Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 73 Vaughn's Speech

At this moment, the more than one hundred people sitting in the hall fell silent the moment Vaughn opened his mouth.

They looked, stared, and examined the child.

Vaughan ignored those gazes. His eyes passed over the stiff smile on Fudge's face, passed over the crowd, and looked at the snow-covered streets outside the luxurious floor-to-ceiling windows of the hall.

He is telling a story, a true story.

"Many people are curious about why I developed the wolfsbane potion. I haven't responded because I don't know how to explain it to others. Don't get me wrong, I'm just worried that you won't understand!"

The podium amplified his voice and carried it to everyone's ears.

At the door of the hall, Dumbledore, who had disappeared for a long time, was standing there at some point. He held the elder wand, with the tip of the wand casually resting on the glass, and imperceptible ripples spread out in circles.

The glass and the hall that was the alchemical wonder itself quietly opened a hole, transmitting the sound waves to the outside.

"When I was about six years old, I saw a document my father brought home one day. It was a document from the Department for Control of Magical Creatures requesting an interdepartmental transfer of personnel. They needed some new staff to join the work of two subordinate departments, the Office of Beasts and the Office of Abnormalities..."

Having said that, Vaughan paused. He saw that some people in the crowd were still confused. Some officials from the Ministry of Magic realized what Vaughan was about to say, but looked puzzled, as if they didn't understand why he mentioned this.

Vaughn lowered his eyes. "They need new personnel to be transferred to the Werewolf Registry, Werewolf Capture Planning Team, and the Werewolf Support Services Section of the Beast Office!"

"Everyone here probably can't understand the shock a child felt at that time - why would the werewolf issue be placed in the Beast Office? I always thought that the office was responsible for fire dragons, ghouls, and vixen..."

On the street outside, Aurors came out from all corners after hearing the noise coming from the auditorium.

In order to make everything go smoothly today, Fudge dispatched dozens of Aurors to Diagon Alley despite Rufus Scrimgeour's protests.

Of course, for the sake of the mental health of the guests, especially those from pure-blood families, Mr. Fudge did not allow Aurors to appear in front of everyone and be an eyesore.

Delridge, who passed the Auror exam last year, was still a rookie. He listened silently to the childish voices of children in the auditorium and asked the captain beside him, the senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt:

"Captain, is this true?"

"Um……"

Kingsley nodded silently.

Delridge stammered, "I always thought werewolves were managed by a special department. How can they... be placed in the Beast Office?"

Kingsley did not answer. This was a question many young people who joined the Ministry of Magic had asked, but when they grew older, they had all forgotten it.

No one knows how this discrimination was formed or how it spread imperceptibly. After staying in the Ministry of Magic for a long time, I always feel that from the very beginning, wizards have never regarded werewolves as human beings!

The Aurors around had strange expressions, some looked disdainful, some were in deep thought, and some were uneasy.

Suddenly, there was a commotion coming from the starting point of Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron. The Auror named Shawick, who was closest to it, looked over with a frown.

He saw more than a dozen ragged people walking towards him, somewhat timidly, through the iconic narrow archway at the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Hey, who are you? Diagon Alley is closed today, and all shops are temporarily closed. If you need anything, please come back this afternoon!"

"Did you hear that? Stop!"

Those people turned a deaf ear to his warnings, and they heard a voice from the auditorium:
"...I thought everyone would have a fair attitude towards werewolves, recognizing that they are victims of lycanthropy, but I haven't seen such a person in these years..."

Vaughn's voice echoed over Diagon Alley, and Shawick discovered that these dozen homeless-looking guys suddenly shed tears when they heard the voice.

Shawick didn't want to think about what they were doing. He drew his wand and said, "Faint—"

Before the spell was finished, a homeless man with a hideous scar on his face, who was walking in front, raised his wand and emitted a red light, which knocked Shawick away.

"Enemy attack——"

"Damn it, they're werewolves!"

All the Aurors noticed the commotion here because of the disarming spell. Some raised their wands to fight back, while others ran towards the auditorium.

At this moment, Kingsley Shacklebolt shouted, "Stop, what are you doing?"

"team leader……"

Some people tried to resist the order, but Kingsley ignored them, staring at the archway at the entrance to Diagon Alley in shock.

Others also looked over, and then their scalps went numb—

One, ten, a hundred...

More and more people, looking as destitute and haggard as homeless people, came over from that side.

In a flash, there was a huge crowd of people over there.

Roughly speaking, there were several hundred people, with the dozen or so wizards who appeared at the beginning as the spearhead, walking towards this side.

As far as the eye can see, there are huge crowds of heads!

They're all...werewolves!
Delrich swallowed in fear. He had never seen so many werewolves gathered together. Although theoretically, werewolves that had not transformed did not pose much threat, many werewolves were unable to transform on their own.

But what is frustrating is that the magic world has not solved the problem of werewolves losing their sanity in the past. Instead, they have invented a potion that can force werewolves to transform...

He looked at Kingsley with trembling eyes and found that his captain did not seem too scared.

Delridge looked carefully and found that the werewolves did not make any threatening moves. They just looked excited and stared at the auditorium behind the Aurors with eyes mixed with complex emotions.

They... are listening to the child inside!
Delrich suddenly came to his senses.

"Everyone get out of the way!" Kingsley ordered.

This time no one resisted. The dense crowds of werewolves in front of them made them feel helpless. They subconsciously followed Kingsley's words and moved to the sides of the street.

The down-and-out werewolf wizard in the lead nodded to Kingsley to express his gratitude, and then continued walking towards the auditorium.

Everyone was very quiet. What shocked Delrich was that he saw many children in the crowd. They were holding their parents' hands and walking in the snow with the adults. The flying snow seemed to be captured by the strong emotions in their eyes and chose to go around them.

The commotion in the streets outside was also noticed in the auditorium.

Many people stood up in surprise and watched those ragged men gradually approaching. Under the podium, Umbridge hugged Fudge's arm tightly, while Fudge's face was ashen and pale.

The Wizengamot members on the second floor were whispering to each other.

On the podium, Vaughan took in everyone's expressions; he saw their surprise, panic, and inquiry.

The werewolves finally stopped outside the auditorium, looking here with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.

Like everyone else, Vaughn looked at the crowd standing in the snow, at the old people and children in the crowd. He raised his wand and pointed at them.

Magic made his voice carry to the sky:
"Ladies and gentlemen, please tell me, are these standing before you beasts or men?"

The crowd in the auditorium showed different reactions to Vaughn's question.

Some purebloods had blank expressions on their faces, as if the werewolves outside the door were nothing but grass, and nothing could shake their resolve and persistence.

Other purebloods are more complicated. They whisper to each other and point fingers at others outside. The pureblood families these people come from have relatively open-minded ideas.

As for the reporters from England and other countries, they were now frantically pointing their cameras at the werewolves and taking pictures. The originally ordinary awarding ceremony suddenly turned into what it is now. This is obviously big news.

No one answered Vaughn's question.

The first type of pure-bloods have always been arrogant. Don't expect to find some people to play misery in front of them and use a soul-searching question to make them feel sympathetic. Those people's brains have long been destroyed and rigidified by the concepts of "pure-blood supremacy" and "family supremacy", and Vaughn has never regarded them as targets.

Only the second type of pure blood and those reporters were his focus.

If he hadn't fooled Fudge and borrowed the names of Fudge and the Ministry of Magic, he really wouldn't have been able to find these people!

Amidst the continuous sound of shutter clicks, Vaughan answered his own question:
"In my opinion, their lives are worse than those of wild animals. Does anyone know why they are so destitute?"

The second type of purebloods, the reporters, and even the Wizengamot members on the second floor all looked at each other in bewilderment.

However, someone among the expressionless first-class pure-bloods suddenly sneered, "I don't want to care about how some stupid fellows got themselves into poverty by being lazy and eating too much, right, Weasley?"

Vaughn looked over and saw a guy whose appearance he felt was not worthy of being remembered.

But I remembered the last name because Fudge had introduced it before.

Selwyn, one of the 28 sacred tribes, is a well-known radical among the purebloods.

Selwyn seemed to think he was very humorous. He burst into laughter after he finished speaking. Several people next to him also laughed out loud. Then they saw Vaughn on the podium raised his wand with an indifferent expression and pointed it at them!

Selwyn was furious: "Why, you want to curse me, Weasley? Then I will teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents and eliminate your weapons——"

Red light spurted out from the tip of his staff.

Vaughn casually swept his hand in front of him, and a powerful armor with clear outlines appeared.

Everyone was surprised to see that the red light hit it but did not cause a ripple. It was only then that Vaughn, who was waiting for the other party to make the first move, slowly recited the spell.

A more dazzling and powerful disarming spell shattered Selwyn's hastily summoned armor spell, sending him flying. The wand spun and landed in Vaughn's hand!

Things happened very quickly, and it was not until Selwyn fell to the ground that the others around him reacted. A middle-aged man hurriedly drew his wand and rushed to the podium to block Vaughn. The reporters quickly changed their targets and surrounded Vaughn and the fallen Selwyn and took a lot of photos.

The middle-aged man's name is Oliver Prewett. Just by looking at his last name, you can tell why he stood up to defend Vaughn - Prewett is Molly's maternal family.

Vaughan thanked him: "Thank you, uncle, but please let me handle this myself."

After saying that, he threw away the wand in his hand, walked down the podium, and came to Selwyn and his friends, who were lying on the ground after being hit by a disarming curse and unable to get up, looking strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Looking down at them: "There are always some ignorant fools who like to make inappropriate jokes in inappropriate occasions!"

Seeing the coldness in his eyes, they were angry and also felt a little scared.

People around were also whispering.

"What a powerful armor spell! Selwyn is like tickling him."

"It's still a silent spell..."

"Damn it, don't you feel his magic?"

Purebloods believe in strength. Perhaps Vaughn should thank Mr. Selwyn. He successfully used himself as a negative example to remind the purebloods that Vaughn, who was still a child, was far more powerful than they imagined!
At this time, they finally became more serious and listened attentively to this unique "awarding speech".

Vaughn looked around at the people around him. "Just now, Mr. Selwyn seemed to think that the werewolves' predicament was due to their laziness and clumsiness..."

Such condescending words seem to be common in every world.

You are poor because you are lazy, you are poor because you are stupid.

Of course, that's not because they really believe that intelligence and hard work can solve all difficulties. That's just an excuse to maintain a noble image - I am noble because I am smart and hardworking. I am smart and hardworking, so my nobility is reasonable!
He sneered inwardly, turned around and asked loudly outside: "Little Banar, tell me, are you lazy and stupid?"

A young man stepped out from the group of werewolves and shouted back, "Of course not, sir."

"What's that for?"

Little Banar looked at the magnificent auditorium and his own ragged clothes, tears streaming down his face. "It's because we exiled ourselves to the wilderness..."

"Why did you exile yourself?"

"Because we're afraid of hurting others... We're afraid of waking up after every full moon and seeing innocent lives destroyed by our hands!"

Little Banar's voice choked. He cried because of the pain of survival, and also because their kindness was unknown and had even been trampled upon!

The grievance and resentment made his tears flow uncontrollably.

The werewolves behind him also began to sob.

Behind a door, the well-dressed people in the auditorium looked at each other in silence. They silently looked at the werewolves standing in the wind and snow, and watched Vaughn turn around and look at them one by one.

The atmosphere is heavy and depressing.

Although some people still have rigid minds, more people have actually begun to change their attitudes.

Werewolf stories are extremely popular in the wizarding world, but in reality, they rarely see real werewolves. They hear more about Greyback and his werewolf army who do evil everywhere. As for another self-exiled and self-wandering group, at least most people did not know about it before today.

Vaughan looked at the silent people in front of him. He did not expect that a demonstration or a speech could change people's deeply rooted ideas.

That's not what he's after.

For him, as long as he can change the attitudes of some people today and spread what happened today, it is enough.

The spread of the news was for the sake of social opinion among the werewolves, as well as for himself.

The change in attitude of some people present is related to what he wants to do!

Amid the sobbing of the werewolves outside, he walked back to the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen, I've invented the wolfsbane potion, which curbs the werewolf virus. Theoretically, we can begin to address the werewolf problem. But, unfortunately, there's another poison in the human heart that's far more terrifying than lycanthropy—it's called prejudice!"

"The Ministry of Magic has thrown werewolf affairs to the Beast Office, but everyone, they are not beasts. They have intelligence, emotions, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. I can even say that they are all noble people!"

"The Ministry of Magic is undoubtedly biased in its treatment of werewolves. I have been wondering for many days and nights: guided by this prejudice, can the wolfsbane potion really solve the problem?"

"I don't know the answer, I can only take the first step. I mailed the formula to the Society of Extraordinary Apothecaries and the Ministry of Magic, and to the respected Minister Cornelius Fudge. I want to know what they think about this matter."

As he spoke, Vaughan looked towards the second floor. Dumbledore, dressed in a purple robe, had sat down there at some point and gestured to Vaughan when he saw him.

He stood up and pointed his wand downwards in front of everyone's surprised gaze.

Wisps of smoke gushed out from the tip of the staff. It was as thick as paint falling into water, falling and spreading along the ground. Soon, it condensed into two simple human outlines.

The moment people saw the two human silhouettes, they recognized them: the short one was Vaughn Weasley, and the short and fat one... was Cornelius Fudge!
Fudge's face turned pale.

He seemed to want to rush forward and say something, but was held back by the cold gazes of Vaughan and Dumbledore.

Soon, this memory magic replayed the conversation between Fudge and Vaughan at the Three Broomsticks.

The overall effect is far inferior to the Pensieve, but in this case, it is sufficient.

"...Child, I need you to agree to a small condition. Use your identity as the inventor of the wolfsbane potion to call on werewolves to abide by the 'Werewolf Registration Act'..."

Upon hearing about the Werewolf Registration Act, the Wizengamot members on the second floor whispered to each other, while the people on the first floor were a little confused.

Vaughan saluted Dumbledore, thanking him for his help, and then waved his hand to disperse the smoke. "It seems some of you are not clear about the 'Werewolf Registration Act'. It is a bill that was enacted around the 17th century. In my opinion, it should be called 'A Method for the Control of Dangerous Beasts'."

"As a magic law, the designer gave it a kind of oath-binding magic when it was first designed. As long as the werewolf follows the requirements of the registration law and leaves detailed personal information, hair, and blood, it will automatically be deemed to have agreed to the oath."

"Those who sign the oath cannot violate any of the provisions of the law, such as where they can live, what time of day they can engage in activities, and what measures must be taken during the full moon..."

Vaughn spread his hands and said, "This so-called bill is not about registration at all, but about putting a pair of chains on the beasts they see!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, I invented the wolfsbane potion in the hope of bringing some help to those kind people out there, not to push them into the fire pit... Over the past few centuries, the Werewolf Registration Act has proven ineffective. No one would voluntarily lock freedom, life and death into a single law."

"Or, if werewolves are willing to lock their freedom, life and death into a law, then what will they become?"

The answer is obvious.

Those kind werewolves out there will turn into beasts, beasts belonging to the Law Admins!

Putting aside other aspects of the people present, they were still very sensitive politically. Not to mention the first-class pure-bloods on the first floor who came for this purpose, the Wizengamot on the second floor were already angry.

One of the thin old ladies with a bad temper took off her shoes and threw them at Fudge's head: "You damn short and fat man, what do you want to do?"

"Mrs. Marchbank, please calm down."

"Let me go, Albus, and let me beat this bastard to death. If I had known he would be so greedy, I shouldn't have let him graduate when I was invigilating him!"

Dumbledore, who was over a hundred years old, carefully dragged the old lady Marchbanks, who was even older than him. Amelia Burns also stood up and stopped the old man and woman who stood up tremblingly and cursed at Fudge.

Fudge covered his head in embarrassment, while the loyal Ms. Umbridge beside him showed her professionalism as a lackey, using her fat body to block the Minister.

This also made her the main target of attack from upstairs. Soon, she was covered with shoes and wigs. Her fluffy little curly hair was also stuck with a pair of dentures thrown down by someone.

The reporters were very excited and kept clicking their shutters to record this amazing scene.

They have already thought of the title -

The Wizengamot beats up the Minister of Magic!

A group of centenarian wizards beat up a 50-year-old guy!
The chaotic scene lasted for a while before it returned to calm thanks to the efforts of Dumbledore and Amelia Burns.

After coaxing a group of old wizards who had half a leg in their coffins back to their seats, Amelia stood up and said in a loud voice: "Mr. Vaughn Weasley, your speech today is very... special..."

She glanced back at the werewolves still waiting quietly in the cold wind on the street outside the window and said, "Thank you for bringing the Wizengamot's attention to the fact that not all werewolves are Greyback. So, what is your intention?"

Vaughn looked up at her and replied calmly, "As I just stated, I hope to provide these wandering werewolves with some help, some help that will not be subject to prejudice and discrimination, and will not be shackled around their necks. Therefore, I implore you and Mr. Dumbledore to convene a full meeting of the Wizengamot to discuss the establishment of a Werewolf Affairs Committee!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a lot of discussion in the hall again.

With the previous preparation, everyone already understands the nature of the so-called "Werewolf Affairs Committee" he mentioned.

Vaughn ignored their discussion and continued, "The werewolf issue is a problem for the entire wizarding world and should be shouldered by the entire wizarding world. However, given the Ministry of Magic's backward system and the enormous risks involved, it is clearly unable to assume such a responsibility. Therefore, I propose that the Werewolf Affairs Committee be independent of the Ministry of Magic and that the Wizengamot take back all powers over the management and disposal of werewolves from the Ministry of Magic."

Even Fudge, who was pretending to be dead, couldn't help it now. He struggled to his feet and roared, "Vaughn Weasley, you... you are dividing the Ministry of Magic!"

If looks could hurt, Vaughn would have been ripped to pieces long ago.

Fudge could never have imagined that one day he would fall into the hands of a child.

However, Fudge's roar did not attract Vaughn's attention. He continued in a steady tone, "Taking into account the widespread discrimination in the wizarding world, half of the seats on the Werewolf Affairs Committee must be werewolves. I propose that the remaining half be jointly sent by the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards..."

International Confederation of Wizards!
Everyone, including Fudge, looked towards the second floor, towards Dumbledore.

In a trance, people seemed to see the greatest White Wizard in the world, who was rumored to dislike power, extending his claws...

(End of this chapter)