Chapter 168: Arcane Brotherhood
“No wonder Ilvermorny protected its students; this seemingly normal action led to them being ostracized and isolated by all factions… Such hatred cannot be resolved, only as Essex said, unless one side annihilates the other, it will never stop!”
Thinking about the purpose of his delegation’s visit to North America, Vaughn felt it was a bit tricky.
However, now was not the time to consider these things.
Shifting back to a real-world perspective, Vaughn saw that Essex, whose emotions had been stirred and spirit thrown into a negative state by him, had lost all reason.
This was the best opportunity to bypass the opponent’s mental defenses.
Vaughn wasted no more time, rose to Essex’s side, drew his wand, and pressed it to his temple, weaving a new Persona Embodiment from the memories and emotions he had absorbed from Essex.
A “Imposter”!
This was a newly refined function by Vaughn, specifically designed to target wizards proficient in Memory Magic or possessing mental defenses such as Brain Defense.
The Imposter, woven from the target wizard’s own memories and emotions, could trick the magic set in the opponent’s mind for a short period.
Just then, a large amount of processed memories and emotions of Essex, under Vaughn’s wand, turned into white mist that shimmered with starlight.
They intertwined and merged, and soon, a human form extremely similar to Essex rapidly took shape as Vaughn waved his wand.
“Go!”
Vaughn lifted his wand, and the humanoid figure was lifted by him like a puppet, then “pushed” into Essex’s brain.
The next second, Vaughn “saw” it shimmering with starlight and falling into the mental storm. The boundless mist, extended by the first Persona Embodiment, immediately enveloped it.
The humanoid figure, along with the mist, gradually sank into the storm, into those chaotic, violent fragments, penetrating deeper.
After an unknown amount of time, a “barrier” appeared.
It was a concept that was difficult to describe, unclear where it was or what its form was, but in the feedback from the Persona Embodiment, there was indeed an invisible entity blocking them.
Through the feedback, Vaughn vaguely sensed that it was like the center of an endless storm, a tranquil void.
“The wizard who set up the defense for him has very strong memory magic skills, but still not as good as Dumbledore…”
Vaughn had entered Old Dumbledore’s mind world before.
There, his feeling was the same as now, only a tranquil void. But the difference was that Old Dumbledore’s entire mind world was “void”; it seemed like he could see many things, but upon careful examination, there was nothing.
If he had to give a concrete evaluation, it would be perfect!
No flaws, no loopholes, no foundation to be shaken… nothing.
Unlike the defense of Essex’s mind world, this one still had loopholes to exploit.
As Vaughn willed it, the mist enveloping the humanoid figure slowly receded. The humanoid figure came into contact with the invisible barrier, and then, like a drop of water falling into the sea, it directly “dissolved” into it!
“Success!”
Receiving the feedback, Vaughn’s expression was calm. Of course, the Imposter’s function was not yet perfect, and the opponent’s defense was also very crude.
So, although he was curious about the structure and principles of the defense used, Vaughn did not create unnecessary complications. Instead, as planned, he began to steal Essex’s “secrets”!
Before long, a continuous stream of memories, filtered and transmitted by the mist tendrils, flowed into Vaughn through his wand.
“…Bruce, are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure. The incident last time where Marino was captured and his memories stolen cannot happen again.”
“I must remind you again, once someone tries to break through this defense, it will self-destruct along with the memories you’ve stored within it. This self-destruction will not distinguish between friend or foe, and your spirit will suffer extremely severe trauma, very possibly…”
“I know, possibly turning into an idiot. You should also understand that if someone can invade my mind and touch this defense, it means I’ve been captured. With the methods pure-bloods use against people like us, I’d rather become an idiot.”
The light and shadow of memories were hazy and dreamlike.
Like a movie scene with soft focus, everything was shrouded in a halo. Vaughn walked through this Baroque-style manor.
Flowers bloomed profusely, and the sun was warm.
Illusions flickered around him, replaying events that had happened here.
These were secret memories he had stolen from Essex, many were disorganized, and quite a few were useless to him. Moreover, distinguishing truth from falsehood was difficult. In the strategy of mental defense, mixing true and false memories had always been a tried-and-true method.
It was only when he heard the conversation above that Vaughn stopped.
Two figures were located behind a patch of flowers, one naturally was Essex, and the other…
Vaughn frowned. The other figure was shrouded in mist!
“So cautious… Even though these memories are hidden and under the self-destruct mechanism, the person who personally set up the defense still obscured their own existence.”
This blurring was not just a facial blurring, but a conceptual one, representing that in all of Essex’s memories, memories of this person had been subjected to an avoidance mechanism!
Vaughn thought for a moment, and a wisp of white mist emerged from the cuff of his robe, winding towards the blurred figure.
But this wisp of mist, transformed from the Persona Embodiment, capable of discerning memory information and conducting searches and retrievals, passed directly through the figure.
“As expected, it doesn’t work…”
Seeing the expected result, Vaughn pondered on the spot for a moment and didn’t dwell on it. Even if the other party was not as skilled as Dumbledore, they were likely a master of Memory Magic.
When facing such masters of Memory Magic without understanding anything, failure was inevitable.
The two figures behind the flowers began to repeat the previous conversation. Vaughn didn’t leave either, but stayed in place, releasing more and more white mist.
Before long, the entire manor was shrouded in a faint mist!
He closed his eyes slightly. In the world of the mind, the mist transformed by the Persona Embodiment was an extension of his “senses.” Through them, he could filter various information with higher efficiency.
Soon, Vaughn sensed something. He sank into the mist and reappeared in another room, like a secret chamber.
It was still Essex and that blurred phantom.
“…Do we have to control him? I have a bad feeling about this. Is the organization too optimistic? You always say potions distract him, but that’s just speculation, isn’t it?”
“Stop scaring yourself, Bruce. A young wizard who hasn’t even started his second year invented Wolfsbane Potion. How much energy do you think he has left to study magic?”
“Didn’t you notice his speeches? And all the actions he’s taken since founding WAC? Moreover, kidnapping a child, this…”
“Alright, those actions were likely Dumbledore’s doing. As for your later concerns… I’m sorry, Bruce, we have no choice!”
“Why no choice? We can seek cooperation, just like Ilvermorny!”
“Don’t be naive, Bruce. Cooperation requires equality. Vaughn Weasley has the unique Wolfsbane Potion. What do we have? What does Ilvermorny have? Neither we nor Ilvermorny can provide equivalent conditions. Cooperation? Do you think those people at WAC are doing charity work?”
“I…”
“Bruce, my friend, you’ve seen firsthand how miraculous that potion is. None of the werewolves we’ve captured have lost their minds during the full moon transformation. Do you understand what this means? An almost 100% success rate means werewolves have transformed from beasts into terrifying weapons!”
The blurred phantom grabbed Essex’s shoulder and emphasized: “If we can control them, we will possess the power to overturn the current situation. As long as we launch a few full moon wars, or as Vaughn Weasley said in his speech, he will develop a potion that allows werewolves to control their transformations themselves… then, our ideals can be realized!”
Ideals!
This was a fatal lure to anyone who held hope or despair!
Vaughn watched this memory unfold with cold eyes, observing Essex hesitate for a long time before finally agreeing to the plan under the beautiful prospect of controlling him depicted by the blurred phantom.
He didn’t feel any emotional fluctuation, even though the target of the two was himself.
Instead, he was thinking that he seemed to have been underestimated more than once!
“Should I make a big splash and let the wizarding world know my strength?”
Vaughn thought seriously.
In any world, if you give people the impression of weakness, then you have an original sin, and everyone will want to bully you.
Unfortunately, Vaughn hated that kind of trouble!
While lost in thought, another piece of information fed back. Vaughn sank into the mist and reappeared in another room.
To his surprise, however, Essex was not present this time.
In the small room, illuminated brightly by an unseen light source, only the blurred phantom stood in a halo of light.
As Vaughn appeared, “it” was lowering its head.
“…”
Looking at the figure’s strange behavior, which was inconsistent with the state of a memory, Vaughn frowned slightly. After a moment, he asked, “What should I call you?”
As he spoke, the blurred figure moved.
“It” raised its hand, and a few wisps of white mist slipped from “its” fingers as it stirred. A voice came, “You can call me DeSantis; Essex and the others call me that.”
Vaughn looked at “it” expressionlessly: “Are you a split consciousness of DeSantis? Or did he grant you intelligence?”
“It” tilted its head: “Neither is correct. You should say, he gave me life. I am a living memory!”
“…A concept I haven’t encountered.”
“That’s normal. This is my unique magic, just like your white mist… I believe Dumbledore must have taught you to forge your own path.”
“It” seemed to smile, its blurred face looking more vivid. “It” looked at Vaughn, its voice echoing throughout the room: “I deliberately agitated this white mist just now to prevent you from continuing to listen to that embarrassing conversation. I admit, I underestimated you a little before, Mr. Vaughn Weasley!”
The narrow, doorless, windowless room was not dark at all, but like the outside, it was filled with a warm amber light.
The world of the mind was always peculiar, seemingly illogical.
And for the two people in the room at this moment, this logic-deficient abstract matter was their forte.
The white mist in the room grew thicker, seemingly pouring in from some invisible gap. Correspondingly, the diffused amber light grew brighter, pressing down on the mist as if it were solid, preventing it from engulfing the blurred figure of “DeSantis”!
This was a confrontation between memory mages; all danger was hidden beneath a calm surface.
On the surface, as if nothing had happened, the two exchanged pleasantries:
“You know Dumbledore?”
“Yes, I’ve met him a few times and had pleasant conversations.”
“I haven’t heard him mention it, which means your relationship with him isn’t close enough for private meetings. To my knowledge, Dumbledore has rarely left England all these years, and on the few occasions he has, I also know that when I was researching, I didn’t see any delegations from America visiting the British Isles… Did you meet at the International Confederation?”
DeSantis’s blurred face seemed to flash with a smile: “You are very sharp, child.”
“The term ‘child’ seems to be favored by older wizards.”
Facing Vaughn’s continued verbal probing, DeSantis chuckled and asked with great interest, “Yes, I am 83 years old. Can you guess who I am?”
Vaughn’s expression remained unchanged: “I will investigate later. Memory magic at your level cannot belong to an unknown person, unless…”
DeSantis’s gaze grew more appreciative: “That’s right, child. A simple and effective Obliviation spell can magically erase a wizard from people’s memories. Resisting pure-bloods was not a sudden impulse; I’ve been preparing for this for a long time.”
Upon hearing this, Vaughn subtly frowned.
A wizard who meticulously hid his identity and seemed well-prepared made him feel uneasy.
He intended to probe further.
But DeSantis clearly didn’t want to continue this topic. It lowered its head, looked at the white mist that had spread to its waist, undulating and contending with the amber light, and exclaimed:
“A very imaginative memory magic. Using Essex’s memories and emotions as a shell, weaving a lifelike main consciousness. I must admit, this is a situation I never considered in the past. When I left this defense spell, it was only to prevent Essex’s memories from being stolen, but I never thought of guarding against him ‘himself’.”
“But it was suppressed by you,” Vaughn said calmly.
DeSantis shook its head: “No, because you had reservations and didn’t dare to go all out. After all, it was ‘smuggled’ in through deception. Once the commotion became too loud, Essex’s subconscious would notice the anomaly, and then it would activate the defense spell, and your plan would fail.”
Vaughn looked at it: “This is also what I don’t understand. Since DeSantis left you, it should have been to prevent such a situation. Why didn’t you activate the defense spell and self-destruct this mental space?”
“Because I wanted to talk to you in person.”
With that, DeSantis made an inviting gesture.
The room trembled silently, and a portal opened in the dazzling amber light, leading directly to the garden outside: “This manor is Essex’s most beautiful memory. There are many landscapes that can relax people and make them feel that there is still hope in the world. Shall we take a walk?”
Vaughn remained silent, only slowly following.
Outside, the entire sky was bathed in the afterglow. This should be a scene extracted from Essex’s memories.
A manor bathed in twilight.
The amber halo seemed solidified, enveloping the buildings, walls, flowers, and even the most ordinary paving stones, gilding everything with a golden edge.
In the distance, a similarly golden stream flowed in. In this abstract place, it defied all laws of the real world, suspended in the air like a crystal vein, winding between buildings and gardens.
But Vaughn’s attention was not on this stream or the manor, but on the twilight.
Specifically, the setting sun on the horizon!
Noticing his gaze, DeSantis smiled: “I must praise you again, child, you are very sharp. That sun is the projection of my defense spell in this abstract world, though its existence is more symbolic.”
“Because of you!”
“Yes, I am DeSantis’s proudest achievement, just like the white mist you created. I must say, you are the most talented young wizard I have ever seen.”
“Oh? How many people have you seen?”
“No need to probe. I haven’t been born for long, but I possess DeSantis’s memories. Wizards believe that all things have spirits. First of all, this ‘thing’ must be something that actually exists. Although memories are abstract, they clearly fall within the scope of ‘things’.”
Vaughn glanced at “DeSantis”: “Are you explaining your philosophy to me?”
“Of course!”
“Is this also allowed by DeSantis?”
“No, this is my decision,” it replied. “I told you, I am a living memory, a life born from abstract concepts. From the moment DeSantis used his memory to create me, I have been free, just like a real life.”
Life…
Vaughn muttered the word and said nothing more, instead listening to “DeSantis” continue:
“From the moment Essex fell unconscious and you first attempted to invade, I noticed you. I could have directly activated the defense spell and destroyed all the secrets stored here, but your actions, your strength, made me decide to take the risk and meet you.”
Vaughn was noncommittal: “What do you want to talk about?”
“Let’s talk about cooperation!”
“Heh…” Vaughn chuckled. “If you haven’t gone senile, you should remember the attitude the real DeSantis had towards me before you lured me to meet you.”
DeSantis said as a matter of course: “That’s because he underestimated your strength. Werewolves, WAC. The weak do not have the ability to control them, so it is natural for the strong to plunder.”
“But now it’s different. I have confirmed through Essex that you are a strong person, capable of controlling everything you currently possess, and equally qualified to have a conversation with DeSantis.”
Vaughn tilted his head and looked at it: “Are you so sure DeSantis will believe your judgment?”
“Yes, I was born from his memories. You can consider me as another him.”
“It” looked confident.
Vaughn still felt it was somewhat strange. A memory entity attached to an abstract mind world was making judgments like an independent entity in the real world, making decisions for another independent entity, its creator…
It felt absurd, like negotiating seriously with someone in a dream!
But he didn’t have much doubt about its previous statements. Although the so-called “living memory” was unheard of, Vaughn wasn’t surprised. The Golden Soul Theory even posited two great entities in the universe: the Great Reality （ and Aether ）. What was impossible in the wizarding world?
He only doubted whether “it” had the authority to make decisions.
Vaughn pondered for a moment and still shook his head: “If you really want to talk, then let the real DeSantis talk to me.”
“Oh, you don’t trust me.”
Vaughn smiled: “I know almost nothing about you, so how can there be trust?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Many things, for example, what is your organization called, and what is your ultimate goal? Essex’s idea is to kill all pure-bloods, but that cannot be the ideology and goal of an entire organization. As a leader, you should know the saying: A violent delight will end in violence.”
As they spoke, the two had passed through the manor’s garden. The countless phantoms that were here before were no longer seen along the way.
This confirmed “DeSantis’s” words; it controlled everything here.
The garden thus became very quiet, just like the amber light that now filled the sky and this mental space.
However, “DeSantis” had no intention of appreciating this scenery, unseen in the real world. It looked at Vaughn with admiration: “The last sentence was Shakespeare? Essex was right. You are indeed different from many wizards. You understand Muggles very well, which is rare.”
“I dare say that even Dumbledore, while claiming to be close to Muggles, actually views them like ants. How many people care about what ants are doing? But you, you don’t have that deep-rooted arrogance. This is a quality I don’t see in others, and it’s one of the reasons I’m willing to talk to you!”
“Thank you,” Vaughn said politely.
“DeSantis” was unconcerned by his calm demeanor. It said enthusiastically: “Back to the topic just now, you are right. I founded the organization with a deeper purpose, but I cannot say that. As for the organization’s name, I can tell you, since you will know it later anyway – the Arcane Brotherhood!”
Arcane Brotherhood!
Vaughn muttered the name a few times but found no corresponding memory in his mind. Including all the reports about North America he had focused on in the past year, and the intelligence provided by Old Barty Crouch, there was no such organization.
Seemingly sensing his confusion, “DeSantis” tapped its head, indicating:
“I’ve cast a spell on this name, similar to the effect of an Obliviation spell. Anyone who hears this name will find it harder to remember, and over time, the impression will fade quickly, and then be forgotten!”
Vaughn, having received an explanation, became even more puzzled. He frowned slightly: “Why do this?”
It shrugged: “To avoid being noticed by those Lords at Woolworths as much as possible…” It paused, then added, “Never mind, I’ll tell you some news as a token of my sincerity for cooperation—be wary of Dreamcatchers. If you have any secrets, it’s best not to discuss them where they can reach!”
“…And then?”
“My sincerity is limited to this,” it said, spreading its hands in an innocent manner.
Hah!
Vaughn chuckled, not expecting to be met with riddles himself, truly…
“I understand your caution. You know little about me or the Arcane Brotherhood, so it’s normal to have doubts,” it continued. “But I still have to say, in all of America, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone more suitable for cooperation than me.”
“I believe you know very well how powerful the strength you command can be if operated properly. Therefore, we are not the only ones coveting you and WAC. You are like a piece of fat meat now, surrounded by jackals. Before today, the Arcane Brotherhood and I were among them, but I am different from those people. I greatly respect strength. You have shown strength, and I will abandon my original plan. But others… may not!”
Vaughn’s expression was indifferent: “This is just your one-sided word.”
“Yes, but you cannot deny that the conversation you saw between me and Essex earlier represents the most common plan of many American wizarding organizations when facing you and WAC.”
“Perhaps!” Vaughn retorted. “As for whether the Arcane Brotherhood is suitable, I think you’ve overlooked the reasons you mentioned in your conversation with Essex—our cooperation is not equal. I can offer Wolfsbane Potion, what can you offer?”
“Ah—this is indeed a problem…”
“DeSantis” said with a troubled expression.
After thinking for a moment, just as it was about to say something more, Vaughn interrupted it.
Looking at the frozen twilight in the sky, Vaughn’s figure faded. Wisps of white mist gathered from all over the manor, enveloping him:
“Let’s end today’s conversation here. We’ll talk again after you’ve considered it. I’ll take Essex back!”
With that, his figure, along with the white mist, disappeared from somewhere.
Only the surrounding amber light remained. Because its target had suddenly disappeared, it trembled aimlessly for a few moments, then gradually returned to its calm state.
As if in eternal tranquility, “DeSantis” sat motionless for a moment, then stood up:
“What a cautious fellow…”
As it stood up, the tranquil manor became lively again. Phantoms appeared one after another, just as when Vaughn first entered, in the seemingly frozen light.
Essexes, blurred “DeSantises.”
It walked among the numerous phantoms, listening to the clamorous voices:
“Did he discover us?”
“Impossible, the great DeSantis cannot be discovered!”
“You idiot, you revealed too much, and let him escape!”
“Don’t be impatient, you reckless fool. Everything is under the control of the great DeSantis. The young wizard is vigilant and has never left his toy-like white mist. The great DeSantis finds it tricky and must be more patient—”
“Idiot! Fool! Moron!”
Ignoring the clamorous voices of those “DeSantises,” “DeSantis” pondered and walked into one of them.
Two blurred figures gradually merged. The moment they became one, all sounds disappeared!
In the dim yellow light, the manor, as if encased in amber, returned to normal. Peaceful, tranquil, the phantoms continued their “memories” according to schedule.
It was as if the scene from the previous moment had never happened…
…
Forest, deep night.
In the world of the mind, time flowed differently from reality. Vaughn felt he had stayed in Essex’s memories for a long time, but in reality, it was probably only a few minutes?
The campfire was still burning brightly, crackling.
Vaughn, his consciousness returned, looked at the unconscious and unconscious Essex opposite him, his brow furrowed.
“That DeSantis… is very strange!”
The strangeness was not the fact of “DeSantis” existing as a life form.
After all, transforming illusory, abstract memories into a life form with independent thought and intelligence, while Vaughn had never encountered it, was not a fantasy.
In fact, when Vaughn was initially developing Persona Embodiments, one of his goals was to perfect them into the concept of strong artificial intelligence in science fiction movies he had watched in his previous life.
Both studied the disciplines of this real universe.
If technology could do it, magic certainly could.
“What I find strange is not that there is anything unusual about it, but that everything is too normal…”
With a faint blue glow in his eyes, Vaughn scanned the unconscious Essex. His mind was still in a state of chaos, the “storm” of his spirit had not yet subsided.
The chaotic spiritual light, in his eyes, was like a muddy mixture of various colors.
Clearly distinct, yet distorted and twisted!
“Everything seems reasonable. Essex’s sanity collapse was the result of my instigation, and delving into his inner secrets was also my own decision. Encountering ‘DeSantis’ was unexpected, but after careful consideration of the process, it is logical—if I were helping someone hide a secret, I would also leave a Persona Embodiment to avoid unforeseen circumstances!”
“This is the inevitable choice for someone with the corresponding ability. The only problem is that its position changed too quickly… Just by confirming my strength through Essex’s experience, it decided to switch the originally determined plan?”
Although it made sense logically.
But such a change was very “unrealistic”!
After all, humans are emotional creatures. In things dominated by humans, the generally followed rule is that position is higher than right and wrong, taking sides is higher than truth, and closeness is higher than reason!
Although these rules can be reversed under the principle of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, there must be a transition in the development of things.
But in the conversation with “DeSantis,” Vaughn did not detect such a transition, only sincerity—it even revealed part of the intelligence about “Dreamcatchers” to gain his trust!
Vaughn considered himself not deeply knowledgeable about human nature, but he understood that when someone’s attitude towards you exceeds common sense, you had better be wary of other motives, especially when they had harbored malice towards you not long ago!
Thinking this, he opened his satchel and took out parchment.
