Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 354 Difficulties and Deviant Practices

This time was no different. When Vaughn proposed the "magic protein" in his paper, Damocles Belbitt, the editor in charge of reviewing the paper, wrote an article to support and promote it. Just two days later, The Daily Prophet published a special article criticizing it.

It seems no one questions whether Vaughn Weasley can actually do it.

Even Fred and George believed Vaughn could do it; their banter was an attempt to mitigate the negative impact of the Daily Prophet article.

Harry looked around.

The Gryffindor table, the Hufflepuff table—in the entire Great Hall, apart from the eerie silence falling over Slytherin's side, many people from the other three houses were arguing over newspapers.

The surroundings were noisy.

Harry couldn't tell who among those arguing heatedly supported Vaughn and who agreed with the article's viewpoint.

Even Harry himself didn't know which side he should be on.

Theoretically, having grown up in Muggle society, he should lean towards the Muggle perspective. However, in reality, his memories of Muggle society have never been pleasant. His fate took a turn because of magic, and it was a wizard who pulled him out of the mire.

The thought that the peaceful wizarding world might be thrown into turmoil by Vaughn's research made Harry feel an involuntary sense of resistance.

But if he leaned towards wizards, or rather, towards the pure-blood ideology with its subtle wizarding supremacist undertones subtly revealed in the text, he felt something was off.

Harry felt like his head was about to split open; his mind was in constant turmoil until the end of the meal.

"This world is indeed as complicated as Vaughn said!"

he thinks.

During last year's special training, Vaughn talked to him about many principles in his spare time, most of which he couldn't understand at the time, but now, with more experience, he is slowly beginning to understand them.

For example, a thing cannot be simply judged as good or bad.

That depends on one's personal stance, but one's stance cannot remain unchanged forever.

At that time, he felt that Vaughn was wrong, and he didn't think his stance would change. But now—he was beginning to vaguely understand why Vaughn said, "Standard is determined by where you sit."

"My resistance might stem from accepting the identity of a wizard and beginning to enjoy the powers of a wizard, thus subconsciously resisting sharing this identity and these powers with more people?"

After reading the article, Harry had an urge to immediately run up to Vaughn and ask him to seriously consider developing "magical proteins".

But the ordeal he endured during last year's special training taught Harry not to act rashly. He examined his own heart and pondered the root of his thoughts and impulses.

"In the end, I don't really understand what Vaughn is doing. Everything I hear is from other people, their opinions and views."

After struggling in confusion for a long time, Harry suddenly realized something.

Damocles Belby said that Vaughn's research would benefit the magical world and lead wizards on a path to the pursuit of truth.

This doesn't sound like there's a problem.

However, today's Daily Prophet article claims that Vaughn's research will destroy the wizarding world, and the article's arguments are quite reasonable.

I've been agonizing over this for so long, trying to figure out who's right and who's wrong, but maybe there's no right or wrong to begin with. It's just that the two sides have different perspectives on things, which leads to different conclusions about the pros and cons.

Therefore, he was actually swayed by the conclusions of Belby and the author!

"Just like Vaughn said, to get the real answer, I'll probably have to find out for myself—"

The confusion in Harry's eyes gradually faded, and his gaze became firm again. He stood up and casually pulled up Ron, who was staring blankly, seemingly lost in thought.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

"Find Hermione!"

"What do you want with her?"

"I want to learn about Vaughn's research!"

what?

Ron stared at Harry's head, wondering if his friend had gone mad.

Harry really does seem to have gone mad.

Since that day in the Great Hall, when he told Hermione he wanted to learn about Vaughn's research, and Hermione, pleased and delighted with his idea, tossed him books that were at least two feet high, Harry has spent almost all his time on those books.

Ron had never seen Harry so "degenerate".

He stopped pestering people to play Wizard's Chess, and Ron's newly acquired Wizard's Chess set is still gathering dust. He also stopped inviting Dean, Seamus, and others to have snowball fights at Black Lake, and the hockey set Dean gave them has been quietly sitting under the bed.

The scariest thing is that Harry doesn't even go to Hagrid's place anymore.

-

On the 10th day of the Christmas holiday, Hagrid, dressed in a mole fur coat and wrapped up like a giant bear, came to ask Ron if Harry had been sick lately while he was dragging away the Christmas tree from the castle.

In Ron's opinion, Harry was definitely sick, even though he appeared perfectly healthy—but what normal person would be so engrossed in a book that they neglect their sleep and meals?

Not to mention, Ron knew very well that Harry had difficulty reading those books—he had seen Harry burying his head in the open tomes, dozing off, his eyes rolling back, looking like a senile fool.

He suspected that Harry hadn't actually absorbed anything, let alone learned anything, but his friend had gone mad and was determined to learn.

Hard to understand.

Anyway, Ron himself didn't want to live that kind of hellish life; he had other things to pay attention to—public opinion!

Since the Daily Prophet published the article criticizing Vaughn and Magic Protein, public opinion seems to have exploded.

In the days that followed, articles appeared in The Daily Prophet, some criticizing Vaughn as the first one did, while others—such as Damocles Belby—firmly supported Vaughn.

The good news is that there are quite a few wizards who support Vaughn, and the power of the magical protein concept is even more explosive than Ron imagined.

Many old wizards, whom I had never heard of before and who usually stayed in some remote mountain village or ancient castle buried in their research, suddenly appeared and showered Vaughn with praise as if it were free.

[The most valuable research findings in the magical world in hundreds of years]

[This foreshadows that magic has a completely different theory from the Golden Soul theory. In the foreseeable future, potion-making may be divided into ancient and modern, just like alchemy. The introduction of this (magical protein) is a watershed moment.]

The magic of imagery has finally found a material foundation; perhaps by delving deeper, we will find the true origin of magic.

Those impressive-looking titles made Ron realize for the first time the significance of this strange "magic protein".

The bad news is that there is also a lot of opposition, and it is quite strong, especially on the 12th day of the Christmas holiday, when the holiday was about to end, Vaughn published his new paper in the latest issue of Extraordinary Potions.

In his paper, he disclosed the Multispectral Vision Charm, the Infrared/Ultraviolet Variant Fluorescence Charm, the Universal Group Version 0.1 Standard Amino Acid Production Formula, the Felix Felicis Low-Energy Trap Collapse Method, the Microscopic Compound Decoction Formula, and the Incomplete Transformation Charm containing 5 Protein Three-Dimensional Conformations!

Ron couldn't understand the paper, but he knew that what it contained must be quite sensational.

That evening, the Daily Prophet unusually published an extra evening edition, filled with articles that were opposing, cursing, and defamatory.

Ron had never seen so many vicious words concentrated in a single newspaper.

Some lamented that the foolish, rotten Vaughn Weasley was dragging the wizarding world into the abyss.

Some are urging magical researchers and pharmacists not to fall for Vaughn Weasley's malicious schemes and not to try to create so-called magical proteins using his publicly available spells and recipes.

Some people have even publicly issued death threats.

Of course, that guy was arrested by an Auror late that night. According to the report the next day, it was ordered by Amelia Burns, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and carried out by an Auror named Kingsley.

The charge was attempted assassination of a member of the Wizengamot.

Fortunately, Auror reacted quickly; he had seen a death threat in the evening paper that day, which terrified Ron.

It's not that I'm worried about Vaughn. Although I don't know how advanced Vaughn's magic is now, he was able to easily blast Fudge out of the Great Inquisition last year when he was a freshman.

Ron felt that Vaughn's safety was none of his concern.

He was worried about himself, Ginny, and his parents—well, Fred and George could also be included, even though they were jerks, they were still his family.

Ron was terrified of those guys in the newspapers; if he couldn't find Vaughn to vent his anger on, he would take it out on the Weasley family.

Fortunately, Amelia Burns' decisive action extinguished this violent trend.

However, Ron was not truly at ease—how can one guard against thieves for a thousand days if one is a thief for a thousand days?

Amelia Burns, and the Aurors, cannot protect the Weasley family forever.

They always have moments of oversight.

just in case----

This made Ron resent Vaughn, and he was also a little dissatisfied with Harry and Hermione—they were all only thinking about those illusory things, had they ever considered that people ultimately live in reality?

Even outside of Hogwarts, many junior wizards couldn't help but look at their own light with some strangeness regarding the research on Vaughn and that new paper.

Ron couldn't discern the emotions hidden in those strange looks, but he knew that many people, like him, were resistant to the "future" where Muggles could also wield magic.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, Ron knew very well that his wizarding talent was one of his few strengths.

The thought that even this slight difference in "being different" could very well lead to fading into obscurity in the future fills me with an indescribable sense of unease.

Not to mention those potential purebloods who don't usually show it.

On the afternoon that news of the wizard who issued death threats being captured by the Aurors appeared in the Daily Prophet, Fred and George secretly approached Ron and told him to be careful lately.

"Someone wants to teach the Weasleys a lesson."

"I heard he's already hooked up with quite a few older guys."

"The good news is, they're afraid of Vaughn, afraid of Fruit Tea, you know, Fruit Tea's cronies are everywhere, so they don't dare come openly."

"The bad news is that the castle is too big, and there are places that Fruit Tea can't monitor. If you or Ginny wander into some remote corner, you might get sacked."

"So it's best to stay in public lounges, or places with lots of people like libraries, auditoriums, or courtyards."

"Don't go to Hagrid's place either; they might be lying in ambush on the way."

The twins, like actors performing a duet, took turns saying one thing and another, making Ron's heart race with anxiety. He felt as if a bad guy might be lurking in every corner, ready to jump out and punch him at any moment.

In the evening, Ron told Harry about it.

Harry, who had been engrossed in the massive tome for days, was stunned for a while before he came to his senses and said, "Don't worry, I can find someone to help you."

"?"

Ron didn't understand who Harry was looking for.

All he knew was that Harry went out for dinner and came back saying he had found someone who promised to keep those people in check.

Does this really work?

Ron couldn't help but let his mind wander. When did Harry acquire such connections? How come he didn't know?

But the fact is, Ron spent a whole night and day in fear, and he was not attacked.

I heard that Draco Malfoy, for some unknown reason, ordered Goyle and Crabbe to beat up Marcus Flint, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and several upperclassmen from Ravenclaw.

Malfoy also boasted that his family was rich and powerful, and that his father was a school board member.

Those people didn't even dare to fight back.

Hmph, what a bully who relies on his master's power!

Ron suspects that Malfoy may be involved in the gang of bad guys that Fred and George mentioned.

These agonizing days continued until the evening before the holiday ended. That day, Ron, as usual, nervously looked around for possible attackers while dragging Harry to the Great Hall for dinner. Poor Harry, his brain must have been contaminated by stacks and stacks of words in Muggle books.

He's become incredibly dull and slow-witted. Sometimes, if Ron isn't paying attention, Harry might get lost, let alone eat.

If we don't take him with us, he might starve to death in some corner.

Hermione was in a similar state. Ron didn't know how deeply Hermione was involved in Vaughn's research, but he could tell that Hermione was struggling to keep up.

These days, he hadn't seen her brown head emerge from behind the heavy books. Every time he saw her, she was either muttering to herself or frantically calculating something in her notebook.

Ron heard that Hermione hadn't been back to her dorm for days; her bed was piled high with parchment, and she was frequently seen wandering around the library and various professors' offices.

Ron suspected that one day he might hear news of poor Hermione fainting.

However, these days should be coming to an end soon.

Because of this dinner, Ron noticed that the professors' seats, which had been almost empty for many days, were all occupied today.

The heads of the four houses: Trelawney of Divination, Senesta of Astronomy, Rozier of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Kettleburn of Protection of Magical Creatures —

Even Professor Binns sat drowsily in his seat, chatting idly with Nick, whose head was practically hanging off the table.