Hogwarts: What wicked thoughts could a little wizard possibly have?

Chapter 3 Hogwarts Letter

On the fifth floor, after dealing with his emotionally charged mother and siblings, Vaughn returned to his private room and stared at the system panel in front of him, lost in thought.

This was the first time he had seen a "mission" since the system was awakened.

Moreover, the task doesn't seem to care about success or failure; there are no penalties, only rewards for success.

But it was precisely that reward that caught his eye.

"Talent points..."

Ever since the "Newbie Gift Pack" maxed out his "Potion Mastery" talent and he experienced how easy and amazing it was to learn and brew potions with 10 talent points, Vaughn has been looking forward to new ways to improve his talent.

What's more, there's also the magic scale!

As the name suggests, magic scale refers to the total amount and intensity of magic power in a wizard's body. The higher the magic scale, the stronger the spells that can be cast, and the more times that spells can be cast.

However, magic power should not be simply understood as mana or spell power, because casting spells also requires consuming emotions, and the power of a spell is related to the proficiency with the spell.

There are still two months left until the mission is completed.

Vaughn stopped paying attention and turned off the system panel.

He then looked at the Hogwarts letter he had just opened. The first page, written in elegant handwriting, read:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (President of the International Confederation of Wizards, First Class Wizard of the Order of Merlin, Head Wizard of Wizengamor)

Dear Mr. Weasley:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of the required books and items.

The semester is scheduled to begin on September 1st, and we will be waiting for your reply from the owl by July 31st.

Vice Principal (Female)

[Respectfully submitted by Minerva McGonagall]

After finishing writing the reply while hunched over the table, he sent it to Hogwarts via the Weasleys' new owl—poor old Errol, who was so old that he nearly fell into the pond a few years ago while delivering potions brewed by Vaughn.

So after Vaughn made his money, he retired it and let it enjoy its old age. Now it lives in the garden.

That was also the first time Arthur and Molly accepted money from Vaughn.

Errol's advanced age left them powerless, and they couldn't even think of a reason to refuse.

On several subsequent occasions, the money was also used for the renovation of the entire house, while daily life relied entirely on Arthur's salary—they didn't want their children to have conflicts or estrangement because of money.

Thinking of money, Vaughn turned to the second page of the letter and shook his head as he looked at the densely packed list of books and equipment.

"Looks like Ron's going to be scavenging Bill and Charlie's leftovers again. Hopefully, that guy won't be crying again!"

In fact, Ron was much "stronger" than Vaughn had imagined.

When Vaughn finished delivering the letter and walked out of the room, Ron was on the fourth floor of his apartment, clutching the crumpled Hogwarts admission notice, pacing back and forth with his head held high.

Percy patted him on the shoulder and shouted encouragingly, "Ron, I knew you'd get into Hogwarts!"

Ron raised his head even higher.

Vaughn rolled his eyes upstairs. Yesterday, when he passed by the kitchen, he overheard Percy secretly discussing with his mother whether they should forge a notice to appease Ron if he didn't receive it.

"To celebrate your upcoming entry into Hogwarts, how about I give you Scabbers?"

The sudden "happiness" left Ron bewildered.

He stared blankly as Percy pulled a mouse from his pocket, stuffed it into his arms, and then quickly walked away.

Leaning on the railing, watching this amusing scene, Vaughn heard two footsteps tiptoeing closer to him.

Needless to say, the only people in the house who would do something so secretive are Fred and George.

Sure enough, the twins sidled up to him the next moment, mimicking him, leaning over the railing and looking down, whispering loudly, "I bet Percy's been wanting to get rid of Scabbers for ages."

"That's right, George. Scabbers is old and ugly, and he might die any day now."

"Poor Ron, he must think Percy was reluctantly parting with her!"

"Yeah, George, why is such a silly guy our brother?"

"I can't understand Fred either. Maybe Ron gave all his brains to our other brother?"

The twins laughed and joked, one singing in harmony, which infuriated Ron downstairs. He pulled out the mouse from his pocket, wanting to throw it away but unable to bear it.

In the end, she sulked and went back to her room.

After watching the show, Vaughn smiled and looked at the twins who were subtly flattering him: "So, what are you two up to?"

The twins exchanged a glance, looking a little embarrassed.

"You tell me, George."

"You said you were the older brother."

"Oh—now you remember who your older brother is!"

After a few lighthearted banter, seeing that Vaughn was still all smiles, and knowing they couldn't fool him, the twins had no choice but to take turns massaging his shoulders and legs, saying:

"Hmm—dear Vaughn, you're going to Hogwarts soon, you'll definitely need to go to Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies, right?"

"Mom said you can buy everything you need yourself. We knew you had money before..."

"But we didn't know you were so wealthy. If... if it's convenient, could you invest in some more materials for us?"

"Just a tiny bit more, and our great joke-telling business is just a tiny bit short!"

Seeing the usually mischievous and unruly twins bow down for Galleon, Vaughn couldn't help but laugh to himself.

But he also knew that Molly had always forbidden them from doing research, actually for their own good, because she was worried that they would go astray.

So over the years, even though the twins secretly asked him for money, he never opened his mouth. The twins always thought he was just making a little money, until today.

To fully equip the school with all the books, supplies, and even pet supplies, you'd need at least a hundred Galleons.

This was a huge sum of money in the eyes of the twins!

While enjoying the twins' massage, Vaughn hummed, "That's what you said when you asked me to borrow 10 siscos last time."

"That was last time. Our first joke prop is almost finished, right, Fred?"

"That's right, George!"

Seeing that the twins looked really serious, and having teased them enough, Vaughn stroked his chin. "Hmm... we need to clean the garden tomorrow..."

Before he could finish speaking, the twins chimed in obsequiously, "How could we trouble you with such hard work as cleaning the garden?"

"That's right, we'll take it all!"

"...I meant to say it was for Ron, Fred!"

"This is our way of showing our sincerity, George!"

"That makes sense!"

Seeing the two of them blinking expectantly on either side, Vaughn waved his hands repeatedly: "Alright, alright, we'll see how you perform tomorrow!"

Watching the twins cheer and run downstairs, Vaughn shook his head, stood there for a moment, thought about it, and then went to Ron's door and knocked.

A short while later, the door was opened forcefully.

Ron, still sulking, puffed out his cheeks, looking both fierce and timid: "Wha...what is it?"

"Ron, come with me to Diagon Alley tomorrow."

Ron hesitated for a moment, seemingly wanting to object, but he was used to feeling inferior in front of Vaughn and never mustered the courage. After a while, he finally said defiantly, "Why make me go? I already have a second-hand one!"

"Oh—" Vaughn shrugged, somewhat regretfully, "I was thinking of giving you your Christmas present early this year, like a new wand, but it seems you don't..."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard Ron shout, "Holy crap!"

"Um?"

Ron's freckles flushed red, and he stammered, "I...I'll go...I'll buy some rat food for Spotty..."

Vaughn's gaze swept over his shoulder and fell on the rat munching on a cookie on the desk in the messy room behind him.

Single-minded!

Vaughn feigned interest: "Speaking of Scabbers, I've been asking Percy for one. Anyway, it's old and ugly, why not give it to me as my potion lab rat? What do you think, Ron? Want to consider it?"

Inside the room, Banban froze, rustling as she ate her biscuit.

Ron's eyes widened, his lips trembled, and he was speechless for a moment.

If it were just a minute ago, upon hearing Vaughn's outrageous request, he would have definitely made a huge fuss and mustered the courage to drive away his ill-tempered brother.

but now……

There's a new wand... this...

Fortunately, he didn't dwell on it for too long. Seeing Scabbers start sneaking towards the table, Vaughn, not wanting to actually scare it away, patted Ron on the shoulder and laughed, "Just kidding, a mouse this big can be killed with a single potion (Scabbers trembled). Remember not to sleep in tomorrow, that's all!"

Ron breathed a sigh of relief and watched Vaughn go upstairs before he hurriedly ran into the house and picked up Banban in his arms.

"Oh, Banban, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, he's just trying to scare us..."

Outside the door, at the corner of the stairs, Vaughn stared at Ron's door with a cold smile.

Hmph, let's spare that guy's rat life for a while!