Chapter 182: Side Quest Complete, Spell Development Module!
“No matter what, our ‘decisive battle’ with them shouldn’t happen at this time, at this place!”
The WAC and the Ministry of Magic… no, to be precise, the “decisive battle” with those extremist pure-bloods should revolve around the werewolves currently heading to Boston!
When Michael Graves came last time, he had already made it clear: they saw potential in werewolves as a nascent force.
They wanted to keep this potential in their hands.
Therefore, until the very end, until the plan to “stop the werewolves from reaching Boston” fails, they would not completely fall out with Vaughn—there might be attacks, but they would definitely be kept within a certain range!
After all, their objective was the werewolves, not to kill Vaughn and anger England or Dumbledore.
If the cooperation between pure-bloods and Muggles is real, and they together create “artificial wizards,” then the pure-bloods would absolutely not want this matter exposed to the WAC and the Federation.
Not even a shred of a clue would be allowed!
But now, a Muggle politician, in broad daylight, speaks the word “Purifier,” which he shouldn’t have known.
Following Vaughn’s line of thought, Ajinbad took a deep breath, “If the Muggle’s appearance wasn’t a slip-up on the pure-bloods’ side, then…”
“Yes, then it means there’s a problem with the Muggles who are cooperating with the pure-bloods!”
Ajinbad was silent for a moment before saying, “Judging by your intention, it seems you have no plans to recall Kingsley, Lupin, and Tonks.”
If Kingsley, Lupin, and Tonks were recalled, then the conflict would not occur.
Vaughn glanced at him, “Why recall them? Don’t you want to find clues about those artificial wizards? Now, it’s been delivered right to your doorstep.”
“And you? What is your demand?”
“Guess~”
Ajinbad: “…”
…
All day, Michael Graves had been restless.
The representatives in the Woolworth Building were still arguing amongst themselves!
Even more intense and divisive than in the preceding days.
“…Have you people even used your brains? Can’t you see who that cunning brat Vaughn Weasley is sticking close to? Babajide Ajinbad! Vice President of the Federation! Always clamoring for tough action, arrests, and some even suggesting killing Weasley… Killing him in front of the Federation? Go ahead if you dare!”
“Coward!”
“I’m considering the bigger picture. Who doesn’t understand the Federation’s intentions? They’re eagerly waiting for us to make a mistake so they have an excuse to interfere in Federal affairs. And you lot, are you afraid they won’t have enough excuses?”
“Bob, I have to say this impartially, the WAC is not an organization under the Federation. Even if our relationship with the WAC deteriorates and conflict arises, the Federation has no reason to interfere between us. After all, how we handle diplomatic relations is our own business, a sovereign right that no country can infringe upon. I believe the Federation—”
“You’re dreaming!”
“You… you…”
The extremely foul-mouthed wizard Bob was clearly in a state of verbal rampage, spewing insults at any dissenting opinion. “Shitty sovereignty! Besides us, East Asia, and those rotten major powers in Europe, who cares about sovereignty? Especially those small countries? Dream on, they’d be overjoyed if the Federation’s special forces tore the Federation apart, you idiot!”
The old wizard, now classified as an “idiot” by Bob, pointed at Bob, couldn’t catch his breath, and fainted.
The surroundings immediately descended into chaos.
Some rushed to help the fallen, some rolled up their sleeves to fight Bob, some tried to break up the fight, and some took advantage of the confusion to retaliate.
In an instant, the grand assembly hall became a scene of utter pandemonium.
Only the speaker, Chairman Josiah Parker, on the podium, looked listless as he tapped his gavel, attempting to maintain order.
But in Michael Graves’s eyes, the man was merely going through the motions!
“Damn old bastard!” Sitting in the corner, ignoring the brawling representatives, Michael, who had been watching Josiah Parker the entire time, had a sinister glint in his eyes.
The current situation in the council was entirely the result of that old fossil’s manipulation.
Listening to the clamor around him, Michael Graves’s already unpleasant mood worsened.
Just as he was pinching his brow, forcibly suppressing his irritation, the door to the grand assembly hall opened.
An Auror hurried in, his expression tense. He ignored the chaotic representatives and quickly approached Michael Graves, whispering urgently in his ear, “Minister, there’s some issue with Third Salem.”
Hearing this, Michael Graves frowned, “What is it?”
“This afternoon, the Muggles of Third Salem, along with people from the WAC, appeared at a rally. The host of the rally was a candidate for the Presidency of the Muggle Donkey Party… He, he knows about the Purifiers!”
“What?”
Michael was stunned, then cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
He could no longer sit still. He stood up, taking the Auror to a lounge in the grand assembly hall. As soon as the door closed, his face darkened, “What exactly is going on!”
The Auror, also sweating profusely, replied, “We’re not sure either. The Dreamcatcher monitoring center detected that the presidential candidate at the rally directly uttered the keywords ‘Purifiers’ and ‘Wizards.’ According to subsequent monitoring, we also learned that tonight he will invite Witches from the WAC to his home to review the confidential documents that recorded the Purifiers…”
“…”
Michael didn’t know what expression to wear for a moment. He gritted his teeth, “Confidential documents?”
“Yes… yes, it’s very likely… it might be our cooperation plan with the Muggles…”
Before he could finish speaking, the surroundings blurred momentarily.
The air became thick and heavy; it was Michael Graves’s uncontrolled magic, interfering with reality!
The Auror, sweating profusely, dared not move. He could only watch as his superior, the Minister of the Department of Magical Security, his expression shifting from grim to ferocious and twisted:
“Why would the documents appear in the hands of that Muggle? How did you arrange your people? Hmm?”
“M-Minister…” The Auror’s legs trembled, but he still tried to explain, “That Muggle, and the rally, were not arranged by us. We don’t know why he would hold a rally there, or why Third Salem would bring people from the WAC…”
What terrified him was that this explanation did not soften Mr. Graves’s demeanor at all. Veins bulged on his contorted face, and his skin turned red with anger.
Bang!
The Auror was sent flying, crashing heavily against the wall before slumping to the ground. He groaned in pain, blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
However, he didn’t dare to resist, let alone groan loudly. He struggled to prop himself up and crawled back in front of Graves.
“Idiot! Possessing magic, possessing Dreamcatchers, and yet being deceived by a bunch of Muggles, useless! Useless!”
With another bang, the Auror was sent flying again.
Fortunately, this time Mr. Graves clearly held back; he only broke a rib.
“What are you still standing around for? Take people to Boston and stop the WAC people from getting those documents!”
The Auror hastily agreed, scrambling out of the lounge.
After smashing a few paintings in the lounge in anger and briefly venting his frustration, Michael Graves quickly left the grand assembly hall.
The representatives, still engrossed in their fight, barely noticed the disheveled and somewhat hurried, discomposed Minister of Magical Security.
Only a few wizards, who seemed to have been keeping an eye on Graves’s movements, changed their expressions, quietly withdrew from the brawl, and left the grand assembly hall one after another.
All of this was observed by Speaker Josiah Parker from his seat on the podium.
“Fischer, Fontana, Lopez, McDuff, O’Brien… and Wilkinson… only these six families are plotting something with Graves? What about the Rosiers, the Joansies, and the Gringotts?”
The Speaker’s cloudy old eyes narrowed into slits. Under the guise of concealment, his sharp gaze quickly swept over the brawling representatives below, accurately identifying the representatives of the families he was suspicious of.
The first two were enthusiastically wrestling with Potter and Weiss. The representative of the Gringotts family—a pitifully thin man—was pinned under the leg of the burly representative from the Stuart family, whose hair was as abundant as a lion’s.
“Did the other 7 families not bring them along, or are they, as they appear now, simply being held up and unable to disengage?”
As he pondered, the sharpness in the Speaker’s eyes receded. He remained the Speaker from a small family, seemingly “powerless” to control the council, and could only weakly tap his gavel a few times on the table.
Dong dong dong.
The faint sound certainly couldn’t stop the representatives, who had become heated in their fight. But on the periphery of the battle, a representative from a small family, who had been watching the spectacle, suddenly perked up.
She glanced at the Speaker on the high platform.
“Tracy, don’t speak, follow Graves!”
A faint voice, as if traveling from a great distance, reached her ear.
Tracy nodded imperceptibly, then quietly withdrew and followed the direction Graves had left.
Using magical vision, Tracy saw several “fresh” footprints leading deeper into the corridor. She took out her wand and cast an Invisibility Spell on herself, then quietly crept forward.
The footprints were messy, indicating that their owner had been in a hurry.
The footprints led all the way to the elevator. To Tracy’s relief, her targets, despite their haste, had not yet gone far.
They were gathered at the elevator entrance, surrounded by an “air wall” that distorted light. It was a ward, capable of blocking internal sight and sound, and it served as a warning—any intrusion would immediately alert the caster.
However, Tracy, being invisible, was not worried. She glanced at the elevator car door on the other side of the ward, which had already opened.
Since these people had opened the elevator, it meant they were going in. And inside an elevator, magic could not be maintained, nor could wards, as they would interfere with the electrical power.
She flew up to the ceiling. With a low chant, the Invisibility Spell was dispelled. Her skin rapidly fluctuated and deformed, and her body grew smaller and smaller.
Before long, a plain-colored moth dangled from the ventilation outlet in the ceiling and crawled inside.
Inside the elevator, a few wisps of scale dust drifted down from the ventilation.
Tracy waited patiently. Soon, a loud voice suddenly rang out at the elevator entrance. Several people, including Graves, walked in.
They were arguing:
“…Who was it that guaranteed everything was under control? Hmm? Now you’re saying that we! Wizards! The 12 pure-bloods! Could very well be manipulated like fools by a bunch of Muggles?”
“Jimmy, nothing is finalized yet. That’s just Michael’s speculation…”
“A Muggle presidential candidate appearing in Boston and revealing something that shouldn’t have been revealed, and you’re telling me it’s not finalized? It’s obvious those damned Muggles betrayed us!”
“Perhaps it was just a document leak?” a middle-aged witch said, clinging to a shred of hope.
She was Mary Lopez Jr.
Tracy recognized her; a witch who always held her head high, looking down on everyone outside the 12 pure-bloods, albeit condescendingly—even if she herself was from a small pure-blood family.
Tracy quietly crawled out of the vent, flapped her wings a few times, and, taking advantage of the witch’s flustered state, lightly landed on her coiled hair and burrowed in.
No one noticed this; their attention was focused on Michael Graves.
The Minister of Magical Security was anxious, even irritable. “Whether those Muggles accidentally leaked the documents or if they are using us, I don’t know for sure right now. Aren’t we going to see for ourselves? What’s the point of blaming me now before we have accurate information?”
Jimmy Fischer opened his mouth, then finally just let out a cold snort and said no more.
The elevator car fell silent. Amidst the quiet, someone pressed the elevator button.
Hiding in Mary Lopez’s hair, Tracy sensed the elevator descending, then moving laterally for a distance before stopping again.
The elevator door opened, and Tracy cautiously peeked her head out.
What greeted her eyes was a vast, pure white, and extremely empty space. Apart from lights, there was almost no furniture.
Only on the floor in the center of the space sat a worn-out boot.
“A Portkey…?”
Woolworth Building prohibits Apparition, Portkeys, and other space magic.
Speaking of which, this was Grindelwald’s contribution. While impersonating Percival Graves, he diligently helped the Ministry of Magic improve a series of security loopholes.
“The 12 pure-bloods actually created a hidden room within Woolworth Building that is not protected by anti-Apparition charms… However, it’s not entirely unexpected. Not even setting up a Floo network in Woolworth Building could be considered restraint on their part…”
Tracy thought sarcastically.
The 12 pure-blood families had controlled the Ministry of Magic for too long. In their eyes, Woolworth Building had probably become their private property, and they naturally did things as they pleased.
Michael Graves, walking at the forefront, suddenly stopped and drew his wand. “Everyone, check yourselves. Make sure you haven’t brought anything strange.”
“You do this every time, who are you guarding against?”
“Stop complaining. Haven’t you noticed lately? That old fellow Josiah Parker has been restless. Perhaps those small families are up to something again.”
As a few wizards spoke, they began casting spells on each other. Before they could draw their wands, Tracy had already left Mary Lopez.
Moving away from Graves and the others, she didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she quietly flew up, perched on the ceiling, and watched as Graves and the others, after completing their checks, gathered around the worn-out boot and touched it.
The Portkey activated.
Space distorted violently, the boot collapsed into a single point, and Graves and the others were pulled like a twisted, vibrating ball of yarn into the air, vanishing instantly.
“Where would the other side of the Portkey be?”
Tracy decided to wait for their return.
Perhaps after confirming something on the other side of the Portkey, she could glean more intelligence from their conversation upon their return.
And she waited for over an hour!
As time passed, Tracy gradually felt that something was wrong:
“They should have just gone to the other side to scout and confirm something. Why would it take so long? Could it be…”
This strange situation made Tracy uneasy. Just as she was hesitating whether to return to the grand assembly hall to report to Speaker Josiah Parker.
Below, there was finally movement.
A worn-out boot “Apparated” out of nothingness.
But to Tracy’s astonishment, she saw no one beside the boot—
Only the Portkey had returned.
“Merlin…”
Tracy felt her heart race, her vision blacken. The sudden panic almost suffocated her.
She knew, they were in big trouble!
…
Woolworth Building, 86.5th Floor—a hidden floor. All the representatives had gathered here, crowding into the room where the Portkey was located.
Even filled with wizards, no one in the room spoke. The atmosphere was so heavy it was suffocating.
An old wizard with a snow-white beard that trailed down to his chest practically pressed his eyes to the old boot, poking at it with his wand.
After a moment, he straightened up and shook his head at Josiah Parker, “No signs of interference with the Portkey. This is a normal Portkey; no confusion, no deception, no tampering.”
At this moment, Josiah Parker had shed his image of a senile old man from the grand assembly hall. Hearing the old wizard’s words, he looked at Tracy, “Are you sure they left using this Portkey?”
Tracy nodded, “Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.”
Speaker Parker then looked at the crowd, or rather, at the representatives from the Graves, Lopez, and other families. “What place is on the other side of the Portkey?”
The pure-blood representatives he was staring at began to sweat uncontrollably. The Speaker, whom they usually mocked in private, now seemed strange and majestic, making them panic.
And the most awkward part was—
A representative from the Graves family, under the Speaker’s intense gaze, bit the bullet and replied, “I… we don’t know either.”
Speaker Parker remained silent in response to his answer.
The Graves family representative looked crestfallen, “Mr. Speaker, it’s true. We are just a side branch… How could they possibly tell us their business?”
Speaker Josiah Parker’s gaze slowly swept across the crowd. Missing were the representative figures from the Graves, Fischer, Fontana, Lopez, McDuff, O’Brien, and Wilkinson families. Did all their remaining branches truly know nothing?
Perhaps not!
However, that was not something to consider now.
Josiah Parker withdrew his gaze and looked at the old wizard beside him, who was still examining the Portkey, “Is there any way to pinpoint the location on the other side?”
“You want to determine the location and use Dreamcatcher to investigate there?” The old wizard quickly understood his intention but still shook his head. “We can pinpoint it, but it will take some time, a few hours… It’s already been two hours since they disappeared. If we delay any longer, there will probably be no trace left on that side. The best method is to send someone using this Portkey to teleport there directly.”
Josiah Parker rejected the suggestion without a second thought:
“No one knows what the situation is on the other side. What happened to Minister Michael Graves, Minister Mary Lopez, Minister Wilkinson, and the others, resulting in none of the seven powerful wizards returning…”
Saying this, Josiah Parker felt a headache coming on.
Even though he had always been dissatisfied with the 12 pure-bloods’ control over Congress and wanted to balance and reduce their power, he had never imagined such a scenario as seven ministers disappearing at once!
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but that he couldn’t.
After much deliberation, he had no good ideas and could only command:
“I will draft an agreement shortly, and all the representatives present today will have to sign it to seal the news of the disappearance of the seven ministers…”
“I hope you all abide by my confidentiality order. Otherwise, you will have to face the wizards from the seven departments that have lost their ministers. After all, you all know I’m just a figurehead!”
As he spoke, the representatives, who had been somewhat disgruntled, widened their eyes.
They probably never expected this old man, who always appeared weak, to be so cunning and shameless.
Seeing that the crowd was quiet and no one objected, Josiah Parker continued, “Notify the Deputy Minister of the Department of Magical Security and the Head Auror. Security must not be neglected. The news of Graves’s disappearance can be kept from others, but he must be informed.”
But to Speaker Parker’s surprise, upon hearing his command, his assistant looked hesitant:
“Your Excellency, the Deputy Minister of the Department of Magical Security is not in Woolworth Building. He and the Head Auror left a while ago… not long before Minister Graves disappeared.”
Hearing this, Josiah Parker suddenly remembered that Graves’s behavior had been unusual because an Auror had rushed into the grand assembly hall and told him something.
At the time, he had only paid attention to Graves and not to anything else. Now, recalling the Auror leaving in a hurry, clutching his chest, blood flowing from his nose and mouth.
Josiah Parker suddenly had a bad premonition. “They… did they take an Auror? How many?”
“Yes.” The assistant looked bitter. “Of the 12 Auror Squads in the Department of Magical Security, they took 8…”
“…”
The respected Speaker Parker touched his chest. Yes, it felt like a heart attack.
His face rapidly turned from white to red, then from red to black. Soon, his roar echoed in the empty room, “Then what are you waiting for? Go investigate! Find out where they went, and stop them!”
Damn Graves!
Why didn’t he disappear sooner?
You’d better be dead, or else…
After dismissing the assistant, Speaker Parker panted, gnashing his teeth. But behind his furious rage was a deep sense of worry.
He had a premonition that things were sliding in a direction he did not want to see…
…
“Roar—”
A tragic dragon roar echoed through the Suitcase Space.
The fluctuations of the complex ritual magic spread throughout the space. Wind howled across the plains, and the mountains and trees at the edge of the “horizon” swayed violently in the gale.
In mid-air, the Fireball Dragon was dismembered into countless “fragments,” its exposed veins and nerves wriggling and twitching like worms.
A Tree Bee named Betty ran excitedly beneath it, flapping her wings occasionally, but afraid to disturb her master’s experiment, she dared not fly.
Although, ancestrally speaking, the Fireball Dragon was her close relative, her kin. However, Fire Dragons have no human morality and almost no empathy.
In the minds of ferocious Fire Dragons like Tree Bees, it was: Self > Family > Tribe, and everything else was a competitor and prey.
Of course, for Betty, there was also a “Master” who held the highest priority.
Although she initially submitted to her master only out of fear, after spending these days together, Betty discovered that having multiple masters wasn’t so bad.
Her master was powerful, not only able to protect her but also possessing a vast territory independent of reality, and all sorts of strange potions for her to snack on.
Here, she didn’t have to worry about hunting, didn’t have to fear waking up in a daze, and battling other magical creatures that invaded or stumbled into her nest.
What Betty liked most was that her master brought many Fire Dragons but only dismembered them into strange forms, without using any part of them as trophies. After use, they were mostly handed over to her for disposal.
In these past few days, Betty had already collected 16 dragon horns （ Some Fire Dragons had more than two dragon horns ）.
This glorious “record,” if she could ever return to her tribe…
As if envisioning that scene, Betty’s vertical pupils fixed even more eagerly on the Fireball Dragon in mid-air.
Of course, in her eyes, there was more reverence.
Reverence for the magical fluctuations spreading in circles in mid-air, disturbing the entire space. The air pressed down heavily, causing the grass to bow.
Even more reverence for her master, floating in mid-air not far away, who was causing all of this.
In Betty’s Fire Dragon vision, her master at this moment was radiating intense light. It wasn’t true light, but the presence imprinted on this world by vast and clear magical power.
It was also deeply etched in Betty’s mind, just as it was the first time she saw him.
Powerful, dazzling, like the sun!
If… if he didn’t have other dragons…
As if thinking of something unhappy, Betty’s vertical pupils contracted into a thin slit. She glanced to the side, where a pair of protein-rich eyes, suspended and encased in many unidentifiable potions, also floated in mid-air.
“Hiss!”
Betty spat with ill intent.
Perhaps sensing the malice in her gaze, the protein-rich eyes looked over.
But it was only a glance before they shifted away, the colorful pupils continuing to stare at Vaughn.
Elegant, beautiful.
Even though blood was seeping from her body, encased in the potion—a side effect of the live experiment—she still maintained her composure.
Betty detested her pretense!
Sigh, why didn’t her master kill her?
Thinking dejectedly, suddenly, Betty lifted her head. She noticed that the magical fluctuations in the air were gradually weakening. After participating for days, she understood that this meant her master’s experiment was about to end.
As expected, as the magical fluctuations gradually receded, Vaughn slowly descended.
But Betty didn’t rush forward immediately because her Fire Dragon vision clearly saw that the sun-like “light” around her master suddenly expanded by a circle.
A large amount of bright colors erupted from that “light,” making him appear as if he were burning.
Betty tilted her head in confusion, not knowing what had happened. She only sensed that the already powerful master’s fluctuations had suddenly become even heavier.
Betty’s perception was not wrong.
“Magic Power is growing…”
Gently floating down from the air, Vaughn clearly felt a surge of magic, originating from no known source, smoothly and unimpeded, integrating into his body.
As if it had always belonged to him!
Vaughn was not surprised by this sudden influx of magic.
Because, with the just-concluded experiment, he had completed System’s Side Quest ③!
【Side Quest ③: Research the magic of all Fire Dragons and understand their basic principles （Completed）】
【Progress: 10/10】
【Reward: 100 Magic Power Scale, Spell Development Module （Claimed）】
The System Panel popped up before his eyes. Besides the task completion and reward claimed notifications, the details on the panel changed as the magic from the task reward was injected.
【Host: Vaughn Weasley】
【Magic Power Scale: 694 (Normal Adult Wizard is 500)】
【Talents: Charms Mastery 8, Dark Arts 6, Transfiguration 8, Potions Mastery 10, Herbology Mastery 6, Alchemy 6, Divination Mastery 2 (Max is 10)】
【Spells: Legilimency LV5(MAX), Full Body-Bind Curse LV5(MAX), Disarming Charm LV5(MAX), Evanesco LV5（MAX）…】
【Curses: Reviving Curse LV1（1/4）, Time Curse LV2（7/24）…】
【Ancient Magic: Soul Steal LV0（1/4）, Vaughn’s Living Disintegration Ritual】
【Alchemy LV0（5/20）】
【Spell Development Module】
【Potions: “Vaughn’s Beauty” series, Wolfsbane Potion, etc…】
【Reputation Points: 42 points】
“694 Magic Power Scale, according to the system’s evaluation system, far exceeds that of a normal adult wizard.” Lowering his head, Vaughn thought as he felt the growth in his stamina and magic power gradually slow down, and the numbers on the panel in his vision quickly jumped and then settled at 694.
The gap between ordinary wizards—this range also includes special professions like Aurors—is actually not that large.
Especially in terms of magic power.
Most wizards, upon reaching adulthood, are basically in the late stages of physical development.
Magic power, which grows rapidly with development, then enters a plateau period.
Without special encounters, the magic power a wizard can personally grow is mostly at the standard of the system’s normal adult wizard. Depending on talent, there might be a difference of tens of points, but in terms of the overall base, this gap is not so large as to be insurmountable.
“However, if the numerical difference exceeds 100, the concept changes.”
Feeling the sudden surge of magic within him, although he couldn’t be precise about how much stronger he was due to the lack of a quantitative standard in reality, Vaughn could roughly judge through sensory comparison that he should now be comparable to a seasoned old wizard like Babajide Ajinbad.
He had already surpassed Michael Graves, whom he had seen last time!
Of course, the reward for Side Quest ③, magic power, was just a bonus.
Vaughn looked at the newly added section on the panel:
【Spell Development Module】
