Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 66 Christmas Gift
"And I can't be so generous as to offer to give away all the wolfsbane potions for free. I don't have that much money, nor am I that selfless."

"More importantly, even if I agree to sell the wolfsbane potion for free, no store would be willing to sell it. In that case, for every bottle sold, the store would lose money on storage and operating costs. No one would do such a stupid thing, Professor."

As a potion master, Snape had long forgotten the hardships of making money, and there were always pharmacies chasing him to stuff gold galleons into his pocket.

But that didn't mean he couldn't understand. So when Vaughn said it, he understood. Suppressing the feeling of seeing Voldemort in his heart, Snape was silent for a moment, looked at Vaughn and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Vaughan put his hands in his pockets and paced while saying:
"This kind of thing can't be solved privately. With the current number of werewolves in the magical world, even if you were included, we wouldn't be able to brew that much wolfsbane potion even if we worked ourselves to death. So I plan to make the recipe public, but there are still a lot of problems."

"First, once the formula is made public, how many pharmacists will be willing to take on the task of brewing the potion? Who will recruit them? Or can we expect them to help for free? Secondly, the huge demand for raw materials will inevitably lead to price increases and increased costs. Who will be responsible for regulating this?"

Pausing, Vaughan said calmly, "So, to solve these problems, the entire wizarding community must shoulder the responsibility together. In other words, the Ministry of Magic must be involved... and this is exactly what I'm most worried about."

"Are you afraid the Ministry won't agree?"

"No, I'm afraid they're too willing..." Vaughan shook his head. "This is a political issue, Professor. Who are the werewolves threatening? The wizards and the Statute of Secrecy, both of which are the cornerstones of the Ministry's existence. If the werewolf threat can be resolved, the Ministry of Magic will absolutely be willing to cover the cost of all the wolfsbane potions. Things that can be solved with money are, in their opinion, the easiest things."

"But then what? What do you think the Ministry of Magic will do? Spend a fortune on Galleons and send bottles of potion to werewolves every month?"

"They won't do that! If a fool like Greyback could think of forming a legion out of werewolves, wouldn't the Ministry of Magic think of that?"

"No, they will come up with more tricks. If I were Fudge, I would hold the wolfsbane potion firmly in my hand and use it as bait to lure those werewolves who long to return to normal life. I would ask them to abide by the Werewolf Registration Act, require them to take an oath, and then grant them citizenship. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"But on the other hand, I will continue to incite ordinary wizards to reject werewolves. After all, the wolfsbane potion only keeps them sane, not cures them. They still have the ability to infect others."

"When the class division is completely complete, when all werewolves register and take the oath, and can no longer return to their previous life of hiding and wandering, they will only be able to snuggle up to Fudge, who holds the wolfsbane potion, or someone in the Ministry of Magic, and become the politicians' knives and vote banks!"

After hearing these words, sweat broke out on Snape's forehead.

Having spent half his life in school, he never imagined that a small bottle of potion would lead to such a terrible situation as Vaughn described.

Although he didn't understand politics, Snape knew that the Ministry of Magic, represented by Fudge, was definitely capable of doing such a thing.

He even thought about it a little deeper.

Who holds the power in the Ministry of Magic? Without a doubt, the pure-blood families!

If a pure-blood family were to control a werewolf, it is almost imaginable what they would do given their personalities and discrimination against Muggle wizards.

The power of a pure-blood family is not something Greyback can match!
Although Snape is a supporter of pure-bloodism, he is not a madman. He knows that if the situation develops like that, if Voldemort is resurrected... the disaster in the wizarding world will probably be more serious than the last wizard war!

At least last time, a large number of wandering werewolves and their offspring were neutral!

That’s right, the offspring of werewolves whose parents are both werewolves are born werewolves. There are several tribes in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts.

They signed a contract with Hogwarts to protect the school, and the school allowed them to live in the Forbidden Forest under the supervision of centaurs, but in recent years they have increasingly hated this life of house arrest.

There are many such tribes in the magical world.

At this moment, a cold wind blew, and Snape, who was immersed in a faint fear, suddenly woke up. He found that his back was covered with cold sweat.

He murmured, "We can't let the Ministry of Magic take the initiative..."

"That's right." Vaughn nodded. "We can't just passively wait for the Ministry of Magic to make a decision on this matter. It would be too late then. I asked them to find other werewolves so that this group could take the initiative."

Vaughan didn't say how to take the initiative, and Snape didn't ask.

The current news has already confused him enough. He suddenly missed Dumbledore. That cunning old man was only suitable for thinking about such dark and strange things.

On the way back, Vaughan looked up at the gloomy sky.

Although the dark clouds are still there, the sun will shine through one day.

In fact, what Snape didn't notice was that Vaughan mentioned the possible threat posed by the Ministry of Magic, but did not mention that he was the developer of the wolfsbane potion.

He is the one who is naturally closer to werewolves...

……

The next day, Snape and Vaughan returned to Hogwarts. The beloved Potions Professor was still thinking about yesterday's problem and continued to suffer from insomnia that night. It was as if he could see a swarm of werewolves that would completely drown him if he closed his eyes.

I didn't fall into a vague sleep until the early morning.

Unfortunately, after only a few hours of sleep, he was awakened by the sound of an owl knocking frantically on the window. Only then did he suddenly realize that Christmas had come!
After opening the window, the owls, which had been frozen for several hours and were already furious, dropped their Christmas presents and sat on his head, pecking at his skull desperately.

Snape impatiently drove them away, tidied his hair, and then checked the names left on the gift boxes one by one.

Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Malfoy...

Turning to the last large box, he saw Vaughn's beautiful cursive handwriting:
[To my beloved Severus Snape, I hope you like it]

Your student, Vaughn Weasley

Snape curled the corners of his mouth and suddenly felt a little expectant, but when he opened the gift box and saw dozens of neatly arranged bottles of shampoo inside, his improved mood immediately disappeared!
"Vaughn—Weasley!"

On the other side, the Sterling Lounge.

Vaughn, who hadn't even closed the door before going to bed, found himself overwhelmed with gifts as soon as he opened his eyes.

He sat sleepily in the sea of ​​gifts, consumed by the annoyances of his increasing fame.

It is foreseeable that this situation will become more and more serious in the future.

All kinds of boxes tied with ribbons were spread from the bed to the floor, but that was not all. While Vaughn was running hot water to wash up, a few more owls flew in.

They looked very tired, as if they had flown a long distance. When they landed on the table, they grabbed the snacks that Vaughn had specially prepared last night and ate them.

Vaughan helped comb their feathers and fed them some water, and finally the poor guys recovered.

After nine o'clock in the morning, no more owls flew over. Vaughn looked at the hundreds of boxes in front of him and felt a little worried.

He called Guo Guocha: "Big darling, go get Ron."

Guoguocha ran out the door excitedly.

After not seeing it for a long time, it especially missed its toy, the strange fat mouse.

The cute big cat ran out of the Slytherin common room. The Slytherins who saw it on the way would make way for it and even leave the door open for it so that it would not be unable to come back without the password.

As a pet, it can be said that it has reached the peak of its life by relying on its owner's power.

After walking through the hall and arriving at Gryffindor Tower, Guoguocha did not take the route that the little lions usually took.

It was a shortcut that Mrs. Norris had told it about, a shortcut that was exclusive to cats - the outer wall!
Harry and Ron had just gotten up.

"Merry Christmas, Harry."

"You are happy too, Ron. Come on, get up. There is a gift under your bed."

Harry heard Ron say with little interest, "I know what it is without even looking. Who else would give me something?"

"Maybe Vaughn's?"

"He already gave it to me, didn't you forget? My wand."

Despite saying this, Ron still jumped out of bed. After a moment, he sighed in disappointment.

"Sure enough, just like every year, the sweater Mom knitted is still a horrible dark purple. Merlin! This is Charlie's—oh, is this dragon scales? Fred and George... Never mind, let's not open it. Those two bastards definitely have bad intentions. I won't be fooled again!"

Amid Ron's grumbling, Harry also began to open his own pile of presents, which was much smaller than Ron's.

To Harry's shock, the Dursleys hadn't forgotten him.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia gave him a neat 50p piece.

Harry was so "touched" that he didn't even want to look at it.

So when Ron's eyes lit up in amazement at this Muggle currency, Harry gave it to him directly.

Soon, Harry discovered the Weasley family's gift.

Ron gave a brand new set of "Chudley's Cannons" full-member set of cards.

Harry liked the orange-red cards, which showed players galloping into the wind.

The book Vaughan gave was "A Guide to the 100 Most Evil Quidditch Players - How to Make the Enemy Players Lose Their Lives".

Harry: "..."

He smiled happily again at the next gift: "Hey, Ron, Mrs. Weasley gave me a sweater too."

It was a bright green sweater, with the same rough stitching, and it caught the light that filtered in from the window, making Harry's face look as if it were poisoned.

Ron suddenly felt a sense of balance. Then, in the next gift, they found the Invisibility Cloak. Harry didn't know who sent it, only that the unsigned note in the gift box indicated that the Invisibility Cloak had once belonged to his father, James Potter.

Ron was very envious, but Harry was a little suspicious. After what happened with the man in black robes, he was not sure whether this thing was a relic left by his father, or perhaps it was a dark magic item?

Just as he was hesitating, Scabbers, who was sleeping soundly in a cage on Ron's desk, suddenly screamed.

The two turned around and saw a giant cat outside the window, with its paws on the glass, staring at Banban with a sharp gaze.

Ron gasped, quickly picked up Scabbers and the cage and yelled at Harry, "Quick, get rid of it, get rid of that damned stinky cat!"

"Uh...it seems like it's coming for us."

Harry saw that Gogocha only stared at Scabbers twice and then meowed at him, so he tentatively opened the window.

Sure enough, Guo Guocha jumped in and called out to them twice, then walked to the door and looked back and forth between Harry and Ron.

Harry scratched his head and said, "Let's go and see. Maybe Vaughn is looking for us?"

Ron was still staring at Guo Guocha warily.

Only after confirming that the big cat had no intention of attacking did they hang Banban's cage back.

"Sooner or later, Scabbers and I will be frightened to death by it and its horrible owner."

Ron angrily followed Guo Guocha.

Before leaving, Harry hesitated for a moment, but still took the box containing the invisibility cloak and prepared to ask Vaughn to help him take a look.

Ron had been mumbling and complaining all the way. When he arrived at Slytherin and walked into Vaughn's dormitory, he saw the gift boxes all over the floor and immediately understood his brother's purpose.

"I knew it, you're not looking for me for good..."

"Ah—Harry, thank you for coming to help as well."

Vaughn, who was waving his wand and sorting the gifts, ignored Ron's gloomy expression and smiled happily.

Look at that sunny smiling face and hundreds of gift boxes packed together.

Harry suddenly wondered why he came here.
"Come on, Ronald, don't look so sad. See these boxes tied with purple ribbons? They're all from my clients. Help me open them and sort the letters inside. Don't mess them up. I still have to reply to them later."

"Harry, I've found you an easy job. These should all be gifts from schoolmates. If any are signed, write them down on this parchment. I'll give them in return. If not, forget it."

Under Vaughn's strong command, the two men lowered their heads in resignation.

Perhaps it was fate, but the first box Harry opened was from Malfoy, which made him feel a little sick. He looked at the note inside the gift and laughed again: "To my beloved Mr. Vaughan Weasley... Haha, this is the first time I've seen this abominable guy speak so well."

In contrast, Ron felt a bit physically uncomfortable. He looked at the notes in his hand that had "Vaughn Sweetheart", "Angel of My Youth", "My Gentle Honey Bee" written on them, and his eyes were dull and he groaned:
"Harry, do you know who Vaughan's clients are? Old witches who have to use potions to smooth out wrinkles and transfer fat to their thighs... Ugh—"

Harry took a quick glance and quickly turned his head.

On the other hand, Vaughn was not idle either. He personally handled the gifts for some relatively important people.

For example, Dumbledore gave a pair of wool socks and said, "Dear friend, I am still in Romania. I am very happy to meet Arthur and Molly. We had a pleasant chat and shared the different sides of you in our eyes. I heard about your development of a new potion. I will rush back to Hogwarts to attend the dinner tonight. Let's talk then!"

"Also, remember the wish I told you about? I really hope it can come true this year."

Vaughan sneered. "Shame on you! You want wool socks? Dream on!"

He gave Lao Deng a cashmere nightgown in a soft pink color, very girlish.

What Hagrid gave was a woven filter cloth (used to filter the residue when brewing potions). The workmanship was a bit rough, but the material was not simple. It was the unicorn tail hair he had collected before.

Sensing the faint magical power flowing obscurely on the filter cloth, Vaughn could only sigh at the wealth of this key manager.

The gifts from his family were the same as before, nothing much to say, except that Ron, who had borrowed money from him before and had more money, gave him a Chudley Artillery doll ornament.

Hermione's was a collection of Robert Southey's poems. Before the holidays, she often saw Vaughan flipping through the Ravenclaw poetry collection and probably thought he liked this romantic style.

Professor McGonagall gave a Transfiguration notebook, which was her lesson preparation experience when she was an assistant to Dumbledore. It contained a lot of her own insights into Transfiguration and Dumbledore's guidance.

Vaughan liked it very much, and immediately found a cover to wrap it up and put it in the secret compartment of the bedside bookshelf.

Professor Flitwick also gave a gift, also a book called "A Brief History of Ancient Magic".

Vaughn flipped through it with interest. It was not a magic book, but a popular science work that introduced the history of ancient magic and the basic knowledge. Ancient magic was completely different from the modern spell system. The conditions for use were relatively harsh, and it required the preparation of spell materials and rituals. It was far less convenient and quick than modern spells. Correspondingly, ancient magic was usually known for its great power.

"When I have time later, I can try to study it."

After putting the book on the bookshelf, Vaughan soon saw Snape's gift. It was a box with very simple packaging. Perhaps it was used by the professor to store materials at some point. It exuded a strange aroma of potion.

But the gift inside is not simple.

The moment Vaughn took it out, he heard Ron take a deep breath.

Harry, who heard the noise, looked at the small glass bottle that Vaughan was holding, which was only the size of his thumb. The bottle contained a golden liquid that looked like molten gold.

Harry was a little confused and asked quietly, "What is this?"

"Lucifer..." Ron moaned in a dreamy voice, "It's the most magical potion. After drinking one bottle, no one will be luckier than you for the next 24 hours. It's like your wish comes true!"

Harry's eyes widened in shock, and his little brain instantly conjured up many scenarios of himself drinking the Felicis Felix potion and having his wishes come true and his troubles and worries solved.

Even though he was a poor student, he immediately understood the power and value of this potion!

Damn it!
Did Snape give all his evil to me and all his kindness to Vaughan?
Vaughan was also very surprised. He didn't expect that the professor would give him such a valuable gift.

In fact, Vaughan knew the formula of the Felixir, which was recorded in "Powerful Potion", but he never thought of brewing it.

The conditions are too harsh. One of the main ingredients, the flower of immortality (amaranth, some people translate it as amaranth, but I personally think it is inappropriate. The other meaning of immortality and unfading is more in line with magic) is difficult to obtain. A pot of elixir requires a full 23 petals.

Another main ingredient, the blood voluntarily donated by three-month-old unicorn cubs, is even more daunting.

Not to mention that the entire process of boiling the medicine lasts for 6 months!

Basically, they had to be cautious and nervous for the first half of the year, but Vaughn didn't have that much time to waste.

I didn't expect to receive a bottle today...

"Tsk, if you suddenly give me something so expensive, then wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to give you shampoo?"

Vaughan's remaining conscience twitched for a moment, but he quickly put it behind him and happily put the bottle of Felixir back into the box and put it in the secret compartment.

After opening the gifts from several important partners (material suppliers and pharmacy owners), Vaughn saw a letter.

It was sent by a pharmacist. They were pen pals. When Vaughn was besieged by many conservatives of "Extraordinary Pharmacy", she was the first person to support Vaughn's theory.

"Dear Vaughan Weasley, I am very happy to receive the news that you have been admitted to Hogwarts during my busy journey. Please forgive me for not replying to you until now."

"I arrived in North America. The situation here is quite serious. The Magical Congress is very wary of any incoming wizards. They took my owl away, and Aurors follow me every day, as if they are worried that I will pull out my wand and use magic in front of the No-Majs."

Seeing this, Vaughn frowned.

He only knew that the Magical Congress of North America was the organization that enforced the International Statute of Secrecy most strictly.

There, the wizarding world was completely separated from the No-Maj society.

The story behind this is very complicated. It is said that the North American No-Maj government has been trying to crack the power of wizards. Since the 20s, they have been trying to capture wizards for research.

This caused everyone in the North American wizarding community to feel insecure. After all, not all wizards knew powerful magic, not to mention that there were so many young wizards.

Under pressure and international public opinion, the Magical Congress decided to completely hide the magical world. Up to now, it has introduced a number of policies, requiring wizards not to marry No-Majs, wizards of No-Majs origin not to disclose any information about the magical world to their families, and No-Majs whose secrets are leaked must have their memories cleared.

Vaughan continued reading:
"...The enforcement of the Statute of Secrecy is extremely inhumane. I once met a poor student from Ilvermorny (a North American magic school) who had to use magic in secret to save his sick parents. When the Magical Congress discovered this, the Aurors erased all of his parents' memories of him, and he suddenly became homeless."

"MACUS has taken a tougher stance on intermarriage between wizards and No-Majs, and on Halloween, a witch attacked the Woolworth Building (MACUS headquarters)."

"I heard that she married a No-Maj six years ago and gave birth to three sons. However, they were discovered by the Magical Congress this summer. The memories of her husband and sons were erased. Some people also said that the Aurors eliminated them. But in short, this woman who lost her family has gone completely crazy..."

The following long letters were all about her experiences in North America, which gave Vaughan a clearer understanding of the magical world in that distant place.

Although these perceptions are not very friendly, Vaughn can almost imagine that North America is probably a powder keg now.

She included a thunderbird feather as a Christmas gift, a rare and amazing animal that only has one habitat left in Arizona.

After reading the letter, Vaughan took out the parchment and began to reply:
"Dear Isabella Rosier, I'm glad to hear from you. I've read what you've seen and heard, and I have to say that the situation may be worse than you imagine..."

"If possible, it would be better to return to England or France. Also, I have good news for you. I have developed a potion called Wolfsbane Potion, which will be released soon. I really hope to share the joy with you."

(End of this chapter)