Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 71 Followers and Lupin
In the afternoon, Fudge contacted Vaughn again.

At Vaughn's request, the two men met in Hogsmeade.

Vaughn had never been to this wizarding town closest to Hogwarts. Only students in the third grade and above in the school, with their parents' signatures, could come here to play every weekend.

The snow still didn't stop after Christmas.

The entire Hogsmeade was shrouded in drifting snowflakes, with a cold wind blowing and almost no human traces to be seen.

The occasional wizards who came to visit would mostly stay in the Hog's Head Inn or the Three Broomsticks. It was the Three Broomsticks that Fudge took Vaughn to.

Perhaps because Vaughan was young and Dumbledore was not watching closely, Fudge seemed very relaxed. When he saw the beautiful and mature proprietress of the Three Broomsticks, he even flirted with her.

If this happened a few years later, Ron would definitely fight Fudge to the death.

Madam Rosmerta led the two of them to a private room. Fudge took off his cloak and said,

"Dear Rosmerta, please bring me a pitcher of Butterbeer and some drinks and snacks for the child. We have something to discuss. Please make sure no one disturbs us, okay?"

"Okay, Mr. Minister."

Madam Rosmerta agreed, glancing at Vaughan curiously.

While Fudge wasn't paying attention, Vaughan winked at her, which made the lady stunned for a moment. After she went out, she was still peeking.

Fudge gently pushed Vaughan into the chair. He then sat opposite him, crossed his arms, and asked gently, "Son, have you thought it through?"

"Well, I agree to hand over the formula and ownership of the Wolfsbane Potion to the Ministry of Magic!"

Vaughn nodded, "But I have a request."

"Please, child."

Fudge showed a look of joy. He needed Vaughn, the inventor of the potion, to stand up for him. As long as Vaughn agreed and the request was not excessive, he could meet it.

"I'd like to know if the location where the Merlin Order will be honoring me in two days can be changed?"

"Hmm?" Fudge was stunned for a moment, but still answered:

"Of course. There's no fixed location for investiture ceremonies. Where would you like it to be held? Hogwarts?"

Vaughn shook his head: "I want to put it in Diagon Alley!"

Fudge didn't quite understand: "Why?"

"You know about Muggle press conferences, right? I want all werewolves to get the potion. Now that I've decided to hand over the full power to the Ministry of Magic and you, I thought it would be better to announce the news at my investiture ceremony. Invite more people and more media, and turn it into a press conference to let everyone know. After all, the Wizengamot Court is a solemn place and may not be suitable for such things."

Vaughan finished his thoughts in one breath, just as Ms. Rosmerta came in with drinks and snacks.

Vaughn picked up the drink and took a sip, then raised his glass to Rosmerta. Rosmerta touched her face with a strange expression on her face - she was actually teased by a child today!

Fudge was still thinking, and he certainly wasn't beginning to doubt Vaughn's intentions.

From the very beginning, he didn't regard this child as an opponent.

He was thinking about the "press conference" model. If, as Vaughn envisioned, more people and media were invited to participate, wouldn't the impact of this event be even greater? Perhaps it would even spread internationally?
By then, the inventor of the Wolfsbane Potion will clearly support the Ministry of Magic in promoting the "Werewolf Registration Act" and authorize the Ministry of Magic to have the sole control over the Wolfsbane Potion...

Fudge's breathing suddenly became rapid.

He seemed to see himself surrounded by spotlights, seemed to see the surging public opinion pushing his reputation to the peak, and seemed to see those competitors who coveted the throne beneath him retreating in panic before his halo!
"No, this needs to be carefully planned..."

In just a moment, Fudge, sensing an opportunity, could no longer sit still. However, he remained patient and gently said to Vaughan, "Son, I can't answer you for now. I still need to go back and discuss this with the Ministry. But don't worry, I will do my best to help you!"

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

Vaughn was busy drinking his drink. A moment later, Madam Rosmerta came in again and said with a smile, "Little boy, the Minister asked me to look after you. Would you like another drink? Or should I go to Honeydukes and buy you some candy?"

Vaughn rested his chin on his hand, looked at her beautiful mature face, and smiled: "Ma'am, please don't bother, just look into my eyes."

"Varied……"

As Vaughn quietly waved his wand and muttered a spell, a glimmer flashed in his eyes, and Ms. Rosmerta's smile suddenly froze. After a moment, she stood up expressionlessly and listened to Vaughn's instructions in his ear:

"Now, don't show any signs of anything unusual. Open the back door and bring the person waiting outside to me."

"……Yes!"

Memory magic, what a scary thing.

Just Legilimency alone is enough to manipulate people's memories at will. No wonder Dumbledore was unwilling to teach it before.

With a slight sigh, Vaughn took out a piece of parchment and wrote on it with his wand:
"Wait until the back door of the Three Broomsticks opens and follow her."

Soon, the other side replied: "Yes, sir!"

Then, he put away the parchment, took out a notebook and silently flipped through it. It contained the next development plan for the wolfsbane potion.

Through previous tests, Vaughn discovered that once the werewolf virus infects someone, it is difficult to kill them completely, and the curse power contained in it may involve the soul realm.

Anything involving the soul is troublesome, so in the next stage, Vaughn will not pursue a complete cure for werewolves, but will try to weaken the infectiousness of the werewolf virus, and preferably solve the problem of werewolves transforming on full moon nights.

Their situation can only be improved if the werewolves cannot transform even on full moon nights.

As I was thinking, there was a noise on the stairs.

Vaughn silently counted the footsteps. Besides Ms. Rosmerta, there were four more people.

He put down his notebook and soon stopped at the door. Rosmerta pushed the door open and quietly stepped aside. Four ragged men walked in.

The first two were excited when they saw Vaughn, and Vaughn smiled and greeted them: "William, little Banar, my friends, you did a great job!"

Little Banar was already in tears. He knelt before Vaughn and kissed his robe. "Sir, I saw your efforts in the Daily Prophet. I have gathered more than 200 werewolves for you. They are in London now!"

This werewolf, who lost his parents when he was young and wandered in the mountains and wilderness, has a very simple mind. He will give all his heart to anyone who treats him well.

Since leaving that day, he has been the most active in searching for wizards and werewolves, and has the closest contact with Vaughn.

Especially after seeing the news published in the Daily Prophet yesterday.

Compared to little Bannell, William White was much more reserved. He took off his hat and bowed slightly to Vaughn. After greeting him, he turned around and introduced the two people behind him: "Sir, these are two wizard werewolves who have been helping us get in touch with you. This is Mr. James Brown, and this is Mr. Remus Lupin..."

"Ok?"

Vaughn, who was comforting little Banar, raised his head and looked at the thin and slovenly figure to William's left.

Vaughn ruffled little Banar's hair and asked him to stand up - although it was not a good idea to do so, he felt like he was petting a big dog... Living in the wilderness for a long time might have made little Banar lose some of his humanity.

Although strange thoughts were running through his mind, Vaughn remained expressionless. He looked at the two wizards and werewolves.

James Brown was a young man wearing a tattered robe. It was obvious that he was trying his best to look like a wizard, but the patched and ill-fitting robe made him look even more shabby and embarrassed.

Vaughn sensed the magic carefully and found that the aura of magic on him was complex and weak, even weaker than that of a third-year student at Hogwarts.

All this showed that he was a wild wizard... the kind who had never been to school and had not received formal magical school education.

Such people are not uncommon in the werewolf wanderer community.

Their werewolf virus is usually inherited from their wizard father or mother.

The werewolf virus can be transmitted from mother to child. If both parents are werewolves, the offspring born will be born werewolves. If only one parent is a werewolf, the offspring may be a werewolf (Lupin once worried that the child he and Tonks had would be a werewolf).

Their parents usually come from other countries and are not registered with the local Ministry of Magic, or the local wizarding parents deliberately hide information about themselves and their children.

Therefore, after these children's magic powers awakened, they were not included in the "Book of Admission" and other alchemical artifacts that could record the information of children with magical talents, and could only learn magic from their parents.

This naturally leads to the varying levels of quality among wild wizards.

James Brown looked very excited. He gave Vaughan a stiff bow. "Thank you for your mercy and generosity, Mr. Weasley!"

Vaughan nodded at him. "You're welcome, Mr. Brown."

Vaughn looked at Remus Lupin again. He was a middle-aged man who was as down and out as William White. His tweed coat was almost washed out of color and there were several hideous scars on his face. But his temperament was very gentle and a little depressed, as if he was deeply trapped in some kind of sorrow.

He also walked forward and saluted like William and James. Compared with James, he was much more reserved.

"Hello...Mr. Weasley!"

Vaughn could feel Lupin quietly examining him, studying his red hair, as if trying to guess who he was and what his purpose was.
What a vigilant and righteous guy!
Vaughn laughed, ignoring the other party's secret scrutiny. Instead, he turned to Little Banar and William and asked, "How many people have you gathered in total? Is the arrangement all right?"

"There are over 600 of us in total, sir. After contacting you yesterday, we accepted another tribe. Now everyone is waiting in a park on the outskirts of the city. Remus and several other wizards have cast spells on our tents. They are very spacious and will not be discovered by Muggles."

"Very good." Vaughan nodded, took out a small bag from his satchel and handed it to little Banar. "There are tens of thousands of pounds in it. Take good care of them."

These pounds were collected by him from selling potions in recent years. Pounds were almost worthless in the wizarding world. Gringotts, the only place that could exchange pounds for gold Galleons, was limited to contracts with Hogwarts each year and had to give some quota to young wizards from Muggle families.

In the past, in order to buy Muggle equipment, Vaughan would occasionally allow a batch of potions to be settled in pounds. Every time that happened, the potions were quickly sold out - it was said that Gringotts took the opportunity to sell a lot of "waste paper".

Little Banar said awkwardly, "The money you gave me last time hasn't been..."

“Take it. I saw you say that many people brought their children, so I bought some food for everyone!” “…” Little Barnal stopped refusing and silently accepted it.

After resolving the funding issue, Vaughan continued, "There's one more reason I called you here this time. The location has been roughly decided. Before you came, the Minister of Magic basically agreed that I should hold the investiture ceremony in Diagon Alley in the morning of two days from now. You can go there in advance through the Leaky Cauldron... Mr. Brown, Mr. Lupin, you will lead the other wizards and be responsible for organizing everyone, okay?"

James Brown's nose flushed with excitement at the thought of leading a team of more than 600 people to participate in such a major event. He nodded quickly and said, "No problem, Mr. Weasley."

Remus Lupin nodded as well.

Little Barnell and William, both of Muggle origin, had no objection to his arrangement.

They rubbed their hands excitedly, happy that free wolfsbane potion had finally seen the light of day, but also worried whether they could really get what they wanted, as their fate had never been in their own hands!
Vaughn gave them some more instructions, and seeing that it was getting late, he let them leave.

As they quietly exited the Three Broomsticks' back door, Little Bannell whispered to Lupin, "Lupin, I've been wanting to say this before. You should show more respect to Mr. Weasley."

Perhaps people with simple minds are more sensitive. He could sense that Lupin seemed to have some opinions about Vaughn.

This made little Banar very dissatisfied. He didn't like Lupin in the first place - Lupin took the initiative to find their team to join. A few days ago, when he was lobbying a tribe in Yorkshire, this guy suddenly came to him.

Seeing that he was a wizard, everyone agreed to let him join the group, but soon, little Bannell discovered that this guy was intentionally or unintentionally trying to find out what Mr. Weasley's purpose was.

If they hadn't been unable to use the fireplace this time and needed someone to Apparate to take them to Hogsmeade, little Bannell would never have let Lupin come with them.

Lupin replied vaguely. When he walked out of Hogsmeade, he felt in his pocket and suddenly slapped his head. "Oh no! I think my wand fell on the road. I'll go back and look for it. You two can hide in the Shrieking Shack first. I'll come find you later."

"you……"

William pulled little Banar, stared at Lupin for a moment, and nodded: "Okay, we'll wait for you."

As Lupin turned back, he added, "Lupin, hundreds of people are waiting in London, all hoping for a result. This is the first time in several years I've seen werewolves working together for a goal instead of fighting each other, do you understand?"

Lupin paused, but ultimately remained silent.

He returned to the Three Broomsticks, gently pushed open the door that he had deliberately left open when he left, and tiptoed up to the second floor.

The door of the private room was closed, and Lupin opened it silently with a "Holocaust".

The lock core flicked slightly under the power of the spell, and the door opened a crack.

Lupin peeked in and saw Madam Rosmerta, the proprietress of the Three Broomsticks, sitting expressionlessly in a chair, while Vaughn held his wand and cast a spell on her head.

The magic pulled out strands of translucent memories from her head. As Vaughn waved his wand, the threads flipped and changed. Some unclear images were pulled out, slightly modified, and then stuffed back in.

"It's Legilimency, memory magic..."

Thinking of this, Lupin's eyes were cold. He pushed open the door and pointed his wand at Vaughn's back.

Vaughn, who was modifying Rosmerta's memory, didn't seem surprised at all. He just said, "Wait a moment, it will be done soon."

"I know her. From the moment she opened the door for us, I knew something was wrong with her... What did you do to Ms. Rosmerta?"

Without relaxing his wand pointing at Vaughan, Lupin said coldly, "Your current behavior is truly a disgrace to the Weasley name. Do Arthur and Molly know this?"

Vaughn ignored him.

With a flick and a tremor of his wand, the last trace of memory was modified, and he carefully manipulated the spell, slowly putting it back into Madam Rosmerta's head.

After everything was completed, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Adults' memories and thoughts are indeed much more complicated."

He leaned close to Rosmerta's ear and whispered softly, "Dear, come down to the first floor. Drinks and snacks have been delivered to the private room upstairs. You want to take a nap while there are not many customers. Everything that happened just now was just a bizarre dream..."

"It was... a sleepy... dream..."

Rosmerta muttered to herself and walked out of the room.

Vaughn watched her leave, then smiled at Lupin with a sense of accomplishment and said, "My memory magic is pretty good, isn't it?"

"..." Lupin's expression became more serious, his wand pointed straight at him, trembling slightly due to the force.

"Well, I thought you were going to cast a spell to stop me just now."

"That would only harm Rosmerta. I also know a little memory magic!"

Vaughan shrugged, took a sip of his drink, and then stared at Lupin curiously: "From what you just said, you actually know my parents... Oh yes, I almost forgot, you were in the Order of the Phoenix."

The Order of the Phoenix is ​​a secret society founded by Dumbledore to fight the Death Eaters.

The Order of the Phoenix disbanded 10 years ago after the Socket Man was shot and killed by one-year-old Harry.

Because of Molly's frequent pregnancies, Arthur and Molly did not join the first Order of the Phoenix, but they had close ties with the Order. Even Molly's two brothers, Fabian Prewett and Gideon Prewett, joined the first Order of the Phoenix, but were killed by five Death Eaters before the end of the war.

Lupin frowned. Did Arthur and Molly tell him?
"Don't frown, dear Remus." Vaughn smiled. "Mom and Dad haven't told us about the past. I have other sources of information... Would you like a drink? This cup of butterbeer is still untouched..."

"enough!"

Lupin interrupted him in a deep voice, "Tell me your purpose, Vaughan Weasley, and don't try to deceive me with the same rhetoric you used to deceive William and little Bannell."

"Hmm..." Vaughn pondered, "So, you think I'm tricking them?"

Lupin snorted coldly. "What else? I heard little Barnall repeat your words. You told them that Fudge harbored evil intentions and that the Ministry of Magic couldn't be relied upon. Once the Ministry of Magic took control of the Wolfsbane Potion, everyone would become puppets of the politicians."

"Isn't what I said the truth?"

"Imaginary facts!" Lupin said angrily. "These are things that haven't happened yet. You are just using them as excuses to achieve your ulterior motives!"

Vaughn didn't get angry or argue with his question. Instead, he asked, "Remus, please tell me, have you signed the Werewolf Registration Act?"

Lupin was speechless.

Of course he hadn't signed it, otherwise he wouldn't have lived in seclusion in Yorkshire.

"You should know what that registration is. It's different from the Muggle registration. It not only records your image and name, but also your magic power and wand, your blood and hair, and even the magical oath..."

The more Vaughan spoke, the deeper his smile deepened. He stared at Lupin with interest. "The Registration Act has been in place for many years, but it has never been implemented. Remus, please tell me why?"

What else could it be? Any werewolf who signed the registration law would never again have freedom.

Even life and death are in the hands of the Ministry of Magic - for wizards, having blood and hair has already satisfied the requirements of some ancient curses!
Unless the werewolves are stupid, no one will sign!
Vaughan continued, "Yes, what I told little Banel and the others was all my speculation, but Remus, do you really think it's impossible?"

The continuous rhetorical questions left Lupin speechless. He also had no position or confidence to guarantee that the Ministry of Magic would not do that!
Looking at the stunned Lupin, Vaughan maintained his kind and calm demeanor and raised his hand to gesture, "Please come in and sit down. If you have any questions, we can talk."

Lupin didn't respond immediately.

The air was somewhat quiet, with only the crackling sound of flames licking the firewood in the fireplace.

After a long moment, Lupin said coldly, "You haven't answered my original question yet. What did you do to Rosmerta?"

There is nothing that cannot be said.

Vaughan said calmly, "A little hypnosis and memory modification. She has some connection to our dear Minister Fudge, and I can't let her know about our meeting."

Hearing this, Lupin finally put down his wand: "Then why are you letting the wandering werewolves go to Diagon Alley? Have you ever thought about what will happen if you let those poor people parade in Diagon Alley? What if they conflict with the Ministry of Magic or the Aurors..."

"There will be no conflict with the Aurors!" Vaughan interrupted his question.

"what?"

"You'll know then." Vaughn smiled with a hint of malice, then leaned back in his chair and said, "I haven't concealed my purpose. I just want the wizarding world to see what the living conditions of wandering werewolves are like. I hope to achieve a fair outcome for werewolves. As for selfish motives..."

He thought about it, "Does it count as making myself more famous?"

"...?"

A question mark slowly emerged in Lupin's mind, but he could see that Vaughn was not lying.

He didn't know what to do for a moment.

Of course he could continue to raise his wand and cast a spell, but what then?
Thinking of what William said when he came back, Lupin hesitated for a long time and opened his mouth. He had a lot to say, but he couldn't say it.

His mind is in a mess!

At this moment, Vaughn was looking at Lupin with a smile. In his vision, the whole world was in black and white, with only Lupin's human figure, shining with the brilliance of thought.

The light was twisting and chaotic, and the intense thought activity had turned the colors of the light into a mess.

He watched for a moment, then dismissed him, saying, "Go back, Remus. William and the others are still waiting for you. When you return, you can put aside your prejudice against me and carefully observe those wandering werewolves. Then you can decide whether to question me again."

"Or, you can think about it for a moment. Why would ordinary wanderers like Little Banar and William listen to me when I just asked them to deliver a message?"

"Let's leave it at that for now. I hope our relationship will have changed the next time we meet. You have to understand that I actually hate it when people point wands at me..."

As he spoke, Vaughn raised his hand and waved it gently.

The air suddenly shook, and the solidified air pushed Lupin out of the private room. The door slammed shut, and the air dissipated in the corridor, creating a strong wind for a few seconds. It was not until the spell completely dissipated that Lupin could barely stand firm.

He looked at the closed door in astonishment:
"Was that... a flying spell?"

(End of this chapter)