Chapter 44: Ron’s Courage
He nudged the dazed Harry, wanting to talk and pull himself out of his depression: “Harry, what’s wrong with you?”
Harry jolted.
When he came to his senses, he found he had already taken out his textbook and was ready to do homework!
It was too terrible!
He quickly forgot Hermione’s voice, which echoed in his ears, and forced himself to shift his attention:
“I, I was thinking about the Halloween gift!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry was startled. Was it almost Halloween? Time flies so fast?
Rounding to the nearest year, this year is almost over?
Hermione’s instilled sense of urgency made Harry almost despair.
Ron, trying to shake off his depression, also let out a mournful cry like a defeated dog.
Because he suddenly remembered something—gifts are given on Halloween!
The problem is, buying gifts costs money, and he had no money…
This was the real tragedy.
…
For the next few days, Harry had nightmares.
He dreamed that time flowed away like waves, and he grew old in the blink of an eye, dying before he had had enough fun.
How could that be acceptable?
He had a few days of wild fun, and it was only after he finally forgot Hermione’s terrible words that he received a notice from Wood that Gryffindor’s first Quidditch match of the season would be after Halloween.
Their opponents were Slytherin.
This made Harry’s just-recovered mood fall into distress again. What made him feel worse was that as Halloween approached, his two good friends’ conditions were becoming increasingly abnormal.
Hermione, needless to say, her time anxiety was incurable.
Strangely, even Ron had become odd. He started spacing out all day, and occasionally, he could be heard sighing in the restroom.
These symptoms were worst every morning. Several times, Harry saw Ron staring at Vaughn’s retreating back, eager to try but hesitant.
Harry had asked a few times, but each time Ron would stammer and brush it off.
Ron’s abnormality was naturally noticed by Vaughn as well.
However, he didn’t have the mood to deal with it for the moment.
He put aside Dumbledore’s inquiry from that day. His “interest” in magical creatures could wait, but potion research was the top priority.
So after that day, Vaughn buried himself in the rich material stores in Snape’s Office.
The 5 Reputation Points from the system’s settlement for the previous month were invested in the “Scarping Apparition Curse.”
Due to frequent use over the past month, and with the push of Vaughn’s Spell Talent 7 and Potion Talent 10, the number in parentheses for the Scarping Apparition Curse had increased by 1 point a few days prior.
Therefore, after investing 5 Reputation Points, the spell naturally advanced.
【Scarping Apparition Curse LV3（0/32）】
With a thought, he closed the System Panel and looked at the potion in front of him, chanting the spell.
Soon, familiar light and colors appeared before his eyes. As he waved his wand, the potion reverted to its raw material state.
But unlike usual, his mastery of the Scarping Apparition Curse had suddenly soared to an extremely deep level today.
He began to gradually perceive the process of the spell’s effect and, while casting it, injected a bit more magic, causing some positive interference in its reverted result.
The result was that the raw material state reversion caused by the spell did not deepen further into the material itself, but gradually began to emit a fluorescence—
That was the light of characteristic magic!
Sensing the changes in the room, Snape, who was grading homework, looked up and saw the fluorescent light flickering within the few blobs of liquid suspended in front of Vaughn.
He could barely maintain his aloof expression.
“You used the Scarping Apparition Curse to perform a characteristic reversion on a finished potion, not a material reversion?”
He asked in surprise, “How did you do that?”
Vaughn, also very pleased, gently directed the blobs of liquid into separate containers and replied cheerfully, “When casting the spell, I added a little magic interference technique and firm belief, Professor.”
But Snape, who was also familiar with the Scarping Apparition Curse, didn’t think it was a “little technique.”
The more advanced and mature a spell was, the harder it was to change. Any rash alteration could lead to the spell failing or even cause unpredictable consequences.
Vaughn’s success indicated that his mastery of the Scarping Apparition Curse had reached an extremely deep level.
At least, it surpassed his own!
Snape’s mood became complicated for a moment. The first emotion that surged was jealousy, jealousy of Vaughn’s talent, which anyone would feel when seeing someone do better than themselves.
More or less.
But what followed was joy.
It was a joy filled with many complex thoughts, partly because, as a teacher, he saw his student achieve something, and partly because the Magic Power Extraction Method and new potions were showing signs of progress.
And even more so because it was an “evil Slytherin” who accomplished all this.
Snape hadn’t forgotten Dumbledore’s plan to groom the famous Potter… Hmph!
If he could groom Potter, couldn’t he groom Vaughn, who would be even more famous than Potter in the future?
Such a thought almost melted the coldness on Snape’s face, and his voice involuntarily rose a little the next moment: “Slytherin gains 10 points, Vaughn, well done!”
“This isn’t a classroom, Professor, points and such…”
“I’ll explain to Professor McGonagall.”
The biased Snape didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he had done, just as ten minutes later, he happily left the office and saw one of Harry’s friends, another Weasley, at the door.
He unhesitatingly made up an excuse:
“Ron Weasley, 2 points deducted from Gryffindor for you sneaking around and peeking into the Professor’s office!”
Then he swished his robe and glided away like a bat.
Ron stood there dumbfounded, trembling with anger.
Could this world ever be fair? When would the honest people stop being bullied?
But when Vaughn heard the commotion outside and opened the door, he asked, “Ron? What are you doing here?”
Ron immediately deflated like a pricked balloon.
He fiddled with his shirt hem, stammering, “You, um… can you lend me, lend me some money? Halloween is coming soon, and I want to buy some gifts for my friends… Mom said the homemade candy would be fine, but I… I…”
By the end, his voice had become inaudible. He didn’t dare look at Vaughn but couldn’t help but hope.
A light flickered in his darting eyes.
Vaughn said nothing and looked him up and down. Ron gripped his shirt hem tighter, gathering his courage: “I, I can call you, big… brother…”
Vaughn suddenly let out a laugh.
He hadn’t expected this guy, who had always been stubborn and proud since childhood, to back down today.
So suddenly, so… bravely!
Not everyone had the courage to bow down to a bully who had always tormented them, just to buy Halloween gifts for their friends!
Vaughn, who had intended to tease him, suddenly lost interest: “How much do you need?”
Ron, both delighted and suspicious, said cautiously, “10… 10 Sickles?”
Vaughn took money from his satchel and gave it to him. Until the silver coins landed in his palm, Ron still had a dazed look as if he were dreaming.
He couldn’t help but ask, “You, you don’t have any requirements? You’re just lending it to me?”
Vaughn was speechless.
But then he thought of something, and a smile slowly curved his lips:
“Since you’re so strongly requesting it, I actually do have something for you to help with…”
Seeing that familiar smile, Ron wished he could slap himself!
