Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 285 Voldemort's Actions

"----trivia?"

The two were increasingly confused. In their view, the issue of the list was the biggest scandal in the wizarding world recently. Just moments ago, everyone was discussing their impressions of the werewolf parade, and Ron had even complained that the parade was affecting normal life and entertainment. Then suddenly it was revealed that the werewolf parade was manipulated by a mastermind behind the scenes, with the ultimate goal of exacerbating the conflict between werewolves and wizards and brewing a conflict.

With its twists and turns, and conspiracy theories, it's practically the perfect story template.

If these are considered trivial matters, then what could be more valuable?

Seeing their innocent expressions, Hermione sighed, "Haven't you noticed that Vaughn hasn't been in the newspapers lately, and even C hasn't appeared?"

is it?

Harry scratched his head, thinking back, and it seemed that was indeed the case.

"Because Vaughn has achieved his goal, the list has been made public, public attention has shifted away from the werewolf parade, and the public's magnifying glass has been turned on the purebloods. The pureblood families have also begun to compromise under pressure—what remains is just meaningless arguing, which is not worth paying attention to."

Harry and Ron were confused.

Hermione didn't bother to explain further, simply flipping through a newspaper page and pointing to another report, saying, "This is the kind of 'good friend' we should have. Look who's in the photo."

The two of them looked in that direction.

That was the supplementary page, featuring a news story whose popularity had been overshadowed by the list incident:

[Recently, the International Magic School Potions Exchange Program was officially launched, with Busbarton and Castorbusche making a high-profile announcement of their participation in the Pyrenees.]

The photo Hermione was referring to is right below the title.

It's a group photo.

The background is a snow-capped mountain peak, with brown rocky ridges exposed amidst the white snow, the mountain's bones rugged. There are three people in the photo, and in the center is the headmaster, whom Harry and Ron know best and who has been missing for a long time.

Dumbledore looked very happy, his face crinkling with laughter.

To his left stood a short, plump witch with dark brown skin and a brightly colored robe, giving her a distinctly South American look.

And on the right—the moment Harry and Ron saw the witch to Dumbledore's right, their mouths dropped open, and Ron yelled, "Hagrid the woman!"

Hermione glared at him but didn't say anything, because the witch did indeed have the same impact as Hagrid—huge, several feet taller and twice as wide as Dumbledore, draped in white fur, like a polar bear from the far north.

Unlike Hagrid, she doesn't look sloppy or rude at all; she has a rather elegant demeanor. If it weren't for Dumbledore and the South American witch standing next to her, she would just be an enlarged version of an intellectual woman.

"The South American witch on the left is Madame Silva, the headmistress of the Castorbuscher Magic School in Brazil, and the giant witch on the right—the one with a rather large figure—is Madam Maxime, the headmistress of the Busbarton Magic School in France."

Seeing that her two friends looked clueless, Hermione explained.

"Madam?" Upon hearing this address, Harry, for some reason, suddenly asked, "She's not married?"

'

Ron, scratching his head, asked, "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

""

"Hagrid, Ron, you just called her female Hagrid. Don't you think her size is a perfect match for Hagrid? And she's not married, and neither is Hagrid—"

"Oh my god!" Hermione slapped her forehead and quickly interrupted him: "I didn't want you to pay attention to Ms. Maxim's height, nor was it gossip, but rather the meaning behind this photo."

What is the meaning? Where is it?

The two men's eyes grew clearer and clearer.

Hermione could only point to the headline: "International Magic School Potions Exchange Program, remember? About a month ago, the newspapers reported that Vaughn, together with Dumbledore and Crouch, proposed a plan to invite magic schools from all over the world to send students to Hogwarts for exchange and study."

"Well----"

As academic underachievers, Harry and Ron instinctively resist any word related to "studying".

Hermione rolled her eyes: "Don't dismiss this just because it's about studying. This is a grand event that's unprecedented in the global wizarding world for the past century. In fact, I think it could be brought back even earlier, since the Triwizard Tournament was canceled in 1792—"

Harry, the wizarding novice, interrupted her: "The Triwizard Tournament? What's that?"

This time, even Ron looked at Hermione with curiosity.

Hermione had to explain: "It is a magical friendship competition held by the three major magic schools in Europe. It was founded at the end of the 13th century. Each of the three participating schools, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang, selects one warrior to carry out three magical tasks with extremely high difficulty and danger. Finally, a champion who combines magical ability, wisdom and courage is selected. The competition is held every five years. You can think of the champion as the strongest genius student in those five years."

"Cool!" Harry and Ron couldn't help but exclaim.

Hermione said irritably, "But it was canceled in 1792 because of the heavy casualties in previous editions. This year marks its 200th anniversary. That Triwizard Tournament was also the last international exchange activity between magic schools recorded in 'The History of Magic.' Since then, there has never been such a large-scale interaction between magic schools. Everyone has closed themselves off and can't even see each other."

"This is very abnormal. I don't know about other places, but we have examples around us. Remember the joke Dean Thomas made last semester? He even thought Hogwarts was the only place in the world and asked the Petit sisters if they were from Africa—"

Hermione launched into a tirade.

Harry and Ron blinked; they had long forgotten—

After a brief exchange of complaints, they returned to the topic of the Potions Exchange Program. Hermione's excitement became visibly heightened, her eyebrows dancing with delight: "Vaughn launched the Potions Exchange Program; he must have recognized the drawbacks of this situation. He's always so visionary and ambitious—"

"————" Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, automatically ignoring Hermione's fervent praise of Vaughn, and also breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems Hermione and Vaughn's relationship is fine; the young girl is still the same die-hard fan she always was.

"—Moreover, Vaughn's plan is far more ambitious and far-reaching than the Triwizard Tournament. Look, he's preparing to invite magic schools from all over the world to participate in the exchange program. Do you know how many magic schools there are in the world? There are at least 10 that are on par with Hogwarts!"

"Imagine at least 10 magic schools, each sending 20 students, that's a massive entourage of 200 people. They come from all corners of the world, with completely different languages, cultures, and magical systems. They'll arrive in their own unique modes of transportation, bringing all sorts of novel customs and magical ideas—it's an endless stream of knowledge—"

As Hermione continued her reverie, Harry and Ron, who were initially uninterested, gradually became excited.

Of course, it wasn't because of Hermione's talk of endless knowledge, but rather the excitement and novelty.

A group of foreigners have arrived at Hogwarts. Shouldn't they be welcomed? A welcome would require a banquet, right? Perhaps even a ball?

We need to treat foreign guests with respect and show Hogwarts' hospitality and friendliness, so how can we lack various activities outside of studying?

With this in mind, Harry and Ron, who had been tormented by the recent surge in academic workload, were suddenly filled with anticipation.

Ron looked at Hermione, his expression shifting from indifference to worry: "When will that potion exchange program start? I only saw Castrobusher and Beauxbatons mentioned in the newspapers. Will it end up not happening?"

Hermione responded to his concerns with a disdainful look: "You have no idea how prestigious those two magic schools are. Ronald and Beauxbatons are the only magic schools in Central and Southern Europe, covering many countries including France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Spain."

"Castrubushe is even more remarkable. It's the only one in all of South America. In terms of enrollment scope and school strength alone, they are stronger than Ifamony in North America. They are also one of only three schools in the world that can rival Hogwarts in strength. By the way, one of the other two is Beauxbatons."

"Add Hogwarts—as you know, Hogwarts represents the entire Commonwealth of Nations. This would mean that we've covered three schools in Western Europe, the Southern countries, South Asia, Central and Southern Europe, and South America, which is equivalent to half the world."

Hermione's eyes sparkled: "Vaughn is doing something truly magnificent, using the Potions Exchange to rebuild communication channels between the magical worlds around the globe. Compared to this, that list incident is utterly insignificant!"

It's normal for the trio of students to have such thoughts, after all, the outside world is too far away from them.

Harry and Ron also became excited and asked Hermione, "So, do you have some inside information about improving your potion-making skills? Like, what level of potion-making is required to participate in events?"

To their disappointment, Hermione shook her head: "I don't know what the standards or requirements are. Vaughn hasn't said anything, and I won't ask him."

Ok!

Miss Know-It-All, being an honest and knowledgeable person, is indeed like that. If one day she starts acting out, then there must be something wrong with the world.

Hermione continued, "But I think that since it's a potions exchange, it ultimately comes down to the level of potions expertise—"

Of course, I don't need to be as good as Vaughn, but judging from the name of the program, the students coming for the exchange will be from other schools, so I only need to compare myself to them.

As she spoke, she looked at the stack of books, which was more than a foot high, next to her, and said with some frustration, "Unfortunately, there are some books I can't borrow, such as 'Powerful Potions.' I've seen it mentioned in many pharmacists' notes. It's said to be all-encompassing and records many advanced magical potions—but it's in the restricted section. Mrs. Pince requires a professor's signature before I can borrow it."

'

Looking at the dizzying stack of books, Harry and Ron didn't know how to complain.

Harry casually changed the subject: "Then go ask the professor for his autograph."

"Who should sign it? Professor McGonagall absolutely forbids second-year students from accessing the restricted section. We can't get Professor Flitwick's signature; he never grants any student special privileges, oh, except for Vaughn. As for the others—"

In fact, Snape is an option.

Perhaps because of Vaughn, Hermione felt that Snape wasn't mean to her. Over the course of more than a year of Potions class, everyone else in Gryffindor had been verbally attacked by him countless times, but she was the only one who had never been targeted by him.

If you go to him yourself, he will most likely sign.

However, Harry and Ron have always been at odds with Snape. To be fair, it's hard to say who's right and who's wrong. Professor Snape was too harsh on Harry, while Harry and Ron showed no respect for him.

There are problems on both sides.

But people can't be completely objective, and considering Harry's feelings, she had to give up the idea of ​​asking Professor Snape for help.

Harry, oblivious to Hermione's inner turmoil, kept glancing towards the professors' table while she spoke. Just then, Professor Rozier finished her meal and, for some reason, packed another meal to go. Harry instinctively remarked, "You could try talking to Professor Rozier; she's quite approachable—oh dear!"

Before he could finish speaking, Ron gave him a hard elbow.

Harry turned his head in confusion, and Ron winked at him, giving him meaningful glances. Following his gaze, Harry saw that Hermione was also looking at Professor Rozier, who was packing food, and her expression wasn't too good.

Harry blinked at Ron a few times, his eyes asking a question.

Ron leaned in: "She's jealous!"

"—Who? Professor Rozier? Why?"

"What else could it be? Guess why the professor packed an extra portion?"

Harry realized what was happening and asked in a low voice, "Is that Vaughn? He's back?"

"Most likely!" Ron shrugged. "Otherwise, who would she pack it up for? You know, they've been together a lot since the semester started, sometimes spending more than ten hours a day in the practical class. The professor doesn't have any other friends."

On the other side, Isabella, who had packed a baguette, several sausages, a vegetable salad, and a glass of pumpkin juice in a lunchbox, was completely oblivious to the Gryffindor table and the three main characters spying on her.

In a good mood, she tapped the lunchbox with her wand, making it float beside her, then picked up a newspaper and hummed a little tune as she returned to the secondary tower.

All the way to the practical classroom—as time went by, the little world where the practical classroom was located had been transformed by her…

Vaughn and Dumbledore blended perfectly into the abandoned classroom.

Now, the entrance to the small world has been integrated into the classroom doorknob. Students who have signed the practical course magic contract can enter on their own on open days, without her and Vaughn needing to maintain the "dimensional gate".

The contract, provided by Dumbledore, will automatically identify the signatory and the set start date of the class. If any requirement is not met, the doorknob cannot be used.

This greatly increases the safety of practical lessons.

Of course, "intrusion" incidents are still unavoidable.

Reaching out to touch the doorknob, Isabella's vision distorted, and she stepped from the dark, cold corridor into a bright, sunny little world.

The entrance to the small world is still located on the original meadow. The warm and humid climate makes the lawn lush and verdant. The hazy sunlight, tinged with mist, shines from the other side of the valley, making the grass heads, which are covered with swaying dew, sparkle.

It looks like a dream.

Even as Isabella walked by, the dewdrops did not fall or break, casting an unreal, dreamlike hue over the remarkably realistic little world.

This was intentionally designed by Vaughn. According to him, a small world that is too realistic is actually a bad thing. The young wizards who practice and train here will not be able to distinguish between illusion and reality if the small world is too realistic.

Therefore, it's better to tell them from the beginning what is true and what is false.

After passing through the fake entrance lawn, Isabella, who had been granted permissions by Vaughn, took flight and flew straight into the depths of the dense forest.

Ron's guess was correct.

Vaughn did indeed return to Hogwarts, just as Hermione had thought. With the list made public and pure-bloods beginning to move in, he no longer needed to stay at the Ministry of Magic.

The conflicts and rifts between those families need time to develop and catalyze, rather than his active intervention.

François's poison bait plan also requires waiting for the fish to take the bait; it is not suitable for taking the initiative.

As for C, Matthew and others are in charge of the internal purge, so he doesn't need to worry about it.

So I simply came back.

There are still many things waiting for him to handle while he's away!

When Isabella found Vaughn, he was standing in front of a tall sycamore tree.

The parasol tree is an oriental tree species, and the East is also the native habitat of birds and snakes. They prefer to build their nests in these trees, which is why there has always been a custom in the East of regarding birds and snakes as phoenixes.

At that moment, a bird-snake that had grown larger emerged from the dense canopy of the sycamore tree. Its branches and leaves swayed, and the sunlight reflected off its outstretched wings amidst the dappled shadows. Its slender body was partially visible among the fiery red sycamore leaves, giving it a remarkably phoenix-like appearance.

It is "communicating" with Vaughn in unicorn language.

Unicorn sounds like a deer's call. As a magical language, it doesn't have many syllable transitions. If you can't master this magic, you'll never understand what those "yoyo" calls mean just by listening.

Anyway, Isabella tried for a month, but now she has completely given up.

She waited by with her lunchbox, listening like an illiterate person to the two of them "conversing" with deer calls. Fortunately, the communication between Vaughn and the bird-snake seemed to be coming to an end. After a while, the bird-snake let out a long "yo" cry, shrank its body, and returned to its nest.

Vaughn picked up a basket from the ground and came back.

Isabella went up to her: "I brought you breakfast, would you like to eat here?"

"Thank you, Isa."

Taking the lunchbox, Vaughn casually placed the basket at his feet. Isabella glanced at it curiously: "What's inside?"

Vaughn didn't speak, but opened the basket, revealing several thin, translucent silver fragments that looked like works of art.

Isabella immediately recognized it as the shell of a bird-snake egg!

She glanced at Vaughn, who nodded in acknowledgment. She picked up a fragment and examined it closely in the dappled sunlight streaming in. Then, puzzled, she asked, "What are you going to do with this bird-snake eggshell fragment?"

She wasn't surprised that Vaughn came to see Birdsnake.

When Vaughn returned yesterday, she reported on what had happened four days earlier, during a second-grade practical lesson, when a student stole a baby avian snake, which caused the avian snake to go berserk.

That reckless troublemaker hasn't come to confess to her yet. She told Vaughn about the problem in the hopes that he could find other clues from the bird snake. After all, only Vaughn can communicate with the bird snake, and the centaur translator she had previously sought was not very good at it.

Vaughn didn't say anything to her question, but just slowly ate his breakfast. After a while, he asked, "Didn't you see any students other than second-year students going in or out of here that day?"

"No, after it happened, I immediately sealed off the entrance and then mobilized sixth-grade volunteers to help me search. There was nothing unusual."

Taking a sip of pumpkin juice, Vaughn chuckled. "That's the problem. You only searched the second-year students. What about the sixth-year volunteers?"

"————" Isabella was stunned. In her mind, only a junior wizard could do something as absurd as provoking a bird-snake. Even the most ignorant sixth-grade student who had passed the ordinary wizarding level exam should know how terrifying the bird-snake was.

"Of course, this is just my guess," Vaughn reassured her. "In Anna's eyes, all humans look pretty much the same, and their height and build are also similar. You can't find anything out from her."

Despite this, Isabella, realizing her oversight, felt that Vaughn's guess was probably correct.

She glanced at the basket of eggshells, then at Vaughn: "You have a suspect?"

"Um."

Vaughn nodded, but didn't answer Isabella's question. He just stared at the eggshell while eating, lost in thought.

What he didn't tell Isabella was that Anna actually remembered the appearance of the little wizard who stole the cubs. In fact, before Isabella arrived, she had already allowed Vaughn to enter her mind and see that memory, hoping that Vaughn could catch the other party—for the harpy, who had difficulty reproducing, stealing cubs was almost tantamount to taking her life.

But Vaughn thought her wish would be difficult to fulfill.

Because it's pointless, the guy who stole the cub probably doesn't even know what he did.

In Anna's memory, Vaughn saw that sixth-grade student, holding a notebook—

The guy who did the deed was just an unlucky fellow who was bewitched and controlled by the laptop!

The other party's goal was not to steal the cubs, but rather—

"It's an egg!"

Thinking this, Vaughn lowered his head and examined the eggshells in the basket.

Anna is a bird-snake, not a human. She has intelligence but no knowledge, so she can't count—she has no idea how many eggs she has laid, and she used to rely entirely on scent to prevent theft.

After the baby snake was stolen that day, she went crazy and swelled her body. Although she didn't destroy the nest in her subconscious, she still damaged the surrounding environment.

Once she found her child at the edge of the forest and returned, she immediately led her child away from their devastated home.

She was completely unaware that one of her eggs was missing.

Only Vaughn, who had browsed through her memories, noticed!

"Tom—it's strange, he's very familiar with the habits of bird snakes—"

This is inconsistent with Voldemort's character. Voldemort despises any non-human magical creature. If his hostility towards Muggle and Half-bloods is a way of distancing himself from his "lowly" origins, then he essentially still identifies with both.

Therefore, in his eyes, creatures other than humans are not even considered life, but merely a group of tools that are either worth using or have no value.

He was completely unaware that the Apparition of goblins, house-elves, and other magical creatures could bypass Hogwarts' Anti-Apparition Charm.