Chapter 109: The Born Leader
Werewolf Affairs Committee!
This year’s hottest organization in the wizarding world. Compared to the vast Ministry of Magic, it is certainly still small and its functions are singular, but anyone with a discerning eye can see its vitality and the potential that was subtly revealed during its establishment.
Dumbledore, the Wizengamot, and Barty Crouch, who suddenly joined two months ago, along with his Department of International Magical Cooperation.
It almost tore apart the Ministry of Magic’s power structure before everyone’s eyes, while opening everyone’s eyes to Fudge’s weakness and incompetence, it also drew attention to the intelligence, cunning, and ruthlessness with which Vaughn Weasley, the brilliant Potions Master, played politics.
It must be said that Vaughn’s performance in pushing for the establishment of the “Werewolf Affairs Committee” struck a chord with all the Slytherins.
Slytherins generally have a strong admiration for power, and in their eyes, Vaughn is a natural leader, a powerful figure with foresight and a cunning nature.
Considering his age, these restless and sharp-minded individuals have already begun to consider placing their bets.
Whether the Slytherin team wins or not, and whether there needs to be a celebration, is unimportant and has almost nothing to do with them as they are about to leave school. Their enthusiastic preparation for the banquet is merely for occasions like this to interact with Vaughn!
Surrounded by these elites dressed up, Vaughn showed no particular reaction, and even spoke little, slowly enjoying his meal.
In his eyes, these “young wizards” who had not yet graduated were too naive.
Although they tried their best to imitate the behavior of their parents in every move, their childishness and shallowness were evident in their bones, and their flattery lacked substance.
Not very interested.
Sensing his lack of enthusiasm.
At this moment, a handsome young man with his hair slicked back, impeccably dressed in a suit, and a soft, smooth velvet robe, approached Vaughn with a smile and got straight to the point:
“Mr. Weasley, does the ‘Werewolf Affairs Committee’ have plans for open recruitment? You know, we are graduating very soon, and if we could participate in your great cause, it would truly be an unforgettable honor for our lives.”
Some of the others nearby blushed a little at his directness.
They were too undignified. Students who had always lived in comfort and had not experienced the harshness of society could not accept this.
It was Vaughn, however, who finally looked up and asked the other party with curiosity, “What is your name?”
The young man maintained his smile and replied respectfully, “Mr. Weasley, my name is Phil Travers.”
A familiar surname.
With his exquisite Memory Magic, Vaughn rarely forgot anything, and all his experiences were stored in his memory archive, easily accessible.
After a moment of thought, Vaughn found the source of the familiarity and asked, “Is Alred Travers your…?”
Alred Travers was someone Vaughn had met at a Wizengamot interrogation meeting a few months prior. At the meeting, he had asked Vaughn a question that lacked any real aggression, likely a plant arranged by Amelia.
The Travers family is one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. They have no great ambitions, and their current strategy for survival in the wizarding world is to hedge their bets.
Relying on their numerous branches and bloodlines, some support pure-bloods, while others align with Dumbledore and Amelia. This way, no matter how the future evolves, the Travers family will remain standing.
In Vaughn’s opinion, Phil Travers daring to approach him was likely related to Alred Travers.
As expected, Phil replied, “He is my grandfather, Mr. Weasley. Grandfather highly respects you and often tells me to learn from you. He also particularly hopes that I can join the Werewolf Affairs Committee after graduation and become an employee, working under you.”
Vaughn replied noncommittally, “The Werewolf Affairs Committee is not my private company. It is governed by the committee, and I am just an ordinary committee member. Next time, do not say things that can easily lead to misunderstandings.”
Despite being reprimanded, Phil’s face lit up with joy. He knew that this meant Vaughn had agreed to his request.
“Yes, sir. I promise there will be no next time, Mr. Weasley.”
Seeing Phil successfully approach Vaughn, the other Slytherins who had felt embarrassed moments before immediately abandoned their reservations and each expressed their desire to join the Werewolf Affairs Committee.
Vaughn did not refuse. Of course, he was not officially responsible for the committee’s recruitment, so he left them with Remus Lupin’s contact information.
As the name suggests, the leadership of the Werewolf Affairs Committee consists of its committee members, and below them, a large number of frontline employees are certainly needed.
The committee already had plans for open recruitment, and Lupin had even worried earlier that the stigma of lycanthropy might make it difficult to attract wizards.
So, having people actively wanting to join was a good thing.
Having achieved their goal, they did not linger. After a few pleasantries, they made way for others who wanted to approach Vaughn!
Of course, not everyone was solely interested in the “Werewolf Affairs Committee.” Some simply wanted to take advantage of the festive occasion to interact with Vaughn. Even though Vaughn appeared somewhat aloof, it did not deter their enthusiasm.
Throughout the rest of the banquet, Vaughn was quite busy. Although he didn’t feel much himself, most of his attention was on the food.
It was not until late at night that the bustling banquet, with its complex motivations, finally came to an end.
Vaughn returned to his dormitory, and Guo Guo Cha came out to greet him, rubbing against his legs affectionately.
Bending down to pick up Guo Guo Cha, and stroking its fur with his fingers, Vaughn frowned and looked towards the corner of the dormitory, “When will you give up your bad habit of entering people’s rooms without permission, Albus?”
A familiar magical fluctuation swirled in the shadows of the corner.
Before long, Dumbledore, dressed in pajamas, materialized as if squeezed from the air.
Guo Guo Cha’s eyes widened, “Meow!”
Vaughn patted it and comforted it, “It’s not your fault. He’s been doing this shameless, sleazy thing for a hundred years. How old are you, how could you possibly discover him?”
Dumbledore, called “shameless” by Vaughn, was unperturbed and said with a smile, “This dormitory does not belong to you, Vaughn. It belongs only to Hogwarts. Coincidentally, as the Headmaster, I have the right to enter any dormitory at any time.”
“So, you’ve entered the girls’ dormitory too? Does Professor McGonagall know about this?”
Dumbledore: “…”
Vaughn, having easily silenced Old Dumbledore, hugged Guo Guo Cha and sat on the edge of the bed, asking, “Why have you come looking for me today? What’s the matter?”
Old Dumbledore was a bit dejected. Perhaps he hadn’t expected that in Vaughn’s mind, he would be an old scoundrel who trespassed in girls’ dormitories.
He felt he needed to defend himself: “Don’t spread rumors, child. I’ve never entered…”
Vaughn impatiently interrupted, “Alright, I believe you. Hurry up and tell me what’s going on!”
Dumbledore had, of course, never entered the girls’ dormitory.
It wasn’t that Vaughn believed in his character, but rather that he believed in his… psychological gender…
Dumbledore became even more dejected, unable to continue, and sighed, “My dear, can’t I just come to see you without a reason? It truly saddens me that you always hold prejudices against me.”
Vaughn sneered, “Is that so? We won against Gryffindor today, and the banquet just ended was also quite good. I’m in a very good mood right now. You see that, you can leave now, can’t you?”
Impossible to leave.
Dumbledore walked up to Vaughn with a smile, conjured a chair, and sat down, as if he hadn’t heard the last sentence, and asked with great interest, “The banquet was good? Did something interesting happen? Would you mind telling me about it?”
“I very much mind! I don’t want to say it!”
“…”
Vaughn knew what Dumbledore wanted to hear.
The old man had likely noticed the Slytherin students gathering around him and had rushed over.
This was because something similar had happened before: a Slytherin student, still in school, had gathered all his classmates under his wing and founded an organization – the Death Eaters!
This was why Vaughn was impatient with Dumbledore when he found him in his room.
“I’ve told you many times, Albus, I am not Tom Riddle.” Vaughn soothed Guo Guo Cha, who was glaring with wide eyes and wanting to pounce on the old man with the white beard. “And I don’t like it when people are always monitoring my every move. It makes me very unhappy, do you understand?”
Dumbledore was speechless. After a moment of silence, he promptly apologized, “I’m sorry. You know, I’m a bit sensitive about this…”
“No need to apologize.” Vaughn interrupted him. “You’ll do it again next time anyway.”
After several months of interaction, Vaughn had a clearer understanding of Dumbledore’s personality.
He was actually a very suspicious person. Of course, perhaps it was because of his age; old age caused him to misjudge things. He himself must have realized the problem, so he was no longer as confident as he was in his youth. In his youth, Dumbledore never acted to nip danger in the bud.
The atmosphere became a little stiff for a moment.
However, both of them were mature in their thinking. Although there were conflicts, they were not irreconcilable. Or rather, their relationship had been complex from the day they decided to cooperate.
At times, they were like master and apprentice, and friends, with one mentoring and the other providing help.
At other times, they were like rivals and potential enemies, watching and being wary of each other’s actions.
After a long silence, Dumbledore initiated a conversation to ease the atmosphere, smiling, “It seems I need to reflect on myself more in the future and give you more trust and care, and talk to you more… talk about Harry, Ron, and Miss Granger.”
Vaughn was noncommittal but no longer appeared as aggressive. He followed Dumbledore’s lead to change the subject, “How is Harry? Is he still crying?”
“Of course not. That child is very strong. He, Ron, and Miss Granger are now in the Forbidden Forest, three reckless younglings.”
“The Forbidden Forest? What are they doing there?”
Dumbledore’s expression became peculiar as he looked at Vaughn, “I think… perhaps the recent failure has hit him too hard, and he’s started having some strange ideas.”
Vaughn: “?”
“Regarding Quirrell, he’s started taking the initiative, Vaughn. He seems to want to capture Quirrell and get a reward from me… for example, award Gryffindor several hundred points, and let Gryffindor win the House Cup!”
“…” Vaughn was stunned.
This idea was truly… wild, and yet somewhat reasonable.
The problem was that Harry would probably never realize that his plan had long since been thwarted by Vaughn.
Dumbledore’s peculiar expression was also due to this. He looked at Vaughn and said, “Do you remember the first time we discussed cooperation? You asked me not to award Harry and the others points for reasons outside of their coursework. I was wondering why you made that request. Now… Vaughn, sometimes I really suspect you have a talent for Divination!”
Does Divination Mastery Level 2 count? That definitely does!
Vaughn remained expressionless and did not respond to Dumbledore’s repeated probing, only asking:
“He wants to catch Quirrell, what does that have to do with going to the Forbidden Forest?”
“They want to find a Centaur to tell their fortune!”
…
“Merlin’s Beard… Harry, you know Centaurs?”
The Forbidden Forest at night is almost a different place from the daytime.
Dark, gloomy, with visibility down to zero. The bizarrely shaped trees all around, and the faint sounds of nocturnal animals, and the glowing eyes peeking out from the bushes, made everything in the forest mysterious, unknown, and terrifying.
However, Ron’s attention was not on this. Holding the lantern, he stared excitedly at Harry, “When did this happen? I’ve never heard you mention it before!”
Harry rubbed his nose awkwardly. “Because I was too embarrassed to say. Do you remember for a while, Vaughn put a false personality in my head to force me to learn Occlumency?”
“We remember. Your state was terrible during that time.”
Yes, it was terrible. Harry didn’t want to recall it even now, but to explain to his friends, he said, “One day, because I broke a rule, the false personality punished me, making me believe I was a horse… That was the day I met Firenze.”
“Wait, what are the details?”
“No details!”
Harry was so ashamed he could barely lift his head.
Ron was about to ask more when Hermione, who actually didn’t want to come along and had been quiet the entire way, suddenly stopped and whispered harshly to the two, “Shh, be quiet. Didn’t you hear that?”
“What?”
Infected by her emotion, Harry and Ron held their breath and listened. The next moment, they heard a faint rustling sound sliding through the darkness around them.
Ron held his lantern high, trying to see what it was.
But the firelight spread, and beyond the gradually blurring circle of light, there was only profound darkness.
A gentle breeze blew from the depths of the forest, brushing past their hair and the leaves hanging from the trees overhead, making a rustling sound.
But the faint rustling sound had disappeared.
Harry quietly drew his wand and swallowed, “Do you still hear anything?”
“It seems not…” As Ron turned to speak to Harry, he saw Harry and Hermione’s blurred figures, indistinct in the darkness, a few steps away. He suddenly realized he had done something foolish – in the dangerous Forbidden Forest, he had held his lantern high, as if afraid that other creatures wouldn’t see him.
Ron’s heart pounded, and he quickly lowered the lantern, forcing a smile, “Perhaps it was just the wind blowing through the leaves…”
Hermione interrupted him, “There was no wind just now, Ron.”
“…Then perhaps it was some animal startled by us… What is this, Hermione?”
Ron, who had been scared the moment before, immediately shifted his attention when he saw Hermione pull out a palm-sized, delicate-looking Muggle device from her satchel.
Harry looked over and recognized it, “A Walkman?”
“What’s that?”
“Uh, it’s a device that can record and play music. I’ve only seen it on television before. You know, Aunt Petunia wouldn’t buy me such an expensive thing…”
Hermione, clutching the Walkman tightly, was somewhat exasperated.
These two were actually chatting. Did they think they were still in the castle?
Just as she was about to scold them, the rustling sound they had heard before came again.
This time, it did not disappear but quickly approached them, growing faster and faster.
Ron and Harry finally reacted, immediately closing their mouths. They hurriedly squeezed to Hermione’s side, shielding her.
Harry shakily raised his wand.
Ron adjusted the angle to help provide illumination.
As the rustling sound drew closer, the dense bushes ahead shook and parted, and a snake about a foot long, slender in body, with wings on its back, slowly swam out.
The dim light shone on it, like light on a piece of emerald. Its fine scales reflected the light, showing a green hue with streaks of reddish-gold.
It looked so beautiful, it seemed otherworldly!
Harry’s mouth fell slightly open. Faced with such a beautiful creature, he instinctively lowered the wand he had raised.
Beside him, Ron, who had seen the little snake clearly, exclaimed in surprise, “Merlin’s Beard, it’s an Occamy! There’s an Occamy in the Forbidden Forest!”
“Occamy?”
Harry curiously observed the little creature, which seemed harmless, finding the name quite fitting, both for its physical characteristics and its cute sound.
But to his surprise, Ron’s expression of delight vanished in an instant. “Oh no, normally, an Occamy wouldn’t approach humans voluntarily unless… unless its nest is nearby and it thinks we’re trying to steal its eggs!”
“?”
Before Harry could express his confusion, he understood in the next moment why Ron had said “Oh no” and why his expression of delight had suddenly turned to terror!
Whoosh—
A wind suddenly swept through the forest. Harry could feel the originally calm air currents around him become violent. They clung to his skin like mud, and were drawn into the Occamy’s mouth.
In an instant, the wind howled, and an invisible vortex formed, with the Occamy at its center.
Harry’s eyes widened, his mouth agape.
He watched in astonishment as the Occamy in the raging vortex of air suddenly expanded, expanded—
In just a blink of an eye, his vision was filled by a colossal creature. Harry strained to look up and saw a monster that had suddenly magnified a thousand times… no, perhaps even ten thousand times, looking down at him.
Its mouth opened, and the scales under its jaw trembled, emitting a piercing shriek.
Even Harry, a novice in the wizarding world, understood from its actions that it was unlikely to be a friendly greeting.
Harry’s hands trembled as he tried to raise his wand, but he suddenly realized with sadness, what magic could he use to fight such a colossal monster?
Just as he was at a loss and beginning to consider whether running away would be useful.
Hermione, whom they had been shielding behind them, stepped forward, raised the Walkman, and pressed the switch:
“Yoo-hoo—”
A clear call, like a deer’s cry, was played from the Walkman.
Then, Harry, who didn’t know what Hermione was doing and was about to pull her back, was stunned to find that with that call, the giant, terrifying monster above them suddenly stopped its wing-flapping threat.
The howling wind in the forest also stopped abruptly.
The giant Occamy tilted its head, its eyes, which were larger than the three of them combined, staring at them below with confusion.
“Hermione, this…”
“Shh—” Hermione motioned for Harry to be quiet, then operated the Walkman to rewind and play again. The “yoo-hoo” call sounded once more.
The Occamy’s moon-like eyes grew more confused, staring intently at Hermione.
But to Harry and Ron’s delight, its body began to shrink like a deflating balloon.
Before long, it returned to its previous slender form, less than a foot long, coiled beside a bush, staring at the Walkman in Hermione’s hand.
“Merlin’s Beard…” Ron sighed in relief. He had been so scared he almost wet his pants. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen an Occamy transform. It was terrifying.”
Harry also felt a sense of having narrowly escaped death, but his attention was now more on Hermione, or rather, on the Walkman in her hand.
“Hermione, what is that call?”
Just as Hermione was about to answer, a deep voice from the darkness outside the light said, “That is the cry of a unicorn. Someone has recorded the unicorn’s cry onto the Muggle device she is holding!”
“Who!” Ron instinctively raised his lantern.
But Harry’s face lit up with joy, and he called out, “Firenze, is that you?”
The bushes rustled, and the person who had spoken before emerged… No, it wasn’t a person. He had a human-like upper body, half-bare, clad only in a few pieces of animal hide. Most striking was his hair, platinum blonde, which seemed to glow in the dappled moonlight of the forest.
Brighter than his hair was his lower body, which was the body of a silver-maned horse. Even in the darkness, the sheen of its silver-white fur was undeniable.
Looking at him, Ron managed a grunt, “Oh—a Centaur!”
The Centaur named Firenze glanced at Ron, then lowered himself and gently embraced Harry, who had trotted over.
“Firenze, it’s been a long time. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, Harry, but as I warned you before, you shouldn’t come to the Forbidden Forest!”
Facing Firenze’s reproachful expression, Harry felt a bit embarrassed.
However, he knew the Centaur meant well for him, and he had indeed just experienced danger, realizing for the first time that the Forbidden Forest was not an ordinary forest to be trespassed upon.
Thinking of the danger, Harry asked, “Firenze, did you say that the Walkman in Hermione’s hand was playing a unicorn’s call?”
“Yes.” Firenze nodded in reply, then pushed Harry away. “I’ll tell you more later, I need to calm down the Occamy you startled first…”
Saying this, he slowly walked up to the Occamy, knelt down, made a strange sound, and dug a worm out of the soil, gently offering it to the Occamy’s mouth.
The Occamy hesitated for a moment, glanced at Hermione and the Walkman in her hand, then opened its mouth and ate the worm.
Harry noticed that Firenze breathed a sigh of relief as the Occamy ate the worm.
After the Occamy finished eating, Firenze called out a couple more times. The now completely calm Occamy responded with a few clear chirps and turned away.
Only after watching it disappear did Firenze turn around and say reproachfully, “You were too reckless. If it weren’t for the Muggle device in that young lady’s hand, Iliana might have destroyed everything nearby just to calm down!”
“Iliana?”
“That Occamy. Iliana is her name. She’s a young mother who laid eggs for the first time this year. Her chick won’t hatch until next month, and she’s at her most sensitive right now.”
Ron quietly added, “I heard that Occamy eggshells are pure silver, and many hunters steal Occamy eggs.”
Firenze looked at him again and nodded, “Yes, the greed of human hunters has almost led to the extinction of Occamies. That’s why Iliana went mad when she saw you… How did you get near her nest?”
“Uh…” Harry scratched his head and said in a low voice, “My friends and I wanted to find you. I clearly remember taking this path last time…”
“No, you took the wrong path, Harry, my little foal living in the castle…”
Firenze sighed, but did not continue to scold them. Instead, he beckoned, “Come with me. Let’s leave here first. This is a beast path and it’s not safe.”
He turned and pushed aside the bushes, and the trio quickly followed.
Harry quickly walked up to Firenze and asked curiously:
“Firenze, you haven’t told me about the unicorns yet… Oh, right, I haven’t introduced you two yet. These are my good friends, Ron and Hermione.”
“Hello, little foals!”
The Centaur’s unique address left Ron and Hermione a bit bewildered, and they greeted him cautiously.
Firenze looked at the Walkman Hermione was still holding. “Unicorns are spirits of the forest, guardians of nature. Their calls possess magical power that can soothe the souls of animals. You should thank Hermione, Harry. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t dare guarantee I could have calmed Iliana down.”
Saying this, he asked curiously, “Little Hermione foal, why do you have a unicorn’s call in your Muggle device? I can tell it’s a recording. Do you know a unicorn?”
Hermione hesitated for a moment, and under the inquiring gazes of the three, she said, “No, my boyfriend recorded it. He knows the language of unicorns.”
Hermione hadn’t told the whole story. Vaughn had actually given her many strange things.
This was also why she hadn’t resolutely stopped Harry and Ron when they insisted on going to the Forbidden Forest today.
But what she said was enough to shock the three of them.
“A human wizard knows the language of unicorns?” Firenze shook his head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
Ron was even more dumbfounded. Having lived with Vaughn for over a decade, he had never known Vaughn had this skill!
It wasn’t unheard of for wizards to know the languages of magical creatures throughout the wizarding world, but as far as he knew, it was usually related to the wizard’s bloodline.
Could the Weasley ancestors have unicorn blood?
This…
Ron’s mind was suddenly filled with all sorts of terrible imaginations.
In comparison, Harry, a novice in magic, didn’t think as deeply. He was more interested in unicorns themselves, a legendary creature that was famous even in Muggle society.
“Firenze, are there unicorns in the Forbidden Forest?”
“There used to be,” Firenze replied.
“Ah…” Harry was speechless, already envisioning a tragic ending like a BBC documentary.
Seemingly sensing his thoughts, Firenze smiled, “Kind little foals, they are not dead, just relocated. It was about last year, shortly after you started school, when an evil creature attacked the unicorns…”
Hermione, who had barely spoken tonight, finally encountered knowledge she understood. “For unicorn blood?”
“Yes!”
Seeing Harry and Ron looking at her curiously, Hermione said exasperatedly, “Unicorn blood has the ability to revive the dead. This is mentioned in 《Magical Herbs and Fungi》, of course, with a warning not to attempt to use it because of a curse!”
“A knowledgeable little foal,” Firenze praised. “Indeed, unicorns are pure and sacred creatures, the embodiment of kindness and beauty. To slay them is like killing conscience with one’s own hands, and it will inevitably result in retribution from nature and the stars.”
Harry didn’t quite understand the meaning of his words but knew the consequences would likely be severe. He asked with some confusion, “Then, why did that evil creature still want unicorn blood?”
Firenze shook his head and sighed, “When a despicable soul has nothing left and is driven to a dead end, they can no longer care about anything else. Even if they blaspheme purity and sanctity, even if they know it is poison, they will drink it just to stay alive, and will extinguish their humanity for it.”
What kind of person, in what kind of situation, would go to such an extreme?
Harry shuddered.
Firenze, who was parting the bushes ahead to lead the way, continued, “We were all very nervous at the time. Our tribe has lived in the Forbidden Forest for hundreds of years, and we had never heard of anyone attacking a unicorn. Such evil, which completely abandoned humanity and left no trace of goodness, was truly terrifying.”
“Fortunately, not long after the attack, a…”
At this point, Firenze glanced at Ron again, specifically at his red hair. “A red-haired, handsome little foal, investigated this matter with Hagrid, and then he and Dumbledore transferred all the unicorns.”
“It was Vaughn!” Hermione said excitedly.
“Yes, Vaughn Weasley. I heard Dumbledore call him that… What is your relationship with him, little Ron foal?”
“…”
Ron had never expected that after listening to the story for so long, it would somehow involve Vaughn again.
Damn it!
Does that guy know how to cast a Disillusionment Charm? How does he seem to be everywhere?
Seeing Ron’s sullen face and unwillingness to speak, Harry simply explained to Firenze the relationship between Vaughn and Ron. However, his main attention was elsewhere.
After hearing Firenze’s description of the “evil creature,” Harry suddenly had an intuition.
Following his intuition, he asked, “Firenze, have you seen the person who attacked the unicorns?”
“I haven’t. Ronan has, but he said he only saw a black robe.”
Black robe!
The trio exchanged glances:
Black robe! Quirrell!
