Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 322 You don't know what Vaughn represents!

"—This is indeed bad news. Thank you for reminding me again."

Ron glared at her resentfully: "I didn't agree with you telling Hermione that day. She's as serious as a Hogwarts professor. Where did you get the confidence that she would help us break the rules?"

Harry dismissed it: "Hermione helped us last term."

"Yes, that's because Vaughn instructed her. This time, Vaughn didn't ask her to cooperate with the acting. He hasn't even shown his face once in all this time."

Ron was furious when he heard about this.

These past few days, he, Harry, Seamus, and Dean have been worrying themselves sick over Vaughn and the club, but that wretched guy has just disappeared.

In their efforts to find each other, he and Harry have skipped breakfast every morning for the past two days, wearing invisibility cloaks as they try to track Professor Kettleburn.

Unfortunately, the professor, who had spent his entire life in the castle, was still shrewd and always managed to thwart their plans.

Ron kept a record of all the suffering he had endured during this time, and he would settle accounts with that despicable guy Vaughn one day!

Just as he was getting angry, Harry suddenly stopped, then shoved the book he was carrying into Ron's arms: "Ron, take this back to my dorm, I have something to take care of!"

Ron hurriedly caught it: "What urgent matter could you possibly have? Can't you wait a bit—?"

In the blink of an eye, Harry had vanished.

He was left alone in the corridor, looking completely bewildered.

On the other side, Harry, who had hurriedly run away, stared ahead and made his way to the 4th floor, which was still the right corridor where the restricted area from last semester was located.

As Harry took a few steps, he saw a glimmer of platinum in the midday light streaming through the windows, shining deep into the corridor.

Draco Malfoy.

Hearing footsteps, Malfoy turned around, his expressionless face slightly raised, displaying the arrogant look that Harry both knew and loathed.

Good afternoon, Potter.

"Ugh————"

Harry gave a muffled hum. "What do you want? Yesterday's vote still has no results. Your father didn't do anything unusual except for abstaining. We agreed two days ago that if there were no results, we wouldn't need to meet so often, as it would increase our risk of being exposed."

-

The so-called risk—it had nothing to do with the school board, but rather that Harry didn't want anyone to know that he was cooperating with Malfoy.

Slytherin had such a bad reputation in Gryffindor that Harry didn't want the little lions to misunderstand him as a traitor. Vaughn was an exception; he was the only Slytherin Gryffindor could accept.

Draco understood Harry's meaning perfectly well. The young man seemed to feel a little hurt in his pride; his pale face flushed slightly, and he held his head even higher.

"Don't worry, you don't want to be exposed, but I don't want to be exposed even more. If people find out that I'm meeting with a Gryffindor in private, they might kick me out of the common room. You know, Gryffindors pollute the air."

Having said that, seeing Harry's face turn ugly from humiliation, Draco's expression regained its confidence, and he got down to business: "I'm here to inform you that you'll be taking me to the school board meeting tonight—"

Before he could finish speaking, Harry interrupted, "Impossible. Ron and the others are with me. I didn't tell them what happened between us."

Draco snorted at Harry: "I don't care, I have to go today!"

"Why?" Harry frowned. In the past few days, Malfoy had not made this request, but had remained behind the scenes like a typical Slytherin.

Draco hesitated for a moment, then pulled a letter from his robes: "An owl delivered a package to me this morning. It was from my father. He told me to give this letter to Professor Snape."

Snape?

Don't they meet in meetings every day?

Why couldn't they have a meeting afterward to discuss the matter, and instead had Draco Malfoy deliver the letter?

Harry looked curious: "What's inside?"

"I didn't open it; it's sealed with magic," Draco explained. "But I suspect they'll probably meet tonight, because Dad didn't say how I should deliver it to Professor Snape if he replies."

Harry was skeptical. "What could your father possibly want to say that he couldn't just talk to Professor Snape? They've been seeing each other every day lately."

"I wanted to know too, that's why I asked you to bring me along, Potter." Draco was getting a little impatient. "It's obvious that my father probably feels unsafe—or for some other reason. Anyway, he can't contact my godfather directly, so he needs me to deliver the letters. Maybe he needs my godfather to provide a relatively safe place. He only trusts me and my godfather. Oh, did I tell you, Potter? Professor Snape is my godfather, and he's my father's best friend."

""

How disgusting!

Draco's arrogant demeanor made Harry feel nauseous.

But it must be said that the news brought by this despicable guy did indeed pique his interest.

Yes, what kind of situation would make Lucius Malfoy so cautious?

After a moment's thought, ignoring Draco's boastful expression, Harry said calmly, "Alright, meet here at 11 p.m. tonight."

.

"Gather? Are you kidding me? You've got to come to the dungeon to get me, Potter."

"Why? Could it be that the famous Malfoy can't even get from the dungeon to the fourth floor?" Harry feigned confusion. "Last time in practice class, I heard you shouting that you've learned a lot of spells, unlike Ron and me who just follow Hermione around like good-for-nothings. I thought the genius Mr. Malfoy, who has learned a lot of spells, should have a way to evade Filch, right?"

For example, illusion spells or something like that.

Draco blushed; he could tell, of course, that Harry was taking revenge on him and making fun of him.

But he just couldn't bring himself to be stubborn.

Despite his boasting, he knew his own limitations. He didn't know any invisibility spells and had little experience with nighttime activities. If he rashly ran out of the dungeon, it was highly likely that he would be caught by Filch.

How could the elegant Slytherin be captured by someone like Filch?

After a moment's hesitation, Draco gave in: "I—I don't know the Disillusionment Charm—"

"What?" Harry tilted his head, pretending not to hear.

Draco felt his face must be very red and hot, maybe even his hair was steaming, but he was sure it wasn't from embarrassment, but from anger!

He glared at Harry fiercely: "I don't know the Disillusionment Charm, so I need you to pick me up. Are you satisfied, Potter?"

"Oh, I see. You should have said so earlier—why are you glaring at me like that? I was just joking, you're not angry, are you?"

"----Shut up!"

Harry returned to the Gryffindor Tower in high spirits.

In the dormitory, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville were all holding quills, staring blankly at the snow-white parchment spread out in front of them.

When Harry pushed the door open and came in, the four of them breathed a heavy sigh of relief, as if they had crawled out of a ditch.

"Sooner or later, this damn paper will drive me crazy!" Dean lamented. "Harry, can't we really find a way to reconcile with Hermione? We desperately need her wisdom right now!"

"Copying homework is bad —"

"Come on, Neville, how much longer do you plan to sit here like this? You know we're not the same people we used to be. Besides homework, we have more important things to do."

The more important thing, of course, was the nightly spying on the school board.

Upon hearing this, Harry calmly said, "Hey guys, we need to change our plans. Professor McGonagall only gave us two days over the weekend. We need to keep some people to finish their homework, at least so that the night owls have something to copy."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ron and his three companions, who had been complaining, raised their heads warily and looked at each other.

Harry's words sounded reasonable, but nobody wanted to be left with tedious homework.

"How many people should we keep?"

"A four-foot-long paper would require at least three people!"

"Are you included, Harry?"

"How could that be? I'm definitely going with you," Harry said matter-of-factly. "After all, the Invisibility Cloak is mine. I provided the tool and also took the risk."

Uh, it seems that's true, so there's only one spot left.

The four people looked at each other, their eyes gradually turning dangerous.

Harry, who had stepped aside to observe, smiled.

In fact, this was a tactic he learned from Vaughn—when you're in a team and want to achieve a goal that doesn't align with the team's interests, you can try to divide and weaken the other members of the team, creating a conflict of interest for them.

Even if the so-called "interests" are small and the conflict is weak, the unfairness of the plan will gradually lead to vicious competition, eventually pulling each other back and handing over the initiative and decision-making power.

Sure enough, Ron and his three friends argued for quite a while, and they still hadn't decided who would go on the night trip with Harry before the afternoon Potions class started.

Oh, Neville would be willing to stay and help everyone write their papers.

Unfortunately, nobody cared that he was terrible at Transfiguration, or rather, Neville was terrible at all his subjects except Herbalism.

"I never paid attention before, but I didn't realize that I could learn so much from Vaughn."

Harry felt a little smug watching his friends trip each other up, none of them willing to "get away with it" for the other.

Of course, no matter how pleased he was, he didn't want his friends to actually cause conflict, so before class, he timely proposed another plan:

Ron and the other three were left to work on their tasks, and he was tasked with gathering intelligence on his own. Tomorrow, based on tonight's progress, they would be assigned to teams of two or three to take turns.

This is a rather compromise solution. If it had been proposed earlier, everyone would definitely have been unwilling, but now that the small groups have disintegrated and vicious competition has begun, this solution is acceptable.

Look, the wisdom of management!

Seeing that even the most restless Ron and Seamus had accepted his suggestion, Harry gave himself a mental pat on the back!

He felt that he had grown up.

He didn't have this kind of method to "manage" his team before.

However, this good mood vanished the moment he stepped into the Potions classroom. The Potions classroom, located in the dungeon area, was very cold and gloomy. The Black Lake outside the window was covered with a thick layer of ice, making the light even dimmer. The lake water was a murky green, and all life seemed to be frozen by the cold. Even the fish that would normally be attracted by the light could not be seen.

Only deathly silence remained.

And then there's Snape, standing in the shadows of the corner of the classroom, his cold, Heimer's eyes fixed on everyone who enters, like a venomous snake ready to devour its prey.

Harry sighed inwardly.

Having been humiliated and tormented by Snape for so long, he had learned to discern the other's mood, and today, the Great Bat was clearly not in a good mood.

Sure enough, not long after class started, Snape, who was pacing back and forth lecturing, suddenly stopped next to Harry.

A cold, slippery voice came from above him: "Potter, what kinds of wolfsbane were used in Vaughn Weasley's wolfsbane potion?"

Harry remained calm: "I don't know, Professor. I don't recall we learned about Vaughn's wolfsbane potion recipe, nor is it mentioned in the textbook."

He was already used to Snape's sudden challenges during Potions class.

However, habit does not equate to acceptance, so he usually does what he did today: retort with a sarcastic remark to express his rebellious sentiments.

Although he knew that his resistance would usually excite Snape even more —

"Never learned about it? Is Wolfsbane Potion some kind of secret formula? It was featured in newspapers and magazines last year, making it known to all wizards. Has the famous Saviour never seen it? Tsk tsk, I heard you had a good relationship with the Weasleys, but it seems that's not the case now."

A petty person who sows discord!

Despite knowing Snape had a foul mouth, Harry instinctively clenched his fist at that moment.

And that bastard Malfoy, he could clearly hear his laughter coming from the back of the classroom.

Harry gritted his teeth and retorted, "Professor, I haven't seen it because I'm not interested in potions—"

But before he could finish, Snape interrupted him: "Is it disinterest, or incompetence and jealousy? I think it's the latter. At the same age, Vaughn developed Wolfsbane Potion, while you probably can't even understand the formula he published, so you pretended not to see it out of jealousy, right, Potter? Or rather, Mr. Savior?"

The laughter from Slytherin grew even louder, with the despicable Malfoy laughing and banging on the table, while Snape, who always emphasized classroom discipline, simply ignored it.

Ron, sitting next to Ron, stared wide-eyed, his expression worried but he dared not move.

Only Hermione on the other side raised her hand high, seemingly trying to draw Snape's malicious gaze away.

Harry took a few deep breaths, suppressing his inner turmoil, and said sarcastically, "I'm sorry, Professor, I suppose it's my incompetence, but I don't think it's my fault, since my potions teacher is always causing me trouble instead of imparting knowledge."

Hey!

The previously silent lion cubs looked at Harry with reverence, while the Slytherins angrily rebuked him.

But Snape—

Despite being rebuked by Harry, he wasn't angry, only letting out a cold snort: "Glib talker, Harry Potter talking back to a professor, Gryffindor loses 15 points—all of you quiet down, do you want to be as arrogant as Mr. Savior? Grab your quills, unfold your parchment, and write down what I said: Vaughn used a total of 8 kinds of wolfsbane herbs in the formula for the wolfsbane potion, namely red wolfsbane, white wolfsbane, daphne wolfsbane, wolfsbane aconite, and false wolfsbane—"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Although Snape was petty and had a foul mouth, he wasn't as narrow-minded as he made it out to be. At least Snape wouldn't make things difficult for him anymore when teaching and imparting knowledge.

However, this doesn't stop Harry from thinking that Potions is the most difficult class.

In particular, Snape always hovered around his seat, and even though he kept his head down, he could feel Snape's gaze as sharp as a knife on his back.

To make matters worse, after class, Snape, like Professor McGonagall, assigned homework: "A seven-foot-long paper discussing why Vaughn Weasley used eight different wolfsbane herbs in his wolfsbane potion, and how he dealt with the highly toxic properties of the different herbs—I heard Professor McGonagall limited the paper to no more than 10 pounds of font, which is good; I will use the same standard."

With that, Snape flicked his robes and drifted away.

The entire classroom, including the Slytherin students, erupted in wails.

However, Harry noticed that Draco Malfoy was chasing after Snape. A moment later, Malfoy returned, and as if he knew that Snape was watching him, Malfoy glanced at him through the crowd and nodded slightly.

Harry felt a sense of relief, but also a little strange.

Why does it seem like he and Malfoy have a great understanding?

With mixed feelings, Harry looked away and prepared to organize his textbooks when his heart skipped a beat again. He saw Hermione's golden-brown eyes staring at him.

Did she see it?

Harry felt a little guilty.

But Hermione quickly looked away, as she had done in the past few days, as if he were a stranger. She chatted with Parvati, packed her things, and left.

Harry didn't know what to say, he just sighed.

He knew Hermione was angry because she cared about him and was afraid that he would be discovered by the school board or run into the diary. Logically, he should apologize to Hermione and salvage the friendship of the trio, but he didn't think he had done anything wrong this time.

He was fighting for Vaughn, for the practical classes, and for the club, contributing his own strength. Hermione, on the other hand, had far too much faith in Vaughn, believing that they should do nothing, that Vaughn would take care of things, and that they just needed to wait for things to pass.

Innocent!

Harry, who felt he had grown up, shook his head secretly, stopped thinking about it, and turned his attention to tonight's night out.

This was the first time Harry had ever acted with a Slytherin (in Harry's mind, Vaughn didn't count), and the most annoying one at that, Malfoy.

Of course, it's impossible not to feel awkward.

However, when Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak at night and came to the dungeon, looking at the words "Sea View Room" that Vaughn had carved last semester, his heart suddenly calmed down.

"Why hasn't that line of text been changed yet?"

As Harry lifted his Invisibility Cloak and beckoned Draco Malfoy, who was waiting outside the door, he looked at the glittering cursive lettering above his head and asked curiously.

Draco, curiously observing the sight of the Invisibility Cloak being lifted as if tearing a rift in the air, replied matter-of-factly, "That's the name Vaughn gave it."

"Just because of this?"

"Of course—that's why I say you don't understand what Vaughn really represents in Slytherin. He is the hope of many people, and even if it's just a doodle he made or a joke, no one wants to ruin it."