Chapter 81: Tom’s Mystery And Return To Hogwarts
Snape didn’t know why Dumbledore wanted Harry to learn Occlumency.
Dumbledore’s reason was that the Dark Lord and Harry’s destinies were intertwined, and there might be some connection between them on a mystical and soul level.
Dumbledore told him that Vaughn believed this connection would allow the Dark Lord to read Harry’s memories and thoughts.
This reason sounded quite logical—at least to Snape, who knew nothing about destiny and held it in awe, it seemed very reasonable.
In the past, Snape had actually been someone who disdained destiny.
Until the year Harry was born.
He had accidentally overheard Sybill Trelawney’s prophecy.
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…”
Upon hearing only these three lines, Snape, worried about his master’s great undertaking, rushed back to inform Voldemort without hearing the rest of the prophecy.
Everything seemed to be a mockery and a joke of fate.
The actual prophecy was… the Dark Lord chooses his own enemies, and once chosen, his enemy will possess a power he cannot understand.
The Dark Lord, unintentionally misled by Snape, chose his own mortal enemy, and his Killing Curse rebounded upon himself by the “magic of love” he couldn’t comprehend.
He died, and so did Lily, who cast the magic.
Past memories surfaced in his cold mind. Snape, now keeping fate at bay, looked at Dumbledore’s pensive expression, his heart trembling slightly.
His hand, hidden in his sleeve, secretly clenched: “Could it be… that destiny has changed?”
“What?”
Dumbledore snapped out of his reverie and quickly responded, “No, Severus, of course not. It’s just that I discovered something on my recent trip, and I wish to verify it quickly.”
Snape secretly relaxed, and his voice, regaining its coldness, reminded him, “But Potter hasn’t fully learned Occlumency yet.”
“It’s alright, I will urge Vaughn to speed up the progress, and Quirinus also needs some time to prepare.”
“…I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Dumbledore began to play the fool again, wiping his eyes emotionally, “My dear Severus, and you say you don’t care about Harry?”
Snape’s cheeks twitched, he let out a cold snort, and left quickly.
Once Dumbledore was alone in the office, his smile vanished, and he put his glasses back on.
He opened the map, and the magic automatically drew a path on it—all the places he had visited these past few months.
The path extended out of France, jumping directly to Croatia, Hungary, then Romania, Bulgaria…
Finally, that small footprint-like trail stopped in Albania!
Dumbledore looked at Albania on the map, lost in thought for a moment:
“So this is where you’ve been hiding all these years? Why? Tom…”
…
As a prominent figure now involved in politics, Vaughn had temporarily obtained the privilege of not having to return to school.
Therefore, after the interrogation meeting, while awaiting the Wizengamot’s decision—which usually took some time, the extremely slow-paced old wizards needed to go home to rest and recover their energy lost from days of continuous meetings, and then they would send their votes by mail.
Vaughn did not return to Hogwarts for the time being.
He found a luxurious hotel on Whitehall, above the Ministry of Magic.
Using wizarding world’s waste paper, pounds sterling, he booked himself a luxury suite, said to be a filming location for 007.
Vaughn, who had never lived in London in his past or present life, indulged in a rare luxury.
Unfortunately, the experience was not pleasant. He even felt it was not as good as Snape’s home in Cokeworth, at least there was an iron that automatically ironed clothes, and clothes would put themselves on him, dressing him neatly.
Purely in terms of enjoyment, Muggles were no match for wizards with various household charms.
Apart from the impeccable service, which was attributed to the pounds sterling.
The next day, Vaughn resolved for the third time to learn household charms upon his return, then, with the butler’s help, he tied his tie, went downstairs, and got into the luxurious car arranged by the hotel for his departure.
The driver asked, “Mr. Weasley, where would you like to go?”
Vaughn handed him a note.
He had no plans to travel in the wizarding world today, but instead, he tried his best to dress like a Muggle. He was going to the Granger’s house to deliver a letter for Hermione.
The driver took the note, read it, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then started the car.
Watching the scenery slowly recede outside the window, Vaughn suppressed the urge to cast a spell, feeling a sense of emotion.
Unconsciously, he had become more and more accustomed to magic.
At some point, he had also begun to see himself as belonging to another class, like many wizards, showing discomfort with everything Muggle.
This could be considered his assimilation into this world?
Under the same sky, Mr. Granger had just finished trimming the lawn at home.
“Jane, how does it look?”
He looked up and smiled proudly at his wife, who was cleaning the patio on the second floor.
Mrs. Granger rolled her eyes, “Your daughter trimmed it beautifully with magic on Christmas, and you’ve ruined it all now.”
“Shh—” Mr. Granger hastily gestured for her to be quiet. He furtively looked around and then jogged back into the house, “Didn’t you forget the Ministry people’s warning? If Muggles hear about it, Hermione’s studies will be over!”
“…You are also a Muggle!”
“No, we are different. Our dear daughter is a witch, and as parents, we are half-wizards.”
Mr. Granger said smugly.
But his smugness didn’t last long. Mrs. Granger, who was cleaning the patio, found a few newspapers in the corner where her daughter usually sat.
She flipped through the newspaper and suddenly exclaimed, “Redhead!”
“What redhead?”
“Who else could it be? The one your Hermione can’t stop talking about!”
Mr. Granger’s face immediately tensed.
He snatched the newspaper from his wife’s hand and looked at the photo of the red-haired boy surrounded by a crowd.
Damn it!
Thinking of the name his dear daughter had been constantly mentioning during Christmas, Mr. Granger felt a pang of sourness in his heart. He gritted his teeth, “Let me see, Vaughn Weasley… it really is that scoundrel, how detestable!”
Mrs. Granger stood on her tiptoes beside him, peering closely, but offered a different opinion, “He’s quite handsome.”
“…Which side are you on?”
Mrs. Granger ignored her husband’s bickering and continued cleaning the patio, “What a lovely child, no wonder our daughter likes him.”
Mr. Granger’s face darkened, “He’d better pray I don’t see him, or I’ll break his legs!”
After waiting for a moment, he received no response from his wife.
He turned his head and found his wife had stopped her actions, looking downstairs with a stunned expression.
“What’s wrong?”
Mrs. Granger turned back blankly, “…The person you want to break the legs of is downstairs…”
“It’s not April Fools’ Day today, dear.”
Mr. Granger smiled, walked to the edge of the patio, and peered down.
Below, a red-haired scoundrel was smiling and waving at them.
As a father.
If your daughter suddenly told you one day that she had someone she liked, and that boy then appeared before you, what would you do?
This is a question every father has to face.
The difference is, for Mr. Granger, this question came a bit too early… at least 10 years too early!
At the Granger residence, the atmosphere was currently quite peculiar.
Mr. Granger sat on the sofa, glaring intently at Vaughn, who sat opposite him with a smile.
Mrs. Granger, on the other hand, was busy going back and forth, bringing snacks and drinks before sitting down next to her husband.
Compared to her husband’s stiff expression and attitude, Mrs. Granger was much better. Her gaze went beyond the window to the luxurious car parked by the roadside outside, Vaughn’s vehicle. She couldn’t help but inquire, “Classmate Weasley, Hermione mentioned that your family is a wizarding family. Do you also have businesses in the Muggle society?”
“No, Madam, the car outside is not ours; it’s a courtesy car arranged by the Muggle hotel.”
Vaughn’s smile was very well-behaved and clean.
This undoubtedly greatly increased Mrs. Granger’s favorability towards him, and made Mr. Granger dislike him even more.
He couldn’t help but mutter in a low voice, “Only luxury hotels can arrange courtesy cars. Some people, at such a young age, start wasting their parents’ money… *oof*!”
Mrs. Granger gave him a hidden and fierce elbow jab. Her smile was a little embarrassed.
To the surprise of both of them, Vaughn, dressed like a rich second-generation heir, didn’t get angry. “I’m sorry, I’m not very familiar with Muggle society. To avoid getting lost and attracting attention with my clothing, staying at a luxury hotel was the best method I could think of.”
“Perhaps Hermione forgot to tell you that I am a potioneer, and I have achieved some success in the wizarding world. Sometimes I allow a batch of potions to be settled in Muggle currency. Some wizards with large amounts of Muggle currency enjoy this type of transaction very much.”
“The money spent on staying at a luxury hotel can be earned back by opening a few more bottles of potion next time!”
The Granger couple: “…”
So sour, as if they had eaten lemons!
Mr. Granger’s facial muscles twitched. In a daze, he seemed to see the red-haired boy opposite him with “I’m rich” written all over his face!
That detestable nouveau riche!
However, before he could utter a sarcastic remark, Mrs. Granger suddenly exclaimed, “Ah, I remember now.”
Saying this, she hurried upstairs and soon returned with the newspaper she had found earlier. After flipping through it a few times, she excitedly said to her husband, “Look, the newspaper says Vaughn invented something called Wolfsbane Potion, which caused a huge sensation… that’s a potion, isn’t it?”
She asked the last question, looking at Vaughn curiously.
Vaughn nodded, “Yes, Madam. It has significant political implications. The reason I can leave school this time is also because the wizarding world’s legislative body, the Wizengamot, is holding a full session for proposals regarding Wolfsbane Potion and myself. As the proposer and a member of the Wizengamot, I must also attend the meeting.”
Saying this, Vaughn explained to the two what the Wizengamot was and the Werewolf Affairs Committee.
Mrs. Granger covered her mouth in surprise, “My God, so you’re a representative in the wizarding world?”
Even Mr. Granger was startled and quickly picked up the newspaper. He had only focused on the photo before and hadn’t read the content at all.
Reading the report now, he realized Vaughn hadn’t exaggerated at all. Just look at what those reports were saying!
The dawn of the wizarding world, tearing apart the Ministry of Magic, the struggle for supreme power!
In Mr. Granger’s eyes, the Ministry of Magic = the government, and the Minister for Magic = the Prime Minister. And this boy in front of him, whom he had just considered a nouveau riche in his mind, his political opponent was the Prime Minister?
Mr. Granger suddenly wondered if he had been hit by some magic.
Compared to his disbelief, Mrs. Granger accepted it quite quickly. After all, during Christmas, she had slept with her daughter every night to compensate for her daughter leaving home at such a young age.
Hermione had told her a lot about Vaughn.
Genius, genius, still genius…
In Hermione’s words, it seemed there was no problem this boy, who was a year younger than her, couldn’t solve.
Mrs. Granger knew her daughter well and knew she was quite competitive. She had never seen her so highly praise someone her own age before.
Mrs. Granger’s attitude became increasingly enthusiastic, and Mr. Granger’s stern face was no longer as rigid.
Vaughn didn’t mind the change in their attitudes.
Or rather, he had initiated the conversation about himself precisely to showcase his outstanding qualities.
The Granger couple were adults, and adults were material and realistic. It wasn’t that they were inherently so, but the hammer of society had shaped them into this way.
Vaughn was certain that if he were just an ordinary wizard boy, his relationship with Hermione would absolutely not receive the support of the Granger couple—this was not only due to concerns about their age but also as parents, they hoped their children would associate with better people and have better lives in the future.
At most, they would not strongly object due to Hermione’s personal wishes and their educational philosophy.
Vaughn disliked playing weak and letting others underestimate him. He disliked, like in some novels, waiting for conflicts to accumulate and intensify before attempting to resolve them to create dramatic reveals… that really went against normal human thought processes!
Therefore, after exchanging pleasantries with Mrs. Granger and Mr. Granger, who finally became willing to talk.
When discussing the purpose of his visit, Vaughn took out Hermione’s letter from his satchel and then produced two carefully wrapped boxes:
“Sir, Madam, this is my first visit, so I’ve prepared some small gifts. I hope you won’t find them too meager.”
“This…”
Before they could refuse, Vaughn had already unwrapped them. One of the gift boxes, containing ten bottles of potion, was pushed towards Mrs. Granger. He smiled, “Madam, this is a potion I developed myself, the ‘Vaughn’s Beauty’ series. It contains various beauty and skincare effects with immediate results. There’s an instruction manual for how to use it!”
As for the other gift box, it contained a head-mounted eyepiece, exquisitely designed.
“Sir, this is an eyepiece I modified last year for research. It can provide a 360° panoramic view and X-ray vision. I heard Hermione say you are a dentist, so I believe it will be a great help to you… By the way, the X-ray function is only for short distances. Be careful not to stare at people!”
Mr. Granger, who had just picked up the eyepiece, flushed crimson upon hearing this.
Mrs. Granger, who was curiously examining the beauty potions, looked at Vaughn in astonishment, “X-ray vision? This…”
Vaughn smiled and gestured, “Sir, you can try it.”
Mr. Granger awkwardly yet eagerly put on the eyepiece and looked at his wife—X-ray vision always sparks the imagination.
But the next moment, he let out a scream and quickly took off the eyepiece, his eyes red!
Vaughn explained with a smile, “Sir, in the realm of magic, we believe all things have a spiritual light, especially life. The spiritual light of every healthy life is like the sun… so, it’s only suitable for looking at teeth!”
The eyepiece was not an alchemical item, but a product based on a Muggle product with a spell cast upon it.
As it was used, the spell’s potency would weaken, and it would eventually become ineffective.
However, for Mr. Granger, apart from being momentarily blinded by the so-called spiritual light of life, he was quite satisfied with this gift.
This improved his mood considerably, to the point that after reading his daughter’s letter, which expressed her hope that his parents would accompany her to the Weasley’s house for the holidays, he did not object.
Or rather, Mr. Granger, who was gradually becoming obsessed with magic, was actually looking forward to experiencing a true wizarding life.
Of course, he would have been even happier if the experience did not come at the cost of sacrificing his daughter’s happiness.
Having achieved his goal for the day, Vaughn politely declined Mrs. Granger’s invitation for lunch.
After receiving the couple’s reply letters, he took his leave.
Watching the luxurious car gradually drive away, Mrs. Granger gave her husband a glare and complained, “Vaughn is still a child, he’s good-natured and polite. I think he’s quite nice, but you had to glare at him!”
“Hmph, don’t you forget, they’re only middle school age!”
“Isn’t it normal for middle schoolers to date? Also, when you glare at him, can you put down the gift he gave you?”
“…I don’t care!”
Mr. Granger held the magical eyepiece tightly in his hand and stated stubbornly.
However, this stubbornness was quickly shattered when Mrs. Granger tried the “Vaughn’s Beauty” potion.
As Mr. Granger played with the eyepiece in the living room, he heard his wife scream and rushed to the lavatory. He looked at his wife in the mirror, his mouth agape in surprise.
In the mirror, Mrs. Granger, who was middle-aged with skin starting to develop pigment spots and becoming rough and loose, seemed to have suddenly become 10 years younger.
Her newly fair and smooth face was just like the moment he first saw her many years ago!
The stubborn Mr. Granger’s body felt weak, and his heart fluttered like a little deer.
For the first time, he thought that that Weasley kid was truly a genius…
Vaughn, whom Mr. Granger considered a “genius,” did not linger at the hotel after returning. He went directly back to Hogwarts through the Ministry of Magic’s fireplace network.
The Wizengamot’s voting resolution was still a few days away. Now that the last task was done, he naturally wouldn’t stay any longer.
The professors at the school were already quite displeased.
When Vaughn emerged from Professor McGonagall’s fireplace, he saw the stern lady pursing her lips tightly. “Mr. Weasley, when do you plan to return to class?”
Vaughn felt a bit awkward. He had indeed been absent for too long, making it hard to justify.
“Today, Professor.”
“Very good.”
Professor McGonagall’s expression softened a little, and then she asked with concern, “I read in the newspaper that things are progressing well, aren’t they?”
“Yes, Professor. Now we just have to wait for the Wizengamot to make a decision, so I will stay at school and attend classes until the voting results are out.”
Hearing this, Professor McGonagall pursed her lips again—she heard the subtext; once the results were out, Vaughn would have to run off to the Ministry again!
Vaughn quickly slipped away to avoid being caught and lectured by a displeased Professor McGonagall.
He first returned to his dormitory. Guo Guo Cha was still with Hermione.
After a period of disuse, the dormitory had accumulated some dust. Vaughn used several “Scouring Charms” to clean it.
Then, he took out his notebook from his satchel and, referencing his courses, planned his upcoming schedule.
Some classes, even at his level, were not convenient to skip.
For example, Transfiguration, Herbology, Astronomy, and so on.
Transfiguration class primarily consisted of the teaching content of Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration Club. Currently, Vaughn’s Transfiguration skill was at the stage of transforming inanimate objects into animate ones.
The next step was to delve into animate-to-animate transformation and cross-species conversion.
Herbology, Astronomy, and similar classes mainly required practical operation. If a class was missed, it wasn’t just about reading books; one also had to seek extra tutoring from the professors.
The time lost during this period needed to be made up, along with Quidditch.
He had missed the match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff last month. He absolutely could not miss the match against Ravenclaw next month.
Ravenclaw was still quite strong.
He was also counting on completing the main quest of “Obtaining the House Cup”!
“In terms of magic practice, household charms need to be incorporated into the plan. Let me see… hmm, some spells that have reached LV3 and are slowing down in progress can be postponed for now, freeing up some time. Household charms don’t need to be mastered, just learned.”
“Then there’s the study and experimentation of Memory Magic. Persona Embodiment is still not perfect and needs further research. However, there’s no rush for this. I already have sufficient understanding and cognition regarding memory. The next step is to observe the influence of Dark Arts; it can’t be rushed…”
“Finally, there’s the follow-up development of Wolfsbane Potion and the perfection of the Magic Power Extraction Method…”
Vaughn wrote and drew in his notebook until dusk before he finally compiled a detailed plan.
He liked a regular life and hated surprises!
But surprises always came unexpectedly…
As Vaughn finished his plan and was about to go to the dining hall to get something to eat and deliver the reply letter to Hermione, he saw an annoying old man with a white beard in the corridor outside his room.
“…Tsk, what bad luck!”
Vaughn turned and went back into his dormitory. Dumbledore followed him in with a smile.
“My dear Vaughn, a hundred-year-old man has waited for you for at least two hours. Shouldn’t you show some consideration for his hardship and be a little more gentle in your attitude?”
Vaughn rolled his eyes, “You deserve to wait so long. Speak, what is it now?”
Dumbledore’s smile faded, his expression became serious and silent for a moment, and he sighed, “The plan needs to start early. You train Harry more diligently in the coming days, so he can learn Occlumency sooner, to avoid him encountering Tom and Tom noticing anything unusual.”
Vaughn was not Snape.
Snape didn’t know what Dumbledore was doing, but Vaughn did. He understood and said, “You’ve found where Quirrell encountered Voldemort?”
“Yes, in Albania, in a primeval jungle… Tom lived there for a very long time, meagerly and tenaciously sustaining his filthy soul.”
As he spoke, a confusion appeared in Dumbledore’s bright eyes, “I can’t understand why he would hide in Albania. It is indeed far from England, but it’s not a place suitable for a fresh start. For so many years, he could only barely survive by possessing small animals.”
Vaughn of course knew the reason, but he couldn’t say it.
This kind of information could not be explained; it involved secrets from a long time ago.
Facing the confused old Dumbledore, he could only offer a hint in a speculative tone, “Perhaps it’s because it holds significant meaning for him?”
“Oh?”
Dumbledore blinked and asked with interest, “Do you think it’s related to his past experiences there?”
Vaughn shrugged, “Just a guess. In a person’s life, there are always some special experiences that cannot be forgotten, even if one goes mad.”
