Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 67 Night Stroll with Old Deng

It took Vaughn more than three hours to finish processing all the gifts.

Collect anything meaningful, consider how to dispose of food as soon as possible, and reply to any letters that are signed.

Fortunately, I don't need to write too much. Most of the replies from customers or classmates can be automatically copied using a few similar templates and a spell-cast quill pen.

This greatly reduced his workload.

At noon, Vaughn, Ron, and Harry carried a large bag to the Owl's Hut at Hogwarts and mailed the letters one by one.

It was already afternoon when I finished.

The deserted restaurant was empty except for Filch hanging mistletoe on the wall.

The rows of ginkgo nuts adorning the wreaths of lush green leaves looked exceptionally refreshing.

Just as the three entered, Hagrid walked in carrying a Christmas tree.

He greeted them cheerfully: "Harry, Vaughn, Ron, Merry Christmas, kids! I love your gifts."

Vaughn gave him a box of beard-grooming oil, and it seems he used it today. His usually messy beard now hangs smoothly down his chest, making Hagrid's rough face suddenly look somewhat handsome.

"You're happy too, Hagrid. Need any help?"

"No need, no need, you guys go eat first!"

Hogwarts' dining halls are never short of food, as long as the plates are still there.

Halfway through their meal, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick arrived to set up the auditorium.

Under the influence of their magic, the hall was quickly transformed into a dazzling venue, with twelve Christmas trees that Hagrid had painstakingly carried standing throughout the room.

Some of the verdant tree canopies were lit with candles, some were adorned with glittering icicles, and some were hung with lanterns. A handful of fine snowflakes transformed into the shapes of wind and mist, dancing back and forth between the twelve trees. Tiny ice crystals reflected the candlelight, making it look as dreamlike as an animation.

Ron and Harry were mesmerized.

After finishing their meal, the two continued discussing it on their way back.

"I've never seen such a grand Christmas party before, I can't wait!"

Ron asked curiously, "Harry, how do Muggles celebrate Christmas?"

"Of course..." Harry paused, just as he was about to answer. He suddenly remembered that he had never actually attended a holiday dinner before.

His Christmas consisted only of a cupboard and small candles.

Vaughn slapped Ron on the head.

Ron snapped, "Why did you hit me again?"

"Because you're stupid." Vaughn rolled his eyes at him.

Fortunately, Harry didn't stay down for long. After returning to Slytherin with Vaughn, he remembered the Invisibility Cloak he had brought with him, so he took it out and handed it to Vaughn, asking him to take a look.

"I'm afraid it might be hiding some kind of dark magic."

Harry said worriedly.

Vaughn looked at the silver-gray cloak in the box, and gently lifted it up. It was so light and soft that the moment it left the box, it dripped down like liquid, shimmering like flowing mercury.

"The Deathly Hallows..."

He murmured its true name softly in his heart. With a curious look in his eyes, Vaughn unfolded his cloak and put it on. To the astonishment of Harry and Ron, his body disappeared instantly, leaving only his head visible.

After carefully examining the situation, Vaughn frowned slightly.

He didn't notice anything special about the Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows.

After a moment, he shook his head and handed the bag back to Harry: "Don't worry, there's no problem."

Harry, who had been frightened several times by Vaughn using the man in black's name, was now very cautious: "Could you check again?"

Vaughn pointed amusedly to the anonymous note in the box:

"That's Dumbledore's handwriting, I recognize it. You're not worried he'll harm you, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Harry immediately felt relieved.

Ron quickly urged him to try it on, and the two of them soon had a great time wearing the invisibility cloak. During this time, they saw Malfoy pass by outside the door and secretly followed him, pulling his clothes and hair.

This terrified Malfoy so much that he ran away in a panic.

Vaughn, who had been observing, sensing, and even trying out a few spells, felt more and more that the Invisibility Cloak was unworthy of being ranked alongside the Resurrection Stone and the Elder Wand.

Because it has no other function besides being invisible.

He could still smell the cranberry marmalade on Harry and Ron...

The only commendable aspect is that the invisibility cloak excels in pure invisibility; Vaughn tried several revealing spells, but none of them worked.

But this does not mean that it is actually related to so-called "gods".

Vaughn didn't quite believe the idea that collecting all the Deathly Hallows would allow him to conquer Death. He also agreed with Dumbledore's future view that the Deathly Hallows were merely alchemical artifacts invented by the Peverell brothers.

It got dark quickly, and Harry and Ron, who hadn't had enough fun, were forcibly dragged back to the Great Hall by Vaughn.

As night fell, all the lanterns were lit, and the auditorium was bathed in golden splendor.

Lanterns fluttered and danced in the air, and the ceiling, no longer reflecting the clear sky and moonlight of the past, was magically replaced by bursts of fireworks.

There weren't many people staying on campus, making it feel rather deserted.

But when the fragrant and abundant food appeared on the long table, the atmosphere in the hall immediately became lively.

Most of the professors were seated, and the banquet began before Snape hurriedly walked in.

The moment Vaughn saw him, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Severus, you've come too late... um? Oh—" Professor McGonagall looked at Snape's hair in surprise: "You finally used shampoo?"

It was quite obvious; the Potions Professor's usually greasy, almost matted hair was now draped over his shoulders like black silk.

Snape kept a straight face and noticed Vaughn's teasing gaze fixed on him; he looked away, his eyes darting away.

Dumbledore arrived after him, and upon seeing Dumbledore's attire, Vaughn nearly spat out his pumpkin juice, while Ron and Harry almost choked on their potatoes.

The greatest wizard of this century wore a light pink bathrobe over his long robe. The design, which should have been alluring and youthful, accentuated his slender figure.

Professor McGonagall was so shocked she spilled her wine: "Albus..."

"A little friend gave it to me, isn't it beautiful?"

Dumbledore winked at Professor McGonagall.

Then, after a moment's thought, he reached out and removed Professor McGonagall's wide-brimmed hat adorned with flowers, placing it on his own head before beaming with delight and clapping his hands, exclaiming, "Perfect!"

The students below were stunned.

Ron muttered, "It's over, the headmaster has completely gone mad..."

Harry actually quite liked Dumbledore's eccentricities. After a brief moment of shock, he burst into laughter. Seeing Vaughn's speechless expression, he asked, "Vaughn, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing..."

Vaughn said coldly, "I'm just regretting why I gave him that bathrobe!"

It was a miscalculation.

When a man over a hundred years old is faced with the choice between happiness and saving face, he will definitely choose the latter...

Christmas is a day to be happy. Although everyone is secretly criticizing the principal's mental state, given that he has never been a very normal person, it seems understandable that he might be a little crazy during holidays.

The atmosphere became cheerful again as Fred and George brought in a bunch of Kribitch Wizard Pack firecrackers.

The firecrackers were similar to Muggle fireworks; when detonated, they would burst out with strange little gifts. Fred and George excitedly picked one up and detonated it at the professor's seat.

A deafening roar erupted, followed by a burst of blue smoke.

Several white mice and several captain's hats exploded out of the smoke.

No one scolded the twins for their mischief. Dumbledore picked up a captain's hat and put it on Professor McGonagall's head. Professor McGonagall took a sip of wine, her face slightly flushed.

Professor Flitwick happily turned the white mice into puppets, which then danced passionately around the professor's seat.

Hagrid stroked his smooth beard and chatted quietly with Snape. The usually sharp-tongued and aloof Potions Professor Snape actually accepted the wine Hagrid offered him, though he still kept a cold face and only spoke occasionally.

Vaughn also set off a colorful firecracker, and the white mouse that was blown out made Fruit Tea extremely excited, scurrying around his feet.

Everyone was immersed in happiness. Harry felt as if he had forgotten all his troubles, eating and drinking heartily and laughing heartily.

The dinner lasted for more than an hour. As it got late, everyone gradually left and returned to their respective colleges.

Ron, who had stuffed himself with meat and juice, returned to his dormitory and started snoring as soon as he sat down on his bed, while the excited Harry couldn't fall asleep for a while.

This was the first time he had such a lively Christmas. It was no longer a cramped storage room. There were many people around him, many things happened, and he received many real gifts.

Thinking of the gift, Harry, who had been lying down for a while and felt increasingly refreshed, took out the Invisibility Cloak again.

The moonlight streaming through the window illuminated the fallen note.

The line above, which Vaughn claims is in Dumbledore's handwriting, clearly reads at the end:

Please use it wisely!

Please use it wisely...

Recalling his prank on Malfoy that afternoon, Harry suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He looked down at the cloak he held in his hands, its cool, smooth texture seemingly lighter than light, and an idea popped into his head:

Starting today, I will become the King of Night Outings!

Wearing this, he no longer needed to fear the patrolling professors, let alone Filch, nor did he need to worry about running into Mrs. Lorris around some corner.

He can roam freely throughout Hogwarts!

In an instant, his mind drifted to the mysterious forbidden book section, the black-robed man whose identity was still unknown, and the room on the fourth floor where the Philosopher's Stone might be hidden...

Harry's heart pounded like a drum.

……

As soon as Vaughn returned to the Slytherin common room after leaving the Great Hall, a translucent phoenix Patronus suddenly appeared and landed on his shoulder.

The Patronus opened its mouth and emitted Dumbledore's cheerful voice: "Vaughn, come to my office. Password: Fudge."

It disappeared after it finished speaking.

Vaughn sighed and rubbed Guoguocha's soft belly: "Sigh, you go back and rest first. I'll go see what that old guy is up to."

"Meow~"

Guoguocha rolled over, exposing her belly, and hugged his hand with her paws, which had been retracted, and said in a coquettish voice, "Don't mind the old man, grandpa, keep playing!"

Unfortunately, its owner was a heartless scumbag who took it back to his dorm and left.

Upon reaching the headmaster's office on the eighth floor, Vaughn found that Dumbledore was no longer as erratic as he had been in the Great Hall. He was dressed neatly and was tucking a wand with protruding knuckles into his sleeve.

Vaughn glanced at it, not giving it much thought: "Why did you call me over? Are you going out?"

"Of course not, Vaughn." Dumbledore blinked. "I just wanted to talk to you about something, but staying in the office all the time isn't good for an old man's health, so, my dear, would you like to accompany me for a late-night stroll through Hogwarts? I've heard you're quite the night owl."

Vaughn vehemently denied it: "Don't slander me, I'm a good student who follows the school rules."

Dumbledore laughed heartily, grabbed his hand, and whispered a few spells.

The air thickened for a moment, and an inexplicable force enveloped the two of them. Although the discomfort quickly dissipated, Vaughn still sensed something was amiss—

The air and light around them were distorted, and a powerful spell concealed their figures, completely isolating them from the outside world.

"This is an ancient form of magic. I heard from Felius that he gave you a book about ancient magic. How about it, are you interested in learning it?"

Vaughn curiously sensed the magic Dumbledore had cast. Upon hearing this, he shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't studied ancient magic much yet. I'll think about it after I've mastered the basics!"

After saying that, he maliciously questioned, "Professor Flitwick gave me that book, you didn't do that at his behest, did you?"

Then Dumbledore, shamelessly admitting, "Yes, I said to Philius, 'Philip, how can I prevent a child who seeks magic from falling into the mire of dark magic?'"

"Felius replied, 'Albus, let him learn ancient magic. It's powerful and difficult to learn; I guarantee it will take him a lifetime!'"

Old Deng imitated Professor Flitwick's treacherous voice, and Vaughn rolled his eyes.

The old man is testing him again!

The two had already left the principal's office and were descending the deep, winding staircase. The power of magic made them invisible in the air, and not even their voices or smells could be heard.

Vaughn let Dumbledore lead him, and retorted with a mischievous grin, "Albus, instead of constantly being on guard, I think you should consider whether you can really prevent a wizard from ever coming into contact with dark magic again?"

"Impossible. Putting everything else aside, as long as he patiently waits until graduation, gets good grades, and passes the Auror exam, he'll be able to learn the three Unforgivable Curses—Aurors don't have as many taboos as you do."

This is obvious.

Aurors are the violent apparatus of the Ministry of Magic that maintains its rule; their enemies are dark wizards, not dark magic.

Just like during the last Wizarding War, Barty Crouch, then head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, passed a law requiring Aurors to use any means, including the Unforgivable Curse, when facing Death Eaters.

Dumbledore was speechless for a moment, and Vaughn didn't say anything more either.

After a long pause, Dumbledore spoke again: "You should know the dangers of dark magic..."

Before he could finish speaking, Vaughn interrupted, "Of course I know, that's why I never asked you or Professor Snape to teach me the Dark Arts, Albus. I'm more wary than you think. I won't touch it until this problem is solved."

Dumbledore sometimes knew that his behavior was annoying.

But Tom Riddle alone was enough to make him regretful and overwhelmed.

His feelings grew increasingly complicated as he recalled what he had heard from Snape that afternoon regarding Vaughn's analysis and decisions about the effects of the wolfsbane potion.

In his eyes now, Vaughn is no longer associated with the image of Voldemort.

In the afternoon, he sat in his office, gazing at the snow falling outside the window. His memories would automatically jump back to decades ago, to the man he met in Godric Valley, made a blood oath with, and eventually parted ways with.

Vaughn... looks a lot like that person!

Ambitious, intelligent, and shrewd, pursuing power and fame.

Recalling Snape's retelling of the development process of the wolfsbane potion, Vaughn's rational ruthlessness towards Greyback's lackeys, and his limited compassion and gentleness towards the wandering werewolves.

That behavior, which seemed like a split personality, precisely illustrates the multifaceted nature of humanity.

Without a doubt, Vaughn Weasley was a complex man.

Snape told Dumbledore that Vaughn's actions made sense; the wolfsbane potion should not be left to the Ministry of Magic's control, and werewolves should be encouraged to take the initiative and fight for their rights.

But Dumbledore could see that it was just Vaughn's sophistry—because there were indeed many practical difficulties in promoting the Wolfsbane Potion, which forced Vaughn to choose to make the formula public. At the same time, he did not want any person or organization to dominate the formula, because that would diminish his aura as the "inventor of the Wolfsbane Potion"!

His concern was never about the werewolves' situation or whether the Ministry of Magic would become too powerful.

Vaughn's entire purpose was for himself!

Just like Gettler Grindelwald...

However, the two were still somewhat different. Dumbledore recalled his trip to the Balkans, realizing that he should have left Romania earlier and gone to Albania to continue searching for Chilo's trail.

But after hearing that the Weasleys were planning to visit Charlie for Christmas, he stayed a little longer.

As always, Arthur and Molly were completely unsuspecting of him. When he turned the conversation to Vaughn, the proud parents began to talk non-stop.

Dumbledore learned many details about Vaughn's behavior in his life from them.

What he found interesting was that, as a pure-blood wizard who had never lived with Muggles, Vaughn did not discriminate against Muggles.

In Romania, he had the pleasure of tasting a dish called "hot pot" made by Molly.

Wizards who discriminate against Muggles cannot possibly "recreate" dishes invented by Muggles, especially since hot pot originated in the Far East, thousands of miles away from England—as the head of the International Wizarding Federation, Dumbledore had tasted cuisines from all over the world.

Dumbledore turned to look at Vaughn walking beside him. The steps, illuminated only by a few braziers, were dimly lit, and the flickering firelight made Vaughn's face appear and disappear, obscuring his features. Just as Dumbledore had always known Vaughn, he had never truly seen through the boy.

It has nothing to do with brain surgery, but rather with the child's mature and complex humanity.

"human nature……"

He murmured the word to himself, then suddenly asked, "Vaughn, what's your view on human nature?"

Is this another test...?

Vaughn pursed his lips, but after thinking for a moment, he replied, "I don't have any profound insights. In my opinion, a person has both an unimaginable good side and an unimaginable evil side. To borrow a phrase I agree with—human nature is the sum of divinity and bestiality!"

Dumbledore was somewhat moved. "Oh—a very insightful summary. Where did you get it from?"

"In a Muggle movie."

Of course, it's from a past life!

Dumbledore seemed to like the quote very much; he repeated it to himself several times, exclaiming, "Many times I have been amazed by the wisdom of Muggles."

He then stopped probing Vaughn and didn't bring up the topic of wolfsbane potion. Instead, he started discussing Muggles with Vaughn.

Despite being considered by outsiders to be the wizard most friendly to Muggles, Dumbledore actually didn't know much about them. In other words, his goodwill towards Muggles was actually a protective instinct towards the weak and the mentally challenged.

Vaughn noticed this during their conversation, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with Dumbledore's attitude. In Vaughn's view, everyone's perspective on things stemmed from their own experiences.

Because of his past life, he was used to seeing things from a Muggle's perspective, but Dumbledore was different.

Many years ago, Dumbledore's sister Ariana accidentally revealed her magic to Muggles, and as a result, she was tortured and bullied by the fearful Muggles.

Their father, seeking revenge for his daughters, cursed the Muggles and ultimately died in Azkaban. This caused young Ariana to begin to hate herself; her inner rejection and fear corrupted her magic, causing it to fall into darkness and become an Obscurus.

Therefore, Dumbledore was once very hostile to Muggles. Even though the "power of love" later awakened him, because of these experiences, he could not take the initiative to understand Muggles.

A knot in one's heart is very difficult to untie.

Vaughn casually brushed off Dumbledore's various strange questions about Muggles. He had been wondering to himself if Dumbledore had invited him on a nighttime stroll just to chat.

When the two arrived at the second-floor library, they saw a lamp floating in mid-air and sneaked into the restricted book section.

Having just used the invisibility cloak that afternoon, Vaughn naturally knew who the invisible person holding the lamp was.

His face darkened. "You're worried about Harry and secretly following him, fine, but why drag me into it?"

Dumbledore asked with great interest, "Don't you think it's very interesting?"

"No, I think it's a waste of time!"

As the two were talking, Harry opened some book in the forbidden section, and magic sent a shrill, inhuman scream through the darkness.

Filch came running over excitedly, and Harry had no choice but to stumble and run away from the forbidden section.

To Vaughn's dismay, he saw Dumbledore smiling and using Transfiguration to trip Harry several times, "guiding" Harry to change course and find a shortcut from the second floor to the fifth floor.

Then, Professor Snape, who was patrolling the castle, "happened" to arrive and "happened" to know the shortcut.

So Harry, who was "unintentionally" blocked by the professor and Filch in a corridor on the fifth floor, saw a door open beside him and hurriedly hid inside.

It was an abandoned, empty classroom with only one mirror in the center.

Mirror of Erised!

Watching Harry narrowly escape danger and then breathe a sigh of relief as he began to explore the Magic Mirror, Vaughn said helplessly, "It's only because Harry is so naive. Anyone else would have become suspicious after so many coincidences."

Dumbledore smiled: "That's not necessarily true, for example, Ron..."

"..." Vaughn was speechless.

30,000 words updated! I stayed up all night, almost collapsed from exhaustion, and now I need to go to sleep. Thank you all for your subscriptions and support! Thank you! Finally, shamelessly asking for a few monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)