Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 85 I need dark wizards, the more the better

Crouch Jr. was very proud.

He crawled in the iron cage like a wild beast, dragging the chains and rattling. His eyes, pupils constantly dilating and contracting, stared at Vaughn intently, their pupils filled with excitement, greed, and cruelty:
"You should be thankful that you ran fast enough. Do you know what happened to the last wizard that old dog hired to modify my memory?"

"Hehe, I locked him in my memory and tortured him for a long time - a long time!"

"You idiots, you have no idea how powerful my master is. I can hear him whispering in my head every day. With the help of my great master, I'm no longer afraid of that bullshit memory magic!"

Vaughn's expression was flat: "Really?"

"If you don't believe me, you can try again...!" He smiled and licked his lips nervously.

Then he saw Vaughn smile, raise his hand and snap his fingers!
Snapped!
Little Crouch was crawling when his limbs suddenly stiffened.

He widened his eyes in astonishment, feeling a strange thing emerging from the depths of his heart.

If someone entered his spiritual world at this moment, they would find that the cloak made of mist that Vaughn had thrown to him and that he had contaminated suddenly disintegrated as Vaughn snapped his fingers.

It disintegrated into mist again, a cloud of black gravel fell out, and the mist that had returned to pure white regrouped to form the outline of a human figure.

The moment it took shape, a picture was pulled out from the void—

It was the small building that Vaughn had seen before. The human-shaped fog ball walked into it stiffly and rigidly, penetrated into that memory, broke open the door of the small building, and rushed into the darkness.

Not long after, outside, Barty Crouch Jr. looked at "himself" with bloodshot eyes as he stood up like a puppet.

He watched as Vaughn opened the iron cage, "walked" in front of him, and then lay still and quiet.

He wanted to scream, to roar, to curse and utter the most vicious curses.

But the reality is, he has no control over anything.

He could only watch as Vaughn casually looked him over, smiling as he said, "To be honest, I was really shocked when I saw your memory before. I thought you were also a hidden master of memory magic, but it turns out you're just a poor wretch who was tortured by Voldemort and only learned the basics."

"A wizard who truly possesses memory magic would never dare to use his true personality and most important memories to meet another wizard who possesses memory magic, let alone casually keep something thrown away by others..."

"Get down!" Vaughn suddenly ordered.

Even though his eyes were filled with anger and madness, Barty Crouch Jr. couldn't control himself and squatted down in a stiff posture.

"Raise your hands!"

He raised his hand.

Vaughn took his hand and shook it. He smiled at his malicious eyes and said, "You said before that you would let me use your memories, your darkness and twistedness. This is the first time I've heard such a request."

"Don't worry, I will use you well. After all, you are my first dark wizard experiment material. I am really interested in your memory and everything about you!"

……

When Crouch woke up, it was already dark. Through the tightly drawn curtains on the windows, the lights of the distant city could be vaguely seen.

He stared blankly at the hazy light and shadow, and his cheek against the pillow could feel the coolness brought by the tears soaking the cloth.

He was dreaming again, still that unrealistic dream.

He dreamed that time seemed to go back to the past, and his son called him dad with a smile, instead of... instead of swearing and cursing at him madly!
His heart ached, Crouch closed his eyes slightly and buried his face in the pillow.

Then he heard a faint noise downstairs.

It’s Shanshan.

She was saying something in her signature sharp voice, and it could be vaguely heard that she seemed very happy.

Crouch's memory before he fell asleep came back to him. He remembered that he was not asleep at all, but was knocked unconscious by Winky. She even said to him:
"Master, I'm sorry, but Mr. Weasley said it would help you get a good night's sleep!"

Crouch's face turned pale as he recalled the memory.

Damn Shanshan, who is her master?

He quickly stood up, casually put on a coat, and walked downstairs. As he left the floor barrier, he finally heard what Shanshan said.

She was talking to Vaughn: "...Mr. Weasley, you are the smartest, wisest, and greatest person Winky has ever met. Winky is just a humble elf and can't help you much, but I will do my best to serve you. If you like or need anything, just tell Winky!"

This traitorous fellow...

Crouch's cheek twitched. He walked down the stairs and immediately saw that his living room had been transformed into a potion processing room.

A laboratory table that seemed to have been transformed by transfiguration lay in the middle of the spacious living room, flashing out all the enchanted alchemical lamps in the house, illuminating the laboratory table extremely brightly.

A golden crucible gurgled with steam. Vaughn stood in front of it, having just dropped in the last ingredient.

Twinkle stood on tiptoe beside him, looking like a henchman. "Are you done, sir?"

"One, two, three... stir eight times. Yes, it's done. Once it cools down, you can bottle it. Winky, call an owl for me."

"Good sir!"

Winky answered loudly. Crouch had never seen her so active in all these years.

He frowned and glared at Winky who turned around, and Winky also saw him.

But contrary to Crouch's expectations, this abominable elf didn't have the slightest guilt of "betraying" her master. She actually smiled with surprise, her big eyes sparkling:

"Master, you're awake? That's great! Mr. Weasley's potion was brewed successfully, the master is awake, and the little master... wuwuwu——"

She cried with joy and couldn't speak.

Crouch frowned. "Winky, what are you playing at?"

"Woo woo woo... Master, look, look behind you, oh - this is a scene that really makes Twinkle Twinkle intoxicated. The poor elf has been looking forward to such a scene for a long time. She has remembered the instructions of her mistress before her death and has been trying hard to do it. She thought she would never be able to do it until the day she died -"

Listening to Twinkle's mournful sobbing, Crouch realized something.

His back stiffened for a moment and he turned slowly.

Behind me, the restaurant was lit with dim candlelight, and a familiar figure was leaning against the restaurant door.

Just like many years ago, the figure showed an innocent and bright smile.

Crouch's eyes were suddenly blurred by the mist and he could no longer see clearly. He only heard the man shouting:

"dad……"

There were cries of pain coming from the restaurant.

In the living room, Vaughn, who was waiting for the potion to cool down, shook his head slightly.

Of course, Barty Crouch Jr. couldn't get better so quickly.

He simply implanted a personality into little Barty's spiritual world.

The one who called out "Dad" was not Barty Crouch Jr., but a virtual personality.

But it is not correct to say that it is completely false.

Because according to his design, the personality armor is to be connected to the real personality and real memory.

Unfortunately, little Barty, who knew nothing about memory magic, had previously taken the initiative to reveal his true personality to Vaughn.

So, in a sense, the personality costume can also be seen as Barty Crouch Jr., although it is just a reproduction of himself from memory, a long time ago.

After waiting for a while, the crying in the restaurant gradually subsided.

Vaughn heard Crouch stumble out from behind him, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is this the personality suit you were talking about?"

It seems that Crouch is not indulging in a false reunion, he is very sober.

Vaughn, noticing the changing color of the potion, nodded slightly. "Yes, the one temporarily taking over his body and memory is a virtual personality I implanted."

“How much of it is real?”

"The memories and personality are taken from the real Barty Crouch Jr., of course, a long time ago, before he was exposed to the dark arts and brainwashed and corrupted!"

Crouch was silent for a moment, then asked again, "Is it different from the Imperius Curse?"

"Absolutely different. The Imperius Curse is a spell that allows the caster to suppress the soul, distorting and controlling a person. The operating principle of the personality armor is more like simulation and deduction... You can think of it as another personality that your son has split off."

Hearing this, Crouch's breathing became a little rapid:

"The effect of the dark magic on him..."

Vaughn shook his head. "Of course the influence is still there. Next, what I need to do is observe how long the personality suit can resist before it is contaminated by the dark magic."

Crouch was speechless.

"Don't be too impatient, Barty... Like I said before, this is a long-term project. I haven't started yet. I need to study, learn, and understand black magic to understand its fundamental mechanism of distorting people's hearts and souls."

Crouch calmed down and asked, "How do you need help?"

"The more dark wizards, the better." Vaughn smiled and changed the subject, tapping the cooling cauldron in front of him. "But right now, I need an owl more. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and I have to send a gift to my girlfriend!"

"..."

……

It's a new day, Valentine's Day is here.

This festival is completely irrelevant to the first-year wizards.

In the entire Hogwarts, they were the only ones who realized it last.

For example, Harry noticed while he was eating in the restaurant that each of the senior students looked like the peacocks he had seen in the Muggle zoo. Many of them untied their robes, revealing the handsome clothes underneath, and walked back and forth beside the long table.

The girls kept looking up at the ceiling, eagerly waiting.

"What's wrong with everyone?"

He asked after taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

Her roommates next to her shook their heads in bewilderment. Hermione, sitting opposite them with a thick book in her hands, slightly raised her head, revealing half of her tousled hair: "It's Valentine's Day!"

Ron clapped his hands vigorously. "No wonder Percy combed his hair so shiny this morning. I bet a fly would slip on it."

"Who's his girlfriend?" Seamus asked.

"Ravenclaw's head girl, Penelope Clearwater." Ron couldn't help but reveal, "Harry once saw them on a date in the Forbidden Forest."

Seamus, Dean, and Neville asked curiously for details, but Ron hesitated and couldn't explain clearly.

When they asked Harry, they found that he was in a trance and his mind was wandering.

His eyes stole towards the Ravenclaw table, where a beautiful Asian girl attracted all his attention.

Unfortunately, the girl never looked at him... unless Vaughn visited Gryffindor.

The guys didn't notice anything unusual about him, they just thought he hadn't recovered yet, which made Harry feel very depressed, but also a little happy.

A bunch of stupid elementary school students who don’t even know what love is, and yet he has already secretly held a girl’s hand!
Even though it was in a dream!

Soon, flocks of owls flew in, and packages fell like rain, landing in front of the girls one by one. The boys who were dressed up also heard the news and rushed to stand opposite the girls they liked. Some of them even punched each other in the fight for position.

The empty first graders in front of them were overwhelmed by the excitement.

Until, a package fell in front of Hermione.

The package was cast under a spell, and it was light and emitting pink bubbles from the inside out. It fit in perfectly with the festive atmosphere at first glance, making it difficult to mistake its meaning.

Harry and Ron opened their mouths wide, and the nearby lion cubs were also stunned.

Amidst everyone's stunned gazes, Hermione calmly took the package.

Only Harry and Ron, who knew her very well, could notice that her hands were actually trembling slightly, and she was not as calm as she appeared.

But before the two could question her, Hermione had already picked up the package, took a few pieces of bread, and hurried out of the restaurant.

"Merlin!" Seamus Finnigan finally reacted and shouted, "Someone actually sent Hermione Granger a Valentine's Day present?"

Dean also opened his mouth wide: "She is the only one in the first grade who received a gift. Harry, Ron, do you know who it is?"

Harry and Ron looked confused.

Seamus added fuel to the fire: "Aren't you good friends? She won't even let you look!"

Seamus's question stung the two little boys' hearts.

As they left the restaurant and prepared to go to class, Ron muttered, "Seamus's right. She received a gift and didn't even show it to us. That's too much... Harry, who do you think sent it?"

Harry analyzed, "It's definitely not a stranger. We are very familiar with Hermione. She was very excited when she got the package, but she didn't show any surprise. So, she knew someone would give her a gift!"

As they were talking, the twins ran past them from behind.

"Silly Ronnie, and silly Harry, who else is close to Hermione?"

"That's right George, of course it's none other than our most charming brother, Vaughn Weasley!"

The twins ran away laughing.

Ron and Harry stared at each other in bewilderment. They were stunned for a moment before Ron suddenly shouted angrily, "Vaughn gave her a gift but not me. Harry, do you think he's a bad brother?"

"?"

Harry was stunned. He subconsciously turned away from Ron and stammered, "I think your idea is even more problematic!"

The real Hermione has always been a very monotonous person. If there were no external interference, her day would seem very boring to outsiders - after breakfast every day, while waiting for class, she would preview the content of today's course.

After class, she would spend 3 to 4 hours completing the homework assigned by the professor as quickly as possible.

Even if the homework isn't due until next week.

Then lunch was the only social time she had left in the day, which actually consisted of listening to Harry and Ron complain or brag at the long table in the dining room and the common room.

Because the content is too boring, she usually brings an unfinished reference book.

During lunch break, everyone else would go to rest, but during this time, the library was where Hermione often went. This was the time for her to read extracurricular books and learn all kinds of complicated knowledge and new spells in the wizarding world.

As for why not take a lunch break...

Her love of studying was only one of the reasons. For Hermione, another important reason was that no one in the dormitory talked to her...

After spending a long time with Vaughan, Hermione gradually learned some of his thinking patterns, such as in interpersonal relationships.

Vaughan often breaks away from the subjective perspective and examines the changes in relationships between people from a relatively objective level.

Hermione tried to analyze her own situation in this way.

It started out as just a minor conflict.

It was at the beginning of the school year. Lavender Brown in the dormitory was a spoiled girl. She complained about all the bad things about Hogwarts in the dormitory, and she was always outspoken:
"If you keep complaining, then you'd better not come to school."

Hermione thought it was a normal advice at the time.

But Lavender and Parvati Patil, who shared the same dormitory, clearly did not see it that way.

Hermione didn't notice at the time why they suddenly stopped talking.

Looking back now, they were probably scared by her.

If we put ourselves in other people's perspective, she must be a person with a bad temper and strong aggressiveness, with her messy hair and her impulsive and decisive work all day long!
Although she could see the problem, Hermione didn't know how to improve her situation.

People are like this. Self-examination and reflection... Anyone can do these things, but few people can figure out how to reverse an unfavorable situation in a targeted manner.

Most people are relatively passive in managing their own environment.

Sometimes I console myself by saying, "If no one talks to me, I'll have more time to read, right?"

But the fact is, even the most focused study enthusiasts are still human beings. They need rest, socializing to relax, and chatting with their besties about girly topics.

Lying in bed every night, Hermione would hear her roommates chatting casually, even if they didn't have a good relationship with each other, and a faint loneliness would linger in her heart.

She thought about taking the initiative to communicate and ease the misunderstanding at the beginning of the school year, but she was afraid that they would refuse.

Sometimes Hermione thought that people were like porcupines, wanting to huddle together for warmth in the cold winter, but afraid of being hurt by other people's quills!
So, in the end, she gave up - as long as I escape, no one can hurt me...

It's really an ostrich mentality!
Originally, Hermione thought that the days at Hogwarts would continue like that. Perhaps as they grew older, one day everyone would understand that their temper and stubbornness in childhood were both naive and ridiculous, and then everyone would put aside their past grudges and return to being ordinary friends as roommates.

What she cares about most at the moment is her completely different relationship.

Early on Valentine's Day morning, she woke up and wondered what gift Vaughn would give her.

In fact, she knew on the day she gave him the chocolates that Vaughan must have forgotten Valentine's Day - he was very good at hiding his emotions, and Hermione didn't find any loopholes in his expression, but she knew that if Vaughan had prepared the gift in advance, he would definitely not be able to help teasing her.

She didn't know how many times she had heard Ron complain, but at least when it came to bad taste, Vaughn never disappointed!
Logically speaking, it is normal to forget Valentine's Day. After all, Vaughn has a lot of things to do, and he has to make up for the missed lessons when he has free time. He is probably so busy that he has forgotten the time.

But as it was her first Valentine's Day, Hermione didn't want to timidly watch it develop in an unfavorable direction as she did with her roommates.

That's why after discovering Vaughn that day, she left the unconscious Harry and secretly returned to the dormitory to bring some chocolate.

She wanted to remind Vaughn not to forget her.

Vaughn did not forget after being reminded. Hermione was very happy to receive the gift, but she did not open it immediately.

She still prepared for her lessons and did her homework as usual, but at noon, she avoided Harry and Ron - to avoid being caught by those two loudmouths and asked her questions - to prepare for the afternoon lessons and do her homework.

It was not until night when everyone was asleep that she secretly came to the common room with the gift box.

Gryffindor Tower was very tall. Although not as tall as the observatory, it was tall enough to overlook the Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest. Tonight the moon was the same as that day, bright and clear. Sitting in front of the bay window and looking at the scenery through the glass, Hermione felt as if time had returned to that night.

This was the time period she had chosen specifically, where no one would disturb her, allowing her to quietly enjoy her "alone" time with Vaughn.

Hermione slowed her breathing and gently opened the gift box.

The moment the cursed box was opened, a string of pink bubbles sprayed out. When the bubbles dissipated, Hermione saw several bottles of clear and crystal potions lying quietly at the bottom of the box.

There was also a note on it, with Vaughan's beautiful cursive handwriting reading:

"I give them to my beloved girl. I hope she can use them to get a complete Hogwarts life. Little girl, you already have friendship and love, now, you still lack a best friend!"

Below the words, there is a funny smiley face drawn.

Hermione burst out laughing.

But as she laughed, she couldn't help but shed tears.

It was a little puzzling, as she was clearly very happy, happy about Vaughn's intentions.

At least, Harry and Ron never noticed that she never appeared with girls.

Hermione sniffed, wiped away her tears, and looked at the bottles of potions.

She picked up a bottle, uncorked it, and took a gentle sniff.

Strangely enough, she could smell the scent of ink-stained parchment and...Vaughn's hair!

The girl blushed and wondered if she was having an illusion.

She looked at the bottle. There was no name on it. The label simply said: "Pour into perfume bottle, spray lightly, and last for 24 hours."

There is also a line of small print: "The side effects are not yet clear."

A little scary.

Hermione chuckled. This was the Vaughan she was familiar with, always enjoying teasing people with a mischievous wickedness.

But... the person she likes is just like this, what can she do?

The girl returned to the dormitory with a smile on her face and placed the gift box solemnly in the storage box beside the bed.

She didn't plan to use them. The favor gained by using potions was far less meaningful than what they represented!
(End of this chapter)