Are they willing to take the blame for the real mastermind? Of course not. In order to prove their innocence, they will do everything they can to dig out the real mastermind. And those real masterminds, in order to hide themselves and protect themselves, will also do everything they can to cause trouble and smear other families."

"At that time, the truth about the external evil forces" will force the werewolves to suppress dissent and unite as one, while the external enemies will no longer have the energy to interfere with us—look, John, how glorious it is that you alone can solve the two major problems facing the werewolves!"

John Mill was speechless; he wanted to say something, but found his mind completely blank.

All he knew was that he had truly lost all jealousy towards the 12-year-old child in front of him, and was left only with fear and timidity.

This time, it wasn't because of the opponent's magic, but because of their wisdom, and the cold, ruthless ruthlessness behind that wisdom that allowed them to manipulate everyone at will!

""

My God!

Are there really born devils in this world?

His will completely collapsed.

Vaughn, who had been paying close attention to John's mental state, keenly noticed this, and his eyes lit up with a faint blue light.

Capture the mind and seize thoughts!

Hogwarts, the practice classroom.

In the dense forest, a clump of bushes swayed a few times, and Harry's disheveled head peeked out furtively. He looked around nervously for a moment, and finding nothing unusual nearby, he turned to his left and right and called out, "Ron, Hermione, come out, she seems to be gone."

As he called out, the low grass on the left parted, revealing Ron's mud-covered head, which looked like a potato pushing open the ground.

The branches of the large tree on the right swayed a few times, slowly parting to reveal Hermione, who was curled up tightly on all fours, using her limbs to cover herself.

The figure above.

From her perspective, the woodland below, besides the tree she was standing on, also included the bushes and grass extending from the tree canopy, where Harry and Ron were hiding.

The rest of the area was in complete disarray.

The dense forest looked as if it had been crushed by some enormous thing; trees were broken and collapsed, and the haphazardly piled broken branches mixed with the equally messy remains of other plants were all mixed together in a huge crater that stretched into the distance.

In fact, a huge, angry creature had just passed through this area.

Even though several minutes had passed, the terrifying noise still made Hermione's heart pound and her face turn pale.

Harry and Ron had similar expressions. The three of them met under the tree, staring at the terrifying dents left by the giant object in the distance, and dared not step out of the canopy.

They watched silently for a while, still shaken, when a soft moan roused them from their dazed state.

Looking down, she saw several creatures that looked like saplings, stretching out claws that resembled both roots and twigs, tugging at the hem of Hermione's robe, trying to attract her attention. One of them even had an angry expression, as if blaming her for forgetting something.

Hermione slapped her forehead, quickly crouching down to comfort him while directing Harry and Ron, "Quick, you bumpkins, go dig up some bumpkins!"

"what?"

"The ground beetle is the favorite food of the tree-protecting hunchbacks. I promised them that I would give them some ground beetles as a reward if they would shelter us."

Harry and Ron exchanged an awkward glance: "Uh—where do country bumpkins usually live?"

"Of course it's the soil, that loose soil piled high with dead leaves and humus! Good heavens, Harry, Ronald, that's what Percy just shared with the students under third grade at yesterday's club event!"

Harry and Ron quickly broke off a branch from a nearby euonymus tree and begged Hermione to conjure up two shovels for them, and they began searching through the dirt.

As time went on, the ecosystem of the small world where the practical course was held became more and more complete, and common insects like ground beetles were not seen before.

Back then, if students wanted to "trade" with the magical creatures in the miniature world during practical classes, they had to plan their trading partners in advance and bring them in from outside.

Of course, once the ecosystem is perfected, this behavior is no longer allowed.

The two of them dug up some beetles and quickly gave them to Hermione. Watching her pick up the dark, dirty beetles without any disgust and personally distribute them to the sapling-like Bowtruckles, watching them happily munching away, they were amazed. "Hermione, how did you know there were Bowtruckles here?" they asked.

"Pay attention to the tree we're hiding in. It's called a beech, and its branches are excellent for making wand shafts. Generally speaking, the wizarding world also calls this kind of tree a wand tree. Bowtruckles love to live on wand trees. They are very attached to their homes and will attack any enemy that threatens their home in order to protect it."

Harry suddenly realized, "So, the Angry Bird snake that was passing by was chased away by them?"

"No, that's not it." Hermione explained while teasing a Bowtruckle. "It's more like the Owlsnake deliberately went around this place. The Owlsnake is kind by nature and very intelligent. Even when she's angry, she won't harm innocent magical creatures. She knows there's a Bowtruckle on this beech tree."

In fact, the three of them had encountered bird snakes in the Forbidden Forest last semester.

However, Hermione had the tape recorder Vaughn had given her with her, which contained recordings of unicorn calls. Unicorns are sociable, and the harpy guarding the eggs was ultimately spared from attacking them thanks to the tape recorder and the timely arrival of Ferrenzer.

Thinking back to what happened last semester, Harry glanced back at the woodland, now a mess because of the harpy's passage, patted his chest, and felt relieved that he hadn't witnessed firsthand how terrifying an angry harpy could be last semester, yet also somewhat worried: "I remember Ron saying that harpies are only particularly sensitive when protecting their eggs. Was that harpy so angry just now because its eggs were stolen?"

"It's even worse than that."

Ron's face hadn't recovered yet. He said angrily, "At this time of year, the snake eggs should have hatched long ago. Baby bird snakes need a summer to grow before they can safely survive the winter. Someone must have stolen the baby bird snakes, which is why the mother snake grew so big and rampaged through the forest—snake eggs and hatched chicks are not the same thing. I've heard that in the wild, bird snakes are considered very lucky if five out of a dozen eggs hatch. At least half of those five chicks won't survive the first month. If you were the bird snake mother, wouldn't you go crazy losing a chick you'd raised with such care?"

Upon hearing this, Harry and Hermione both widened their eyes in surprise.

It wasn't surprising that Ron knew so much; Ron had always liked some fierce magical creatures, and coming from a wizarding family, it was normal for him to know about things that interested him.

To their surprise, some students were so bold as to steal a bird snake during a practical class!

All three were certain that such behavior was not allowed in the practical class. Although the camp would issue egg-stealing missions, the targets were usually magical creatures like the Neferpitou, which were very prolific and did not care much about the eggs, and were willing to cooperate with the wizard.

Birds and snakes, such magical creatures that have such difficulty in reproduction, are highly intelligent, and have rich emotions, are clearly not within the scope of the mission.

Not to mention stealing cubs—even a mongoose wouldn't risk its young.

The three of them discussed for a while with righteous indignation who had stolen the baby harpy. Ron believed it was Slytherin. There was no reason why; in his mind, only Slytherin—or more accurately, Malfoy's gang of lackeys—could have done such a stupid thing.

Harry agreed with this view, thinking that with Goyle and Crabbe's intelligence, it was really hard to say.

Hermione, however, felt that the two were making too many subjective assumptions. She thought Gryffindor couldn't be ruled out as a suspect either. "Thomas and Finnegan are always so impulsive. It's hard to say whether they might have done something stupid out of curiosity."

"Impossible, Neville is in their group, he'll be keeping an eye on them."

The issue was ultimately left unresolved.

Ron believes Hermione is blinded by love, and her intelligence drops drastically whenever she's involved with Vaughn.

Hermione's reaction was to cast a silencing spell on him.

In the end, it was Harry who smoothed things over.

"There's no point in arguing here. With such a commotion, our mission is definitely off the table. Let's go back and check it out. Professor Rozier is at the camp; they'll definitely investigate. The guy who stole the baby can't hide."

Since the last lesson, as the miniature world has become more and more complete, the scale and complexity of practical lessons have also increased, and some new regulations have been established one after another.

One of the rules is that no student is allowed to bring anything into or out of the Small World except their robes and wands.

For this purpose, the camp also "recruited" a group of bored sixth-year students—they had just finished the regular wizarding exams last semester, and the ultimate wizarding exams would not begin until seventh year. In their sixth year, they were the most unrestrained group at Hogwarts.