Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 62 Post-match leisure and investigation
The defeated Gryffindor players quickly landed to check on Harry. Professor McGonagall also hurried over. After checking and confirming that Harry was fine, Professor McGonagall comforted everyone:
"Gentlemen and ladies, although we failed, I have seen your tenacious fighting spirit. Gryffindor should have the courage to admit their shortcomings and face up to their deficiencies..."

One of the Chasers, Emily Spinnet, whispered, "If Harry hadn't fallen, we might have won."

Professor McGonagall heard this and said sternly, "How did you win? Honestly, your performance during the competition was terrible."

"The two Mr. Weasleys are at a loss as to what to do. And Miss Spinnet, you three Chasers are all girls. Why are you trying to compete with the Slytherin boys in strength and stamina? I don't see you playing to your strengths."

Then she looked at Harry again, her expression softening, and asked, "Harry, I think you lost control of your broom in the end, didn't you?"

Harry nodded, "Yes Professor."

Fred didn't catch him when the fall happened, and he brought his broom back with him later.

"Leave it to me. I'll take him back for an examination. Okay, kids, go back and think carefully about what I just said. Don't push the problem onto others. Think about it, when victory was within your grasp, your opponent chose to save Harry first."

On the way back to the dressing room, Angelina said to the twins, "Hey, can you introduce me to your brother?"

"Which brother are you asking about?"

"Could it be little Ronnie?"

"Don't play dumb, you know who I'm talking about!"

The twins shuddered. "Oh my God, is she planning to take revenge on Vaughn?"

"It's very possible that Fred, Vaughn must have grossed her out today."

"But it's also possible that hate can turn into love!" the twins suddenly said in unison, winking at Angelina.

There was a lot of fighting and noisy, and except for Emily who was a little dissatisfied because she was playing in the starting lineup for the first time, the failure did not dampen everyone's mood too much.

Only Wood truly couldn't accept it.

When Harry left the locker room, he saw Wood, who had changed his clothes, returning to the court.

He looked up at the sky, as if his soul was still flying and fighting there.

This made Harry feel very uncomfortable, and he didn't dare go back to Gryffindor, for fear of seeing more scenes like this - Gryffindor hadn't won a game for a long time, and everyone had thought that they could be proud of themselves this year.

Harry went to the sidelines to find Ron and Hermione, and the three decided to go sit in Hagrid's hut.

"You're saying my broom went out of control because someone cursed me?"

"Yes, Harry," Ron said, still feeling a lingering fear. "Hagrid said that brooms are very stable and usually have a lot of protection. Only powerful dark magic can cause them to lose control."

Harry was a little confused: "Who would target me? The black-robed man?"

"Snape, of course..."

Before Ron could finish, Hermione shook her head and said, "It's not him!"

Then she told him about how she had set fire to the Slytherin stand, burning Professor Snape's clothes, which resulted in Harry's broom going out of control, which was even more serious.

She said with a serious expression: "I think Professor Snape was saving Harry, and it was someone else who actually cast the curse."

Harry and Ron couldn't help but look at the sky, wondering if the sun was rising from the west today.

Both of them thought this conclusion was nonsense.

"I bet Snape would have doused Harry in his potion bottle if he had the chance. He would have saved Harry? Don't be ridiculous, Hermione!"

"This is a fact!"

"I wouldn't trust a Slytherin anyway..."

They had already reached Hagrid's hut, and Harry called out, opening the door.

The moment Ron saw the person who opened the door, he immediately swallowed back the words he hadn't finished speaking.

His face flushed, and he saw Vaughn looking at him with a smile: "Ronald, what did you want to say just now?"

Ron groaned, "You...what are you doing here? Aren't you guys going back to celebrate?"

Hagrid also came over and saw the three of them. He quickly called out, "Harry, Ron, Hermione, come in... Vaughn asked me to help him collect some potion ingredients. He happened to run into me after the game, so I called him over."

Hagrid dug out three more cups and poured tea for everyone.

Then he went to the back of the hut and came back with a big bag in a few minutes.

"Vaughn, take a look, is this what you need?"

"Thank you, Hagrid."

Seeing Vaughn start to look through the materials, Hermione went over to help.

Harry asked Hagrid again about what the three of them had talked about on the way here.

Hagrid confirmed, "That's right, Harry. Only powerful Dark Magic can affect a flying broom. After all, it's a common means of transportation for wizards. If it's not well protected, who would dare to ride it?"

"But Snape definitely couldn't have been the one to cast the curse..." He emphasized, as if he felt his own conviction wasn't enough, and then pulled Vaughn in: "Vaughn, you must know this, right? Snape is someone Dumbledore trusts."

Vaughn, who was checking the herbs, nodded and said, "Hermione is right, Harry. The broom didn't throw you away immediately after it lost control. It's very likely that the professor was helping you with the counter-spell. He won't hurt you."

It was hard for Harry to imagine that Snape would actually save him?

He really wanted to know why Vaughn was so sure.

But Vaughn just winked at him.

"Yes, Harry, I know the reason, but I don't think I should tell you this. Maybe... you can ask Professor Snape yourself?"

Harry shook his head hurriedly. He didn't need to think about it, he knew how Snape would scold him.

"Snape... would actually save me?"

Doubtful thoughts were swirling in my mind.

Then Harry heard Hagrid clapping his hands: "Okay, stop doubting your professor, kids. Do you want to stay with me for dinner today?"

The trio certainly didn't care. They were just looking for Hagrid to get some food and drinks because Harry, who had lost the game, was a little hesitant to go back to Gryffindor.

Vaughn thought about it, agreed, and asked, "Hagrid, have you used up the seasoning I gave you for Halloween?"

"Oh, no, I tried it once, brushing it on barbecue, um..."

Hagrid's bearded face wrinkled as if recalling something unimaginable.

Vaughn was speechless: "Didn't you read the instructions I wrote?"

"This... isn't it a sauce called base?"

Ron chuckled. Harry and Hermione looked a little confused, so Ron explained, "The broth is for hot pot; it's a dish Vaughn recreated from a Muggle magazine...you didn't know?"

The two shook their heads.

They grew up in Muggle society but never heard of it.

It turns out there is such delicious food as hot pot in the world.

At night, Harry and Ron, who were full of food, supported each other and returned to Gryffindor. They lay on the bed and sighed happily.

I had some delicious food, and because of the competition, I didn't have to practice Occlumency today. If I hadn't lost the competition, today would have been perfect.

Drowsy, Harry remembered what Vaughan had said: Snape would not harm him.

Maybe... it's true?

Maybe Snape really was a good man?
He fell into a deep sleep.

At this time, Vaughn came to the principal's office on the eighth floor.

"...it wasn't Tom who cursed Harry."

"Professor Quirrell?"

"Yes." Dumbledore took off his glasses and rubbed his brow tiredly. "He has been in a bad state recently. Tom's plan failed, and it may have tortured him severely. So he cast a curse on Harry to try to please his master."

As he spoke, he was a little absent-minded.

In fact, he was also hiding near the stands today, and his magical eyes saw the light of Quirrell's life.

The light was so fragile, like a candle in the wind.

"Alas, Quirinus was once a good boy, a genius with a wealth of theoretical knowledge. When I invited him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, he quickly agreed and even went out to gain practical experience..."

But it was that experience that changed Quirrell.

Dumbledore stood up and walked to his desk, where a map was spread out, covered with dense markings.

Vaughan glanced at him. "You want to use his travels to determine where he encountered Voldemort?"

"Yes... Oh, it's nothing now that Tom hasn't been resurrected. If he is resurrected one day, Vaughn, remember not to call his name casually."

Vaughn asked in surprise, "You also think he cast a curse on his own name?"

"You haven't experienced that war, Vaughn." Dumbledore shook his head, put his glasses back on, and leaned over to write and draw on the map. He said, "Many people complain at home, curse the Dark Lord to vent their resentment and fear, thinking that no one else knows. But they will soon be broken into by Death Eaters, captured and tortured."

"Apparently, Voldemort's name has become part of a certain kind of magic... Don't look at me like that. I don't know either. Perhaps Voldemort found this unpopular spell from a Death Eater's family. After all, he recruited so many pure-blood families at the time."

Vaughan didn't ask any more questions.

Dumbledore continued with the previous topic: "For over a month, I have been secretly tracking Quirinus's travel route. What I can confirm is that after leaving England, he entered France via a Portkey..."

As he spoke, he drew the route with a quill.

But the line only extended beyond France and did not go any further.

Dumbledore paused, looking troubled. "After that, he disappeared. I don't think this was his final destination. He probably disappeared to avoid filling out immigration forms. It's a cumbersome process. Every time, you have to fill out a bunch of forms and send your wand to the local Ministry of Magic for inspection and record-keeping."

Vaughan nodded.

Arthur talked about this kind of thing at home. The Ministry of Magic in England had to deal with many similar incidents every year. Many wizards chose to smuggle themselves into the country in order to avoid the cumbersome entry procedures.

He looked at the map and carefully recalled the memories of his past life. Thanks to the memory magic, although he couldn't read his own mind, he could still draw inferences from one instance to another and make the memories that had faded over the past decade clearer again.

After a moment, he pointed his finger at the Balkans.

“You can look up these countries.”

Dumbledore asked curiously, "Why?"

Of course, Vaughn couldn't say it directly. He had already found an excuse: "There are many ferocious magical animals over there. If Quirrell wants to gain practical experience, he will definitely go to Bulgaria and Romania in the Balkan Peninsula."

"Bulgaria is home to a large number of vampires and veela (the prototypes of these two magical creatures, whose real-life legends originated in that area), and Romania has the largest dragon sanctuary in Europe."

There is one more thing he didn't say: their neighbor is Albania!

"Hmm..." Dumbledore thought for a moment, then relaxed his brow and said cheerfully, "You've helped me a lot, Vaughn. You've saved me a lot of time. It seems you've learned a lot from Newt."

Vaughn rolled his eyes at Old Deng.

The old man was still keeping an eye on him, otherwise he wouldn't have known that he had been in contact with Newt. The two of them basically exchanged two letters a week, most of which were Vaughn asking for advice on magical beasts.

Perhaps they were getting to know each other better, for in the last letter, Newt had invited Vaughn to his house for Christmas.

The two chatted about Christmas plans again, and Dumbledore felt that the scope Vaughn had set made sense.

He plans to take advantage of the vacation to visit the Balkan Peninsula.

"Perhaps you should come with me?" Dumbledore said to Vaughan.

Vaughan immediately refused: "I have my own things to do!"

This wasn't an excuse; he had declined Newt's invitation because he was going to work on his new potion during the Christmas season.

For this reason, he didn't even plan to go home and even wrote letters to Molly and Arthur.

A few days later, an owl brought him a letter.

At that time, he was visiting the Gryffindor table, sitting with Harry and the others - Harry didn't look very good, as he was ridiculed by Snape again in today's Potions class.

"Potter, I heard that you lost. That's great news. I was always worried that your stupid head would be hit by a Bludger and you would become a complete fool."

The vein on Harry's forehead popped out.

After class, he complained that he was indeed a fool. Before class today, he was still fantasizing that Snape might really be a good person, but he just didn't understand it before.

He said to Vaughan: "I don't care whether he is the Black Robe Man or not. Obviously, he hates me more than the Black Robe Man. Maybe he really was chanting the counter-spell that day, but I think he just didn't want me to die at the hands of others!"

The sudden arrival of the letter made Harry stop complaining, and Vaughan quickly opened the envelope - he didn't want to continue to get involved in the headache-inducing feud between the two people, since he had already reminded them anyway.

After taking out the letter and reading it, Vaughn handed it to Ron. "Mom and Dad want to take Ginny to Romania to visit Charlie during the holidays. We all have to stay at school."

Ron was delighted: "Great!"

He doesn't want to go home. Isn't it nice to have fun with his friends at school every day?
Harry also shook off his gloom and laughed happily. He didn't want to go back to the Dursleys either.

Only Hermione was feeling a little down. Don't get me wrong, it was only a two-week vacation, and she was just unhappy that she couldn't go to the library after returning home.

(End of this chapter)