Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 93 Vaughn: I want the Philosopher's Stone!

Ultimately, Vaughn neither agreed nor refused.

He still needs to digest the amount of information brought by the Web of Fate and the Road of Legend.

On the other hand, although the topics he discussed with Dumbledore had touched upon the most profound magical knowledge.

But at heart, he's still just a first-year student.

For the sake of talent points, he still had to return to reality.

Try your best to make up for the lessons and ensure that you can complete the main tasks of the system and get the rewards.

Anyway, Harry's trial has not yet begun, and Dumbledore invited him only to get him more deeply involved in the plan, hoping that his presence could interfere with the fate of Harry and Voldemort.

That night, Vaughan suffered from insomnia, a rare occurrence. When he appeared in the restaurant the next day to visit his loyal Gryffindor after a long absence, the dark circles under his and Harry's eyes became a unique sight at the long table that day.

"I dare say he must have been harboring a lot of evil thoughts while he was away. He might have spent the whole night last night thinking about how to torture us, Harry!"

At noon, Ron said desperately to Harry and Hermione in the Gryffindor common room.

Unfortunately, after staying up all night, Harry was in a trance and didn't pay attention to what Ron said.

Only Hermione, with the tips of her ears twitching, took note of Ron's words.

So, in the afternoon, everyone saw that Ronald Weasley, the boy who had become famous for being the "friend of the savior" and "killing trolls with his brother Vaughn" and then quickly became a celebrity in the castle again.

Peeves had set his sights on him for some reason.

It rode on Ron's head and dyed his hair all kinds of colors with strange paints. Then, when Ron was in class, it imitated Ron's voice and shouted, farted, swore, and disrupted the class.

Even if Ron eventually proved that it was Peeves who did it.

But the annoyed professors still punished him - making him do double the homework.

"If you haven't done anything naughty to provoke Peeves, why is he targeting you like this, Weatherby?"

Professor Binns's words fully summarized the professors' true views on the incident, although he unsurprisingly called Ron's last name incorrectly.

At night, when taking a shower, Ron was hit by a dung bomb by Peeves and could no longer bear it. When he ignored the humiliation and sacrificed Vaughn, he finally knew why Peeves targeted him.

"Oh - poor, stupid Weatherby, he used the name of Lord Vaughan Weasley to scare Peeves, but..."

Peeves blinked his evil eyes and grinned. "But the person who asked Peeves to discipline Weatherby was Vaughan Weasley—hehehe, hahahahahahahahahaha. The big devil said that poor and stupid Weatherby was saying bad things about him behind his back. Weatherby needs to wake up. Peeves is happy to accept this job commission, hehe!"

Ron stormed back to the common room, completely ignoring the stench he was carrying, which nearly made everyone faint.

"I knew he wouldn't let me go. Look, from childhood to adulthood, he's never gone more than two weeks without bullying me!"

He complained loudly to Harry and Hermione, then glared at the other students in the common room. "It's better not to let me know who was the one who tipped off Vaughan, or I'll make him taste the pain of those fists that once beat a troll!"

In his anger, he certainly didn't notice that his good friend Hermione quietly lowered her head.

For Vaughn, punishing his brother was just a matter of considering the pros and cons and reviewing the little episodes in life.

In fact, in the few days since his conversation with Dumbledore, he has been thinking about what Dumbledore said all the time, about the existence of Fate's Web, about the impact of his promotion of the establishment of the Werewolf Affairs Committee on fate, and the excitement of getting a glimpse of the future.

It took him several days to temporarily put aside these unrealistic things and refocus on reviewing and accumulating college points.

Another week passed, and he finally caught up with the progress, and used his personal "affinity" to make a few restless guys in Slytherin House - such as Malfoy, who had let himself go and started to speak foul language because he left some time ago - become well-behaved again.

As March approached, Slytherin, which had briefly lost its first place in the house rankings, returned to the top spot.

Vaughn, who wanted to relax for a while, decided to go out and relax with Hermione on the second weekend of March.

As March approaches, the Scottish Highlands are finally no longer always rainy, especially on this day, the weather is sunny and the sky is clear, like a sea of ​​forget-me-nots, dotted with a few white clouds. The bright sunshine shines on everything, and the wind carries a hint of warmth.

It seemed as if all of a sudden, there was a breath of summer.

Hermione gladly accepted Vaughan's invitation. She changed into a dress and used the hairdressing potion Vaughan gave her to make her fluffy hair smooth. She also tied her hair into a ponytail.

They wandered from the Black Lake to the Forbidden Forest, and finally stopped to rest under a huge oak tree. The sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves, dappled and falling on the girl's face.

The light reflected on the light down on her face, as if casting a halo over her, a scene that could only be seen on a young girl.

Vaughan watched quietly, listening to Hermione talking about some trivial things around her.

Until Hermione noticed his gaze, her face turned red with embarrassment, and she asked him shyly, "What are you looking at?"

Vaughn smiled and took her hand: "Look at a beautiful girl."

It was a bit greasy, but girls in love are usually brainless. Hermione, who always had clear thinking and sharp words, blushed and was speechless. She just moved her body quietly and sat closer to Vaughan.

The clasped hands feel each other's body temperature, allowing the ambiguity to spread.

But in fact, in Vaughan's heart, what he was thinking about had nothing to do with any romance. The memories of his past life kept surging from his mind, and finally stopped at George who lost his ears, and Fred who died with a smile.

The fate of Harry and Voldemort is a meat grinder, and no one can escape it unless they give up everything now and stay away from England and even the wizarding world.

This was something he already knew, but he had always felt that when the time came, he might be strong enough to save them.

Until Dumbledore told him the nature of fate.

The web of fate was too vague for him to touch or understand now, but the example of the playwright Dumbledore gave was very interesting.

Fate is cruel both in the world and in the human world, because fate is the interaction between people and the conflicts arising from that interaction.

He might have power in the future, but can he really limit George and Fred?
People cannot be restricted.

Even if you tell them the danger, it's for the sake of ideals, freedom, or something else.

They might still end up on the battlefield and die in some uncaring corner, just like their mother's two brothers.

The only way to avoid all this, the only way to make himself feel at peace, is to kill Voldemort, or to end the fate of Harry and Voldemort!

That night, Vaughn came to the office on the eighth floor and knocked on the door. He looked at the silent Dumbledore and said, "I want to propose a deal."

Dumbledore nodded. "Please speak!"

Faced with Vaughan's request for a deal, Dumbledore was calm and even leisurely poured himself a glass of juice.

With the wealth he had accumulated over more than a hundred years, he could afford to give out anything, whether it was gold Galleons, rare materials, or advanced knowledge and magic.

He believed that Vaughn would not make any excessive demands.

After all, Vaughn's agreement means he is willing to cooperate and will definitely not make things difficult for him.

Then he heard Vaughan say, "I want the Philosopher's Stone!"

“Puff—cough cough!”

Dumbledore spat out a mouthful of juice, fortunately there was no one else around him this time.

He brushed his robes casually, and the robes wet with juice immediately became dry and clean. Dumbledore's beard trembled:

"what would you like?"

"The Philosopher's Stone!" Vaughn rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm just borrowing it for a while. I'm almost out of money lately because of those werewolves, so I'm going to use the Philosopher's Stone to get some gold."

This is of course a made-up excuse.

In fact, he was still thinking about the system's side quests. Since he had agreed to Dumbledore and was more deeply involved in the savior's plan, Vaughn would feel sorry for himself if he didn't take part in it.

Stroking his beard, Dumbledore felt a slight toothache and suddenly couldn't bring himself to say no.

After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "How long do you want to borrow it?"

"One week."

Vaughn said that according to the system's task description, he only needed to get the Philosopher's Stone, but since he could get this alchemical artifact, it would be unreasonable not to study it.

Thinking about it, he smiled again: "Of course, if you can introduce Nicolas Flamel to me, I don't have to lend you the Philosopher's Stone. I heard that he and his wife are living in seclusion in Devonshire?"

Hearing this, Dumbledore did not hesitate and put on a gentle but false smile. "Although using the Philosopher's Stone to make gold seems a bit unearned, your intentions are good. As the headmaster, how can I stop you from doing good things?"

He stood up and walked out:

"Come with me, child. I will show you the test I have prepared for Harry."

"Don't pretend you didn't hear me, Albus. I just wanted to ask Nicolas Flamel about alchemy. You know, this subject is too ancient and lacks systematic organization and classification, so it's very difficult to get started."

"What did you say? Sorry, I'm getting old and my ears keep acting up for no apparent reason."

Vaughan didn't take it seriously. He followed Dumbledore out of the headmaster's office and said slowly, "Oh, I suddenly wonder if my decision was a bit hasty. It doesn't seem wise to rashly get involved in the fate of Harry and Tom."

Dumbledore, despite his age, was very quick to react. He immediately replied, "Ah—you mean Nicolas Flamel? Yes, he's like a living fossil in alchemy, but..."

He sighed, "Let him rest, Vaughn. He and Perel have decided to stop taking the elixir. As old friends, I hope they can spend the last part of their lives in peace."

Vaughan said nothing more.

Although he never considered himself a good person, no matter how flexible he was, he still had a bottom line. It was impossible for him to really disturb a couple of old people who had lived for six centuries and now just wanted to die in peace.

Even if he genuinely wanted to consult Nicolas Flamel. Since enrolling at Hogwarts, Vaughn had borrowed many books on alchemy from the library, and by now he could create some small gadgets—the magical gadgets he modified using Muggle equipment to research the Wolfsbane Potion had applied some alchemical techniques.

But the techniques were very basic, simply casting the spell on the equipment and then solidifying it.

Rather than alchemy, it is more like a modern and improved version of item enchantment.

True alchemy should be about changing the nature of matter. From some of the books Vaughn has read, alchemy believes that all substances in the world can be transformed into each other, and stones can be transformed into gold through a series of transmutations.

Soil can also be transformed into a body with life activities through a series of transformations.

Putting aside the idea of ​​creating life, if we only look at how alchemy transforms matter, it is simply the nuclear physics of the magical world!

It’s just that Muggles use particle acceleration, high-energy rays and other means to activate protons and neutrons to bombard atomic nuclei, while wizards use magic to achieve similar goals more efficiently.

For example, making gold.

It was only in modern times that Muggles began to use particle accelerators or high-energy rays to bombard substances similar to gold nuclides (such as mercury) to artificially create gold. This requires a lot of energy and the results are uncontrollable (energy cannot be used evenly and accurately on every atomic nucleus).

Wizards have been able to do this since a long time ago, and the cost is only magic power or some relatively precious materials.

For Vaughan, creating gold through alchemy was actually quite boring.

If he wanted gold, he had plenty of ways to do it, so why waste his magic on that kind of thing?

Nuclear physics in the magical world, of course, involves the study of nuclear energy and radioactive isotopes!
Dumbledore was obviously unaware of Vaughan's dangerous ideas, otherwise he would not have agreed to Vaughan learning alchemy.

He, now leading the way, simply said in a compromising tone, "Vaughn, don't bother Nico. If you want to learn alchemy in the future, I can teach you... Of course, I suggest waiting two years before starting. After all, you still have a lot to learn now."

Vaughan accepted the suggestion.

He really has too much to learn now, so there is no need to rush. The real thing is to improve his magical skills first.

The two of them went downstairs while talking.

Dumbledore took Vaughn to the floor that he had deliberately banned students from wandering since the beginning of the term.

"Albus, you've been preparing the test for Harry since the beginning of the school year. When did you realize there was something wrong with Quirrell?"

"...before school starts." Dumbledore clasped his hands in front of his abdomen and walked slowly, his eyes looking ahead at the door at the end of the corridor that he had reminded students not to go to when school started.

"Actually, Tom hid it very well. You should have used magic to observe Quirinus, right? You couldn't find any traces of dark magic on him at all?"

Vaughn nodded. "Apart from the fact that Tom later absorbed his life force, causing his life force to dim, there was hardly anything unusual."

"Yes, I didn't notice it at first." Dumbledore sighed, "He had his turban wrapped around his head. I just thought he had encountered an accident during the journey and was a little nervous and nervous. You know, there are many wizards like this in the wizarding world..."

"It's just that Tom underestimated my importance to Harry. He didn't understand. Although I can't detect anything in terms of magic, fate will warn me. Before Harry entered school, I used the magic that showed you the web of fate before. I spent more than ten days inspecting the entire castle, including the professors."

Vaughn was silent for a moment, then asked, "Can Quirrell be saved?"

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then said, "No... Quirinus Quirrell was already dead when he opened his soul to allow Tom to parasitize it!"

This is a sad topic.

Vaughan had heard Dumbledore talk about Quirrell's past.

In Deng's words, he was a young man with great curiosity, high talent, and positive optimism.

Professor McGonagall also had a high opinion of him. Vaughn still remembered that once in the Transfiguration Club, he saw a graduation photo of Quirrell, an outstanding student, and Professor McGonagall on Professor McGonagall's desk.

Apart from the Divination class, other professors spoke in a similar tone. Of course, they did not know the truth, and when they talked about Quirrell, most of them spoke with regret.

Some people with short tempers even believed that it was the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class that turned Quirrell into a coward who talked nonsense and was timid.

For example, Professor Sylvanus Kettleburn.

This professor of Care of Magical Creatures has always been known for his violent temper and recklessness. As a result, after teaching at Hogwarts for many years, he now only has one arm and half a leg that are original parts, and the rest are magical prosthetic limbs.

However, over the decades, he has had many students. Even Voldemort and Hagrid were little wizards who followed him in pursuit of knowledge.

Dumbledore was very pleased that Hagrid was able to follow him and learn a lot of knowledge about magical animals.

Dumbledore, who didn't want to talk much about Quirrell, started talking about the trial he had prepared for Harry.

The first people he talked about were Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn. "Over the years, I've been unable to get Silvanus to change his weird hobby of liking large, ferocious magical animals. Decades ago, when he was still Headmaster Armando, the school was rehearsing a stage play called 'The Fountain of Good Luck' and asked him to provide a giant earthworm."

"As a result, he cast a magnification spell on a fire ash snake and lent it to the crew... You can imagine what a disaster that was."

Vaughn raised an eyebrow.

Fire Ash Snakes are magical animals with a very short lifespan and a very strange way of survival. They are creatures born from out-of-control magical flames.

While they are still alive, they will desperately lay eggs, and after an hour, their bodies will burn violently and turn into ashes, and they will die.

A normal fire ash snake, with a thin body similar to that of an ordinary water snake, is enough to set a house on fire if it dies, let alone one that has been magnified by the spell.

Vaughan knew it because of the fire ash snake eggs, which were the material of the aphrodisiac.

"For the original trial, I wanted to ask Sylvanus to provide a magical beast, but my old memory told me that if I didn't want to kill Harry, I'd better choose someone else, so I chose Hagrid - he lent me a very ferocious magical beast that looked very similar to the real thing."

As he spoke, Dumbledore took Vaughn to the end of the corridor and opened the door.

The moment the door opened, a fishy smell mixed with a loud gasp rushed towards them, and a huge shadow enveloped Vaughan and Dumbledore.

It was a huge dog about 14 feet tall, with a fat body that almost filled the room. It had three heads, all of which were ferocious and cruel. Even when it was asleep, its dagger-like, gleaming teeth sticking out from its lips were full of ferocity.

Hearing the movement of the door, the three-headed dog opened its eyes and stared at the two of them with its huge, bloodshot eyes.

"Good evening, Lu Wei."

Dumbledore greeted it.

Unfortunately, the three-headed dog didn't buy it. Its three heads growled, and one of them opened its mouth and bit.

Dumbledore wasn't nervous at all. He even said to Vaughn with interest, "Compared to those cruel little creatures raised by Sylvanus, Fluffy is much safer. Moreover, he has trained this big guy with a unique hobby."

As he spoke, he clapped his hands and magic played music.

The three-headed dog that was biting at them stopped immediately, its six ears stood up, and its three ferocious faces quickly became obsessed and sleepy in the sound of music.

Soon, it yawned, twisted its huge body a few times in the room, making the floor and ceiling creak, and then fell into a deep sleep.

Dumbledore blinked. "How do you like this as the first stage of Harry's trial?"

Vaughan curled his lips. "Not very good. It can only fool children, or fool desperate Quirrell and Tom."

"Oh—Vaughn, don't be so mean. At least before we knew about its weakness of being easily hypnotized by music, it was still quite intimidating. A dog with three heads is not that easy to deal with."

"A killing curse will solve it."

"No, the Killing Curse requires a lot of magic power, especially if you want to kill such a huge creature. Quirinus probably can't provide that much magic power... Come on, let's go to the next level."

Dumbledore used magic to move Fluffy away, revealing a trapdoor underneath it.

He opened it and floated down with Vaughn.

The passage under the trapdoor was pitch black, and in the darkness, something was rustling and wriggling.

This level was even more boring. Even without relying on his memories from his previous life, he knew what it was just by smelling the dampness in the air and its unique movement trajectory.

"Oh, Devil's Snare, a harmless little thing."

Vaughn summoned flames, and a large magical fireball hung above the two men.

The moment the light and heat bloomed, the darkness was dispelled, and the snake-like vines that were originally hidden in the darkness and coiled towards the two people from all directions suddenly retreated into the cracks in the wall with screams.

Dumbledore clapped his hands vigorously. "Excellent, Vaughan. Pomona would be proud of you. I must say that when it comes to plants, being able to apply what you've learned from books is quite enough."

Vaughn smiled, "Thanks for the compliment, but I'm not Harry."

"To be honest with you, this level was added later. I didn't actually expect Harry and Ron to know how to solve it. On the contrary, it is more suitable for Miss Granger."

Speaking of this, Dumbledore had a headache. Although he didn't expect Harry to be as good at studying as his parents, he was still quite upset that Harry became a poor student.

Vaughn was also somewhat dissatisfied: "You secretly included my girlfriend in the trial. Shouldn't you consult my opinion?"

"Oh, sorry, I promise there's no danger. The only one who can face Tom in the end is Harry."

Dumbledore apologized as usual, then looked at Vaughan with a strange expression, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

"What did you want to say, Albus?"

"...Although I'm happy to see you find love, you're still young after all. Shouldn't you restrain yourself in front of me? I'm the principal, remember?"

"Oh, then Albus, are there any rules at Hogwarts against dating?"

"..." Dumbledore's beard twitched, and he began to consider whether to add some school rules.

But think about it, if he banned students from dating, he would probably immediately replace Phileas Black and become the most unpopular headmaster in Hogwarts history.

(End of this chapter)