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

Chapter 4 Party and Diggory

A letter from Hogwarts is important to any family.

It can change the fate of a Muggle family, allowing them to enter the magical world.

It can also dispel a wizarding family’s greatest fear—that their child is a Squib!

So the Weasleys celebrated all day long, with Molly preparing a lavish feast.

At noon, the family set up a tent in the garden, near the edge of the garden pond, ready to enjoy the breeze, beautiful scenery, and shimmering lake view for a picnic party.

Arthur even considered inviting all the neighbors, but ultimately failed under Molly's feather duster—Molly had always thought the Lovegoods were strange, and the Fawcetts were someone she didn't interact with much and therefore didn't feel comfortable with.

So in the end, only the Diggory family was invited.

Amos Diggory, like Arthur Weasley, is an employee of the Ministry of Magic, working in the Department of Magical Creatures Control, so the two can be considered colleagues.

However, Arthur's purpose in inviting him was not out of professional courtesy.

"That guy is awful!"

"Every time we meet, he always brags about how great his son, Ced, is, with that disgusting look of someone else's child!"

Arthur looked very indignant when he said this.

Therefore, when Amos Diggory Apparated into the Burrow with his son, Arthur happily embraced Vaughn and greeted them!

"Amos, welcome to the Burrow. This is my son, Vaughn. I bet you've heard of him."

Amos had a short brown beard and a red face, as if he had been drinking.

He shook hands with Arthur while sizing up Vaughn.

Vaughn wore a smile that met the expectations of his elders.

"Yes, yes, Arthur, I've certainly heard of your family's potions genius. Was he the one who received the letter from Hogwarts today? Where's Ron?"

Arthur's smile froze for a moment. He hadn't expected the other party to have found his weakness so accurately. His eyes darted around as he glanced at the surroundings. "Oh, Ron received it too..."

Amos immediately raised an eyebrow: "Why didn't you bring him? If you ask me, you should let Ron spend more time with Ced. Our Ced is obedient, a good student, and his Transfiguration is highly praised by Professor McGonagall. He's also the Seeker in Quidditch. Maybe he can help Ron make some changes..."

When it comes to showing off his son, Amos is clearly experienced and knows how to avoid the other party's strengths and seize their weaknesses.

The childish competition between the adults almost made Vaughn burst out laughing.

The little boy who came with Amos, Cedric Diggory, looked a bit embarrassed.

He was very handsome, and still had a youthful shyness about him.

Taking advantage of the dazed Arthur being pulled away by Amos, he approached Vaughn and apologized, "I'm sorry, my father meant no harm. He just tends to exaggerate."

Seemingly having heard his words, Mr. Amos praised loudly from afar: "...Sed is always humble and polite, always full of gentlemanly manners..."

"..."

Cedric's expression stiffened, and he had to awkwardly change the subject.

He extended his hand to Vaughn: "My name is Cedric Diggory. Mr. Vaughn Weasley, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've read several of your papers on potions, and I must say, some of the development ideas you mentioned are truly amazing."

Vaughn shook hands with him and laughed, "Thank you, it's just some clever tricks. There are still people in the Extraordinary Pharmacists Association criticizing me for practicing heresy."

Where there are people, there will be conflict.

Over the years, Vaughn has earned a lot of Galleons with his "Vaughn Beauty" product line, which naturally arouses the jealousy of other potion makers.

Not to mention Vaughn's astonishing talent in potions—at only 8 years old, before even enrolling in Hogwarts, he was able to develop mature potion products, something that had never happened before.

If they hadn't still had some sense of shame and weren't too embarrassed to steal the child's research results, and if it weren't for the fact that Warn was pureblood, the formula for the "Warn Beauty" product line would probably have been cracked and someone would have taken over the market long ago.

Of course, with the publication of several papers on potion development, Vaughn has now become a force to be reckoned with, and "Vaughn Beauty" has made a name for itself. Those people can only engage in verbal battles in the newspapers now.

Cedric was somewhat envious of Vaughn's composure.

He was very ambitious and admired people with real talent. So even though Vaughn hadn't enrolled yet, Cedric still humbly asked Vaughn a few questions about potion transformations.

"...I haven't tried Compound Potions yet. You know, the recipe for this kind of high-grade potion is simply not available on the market. It is said that the Scapin Reveal Charm can analyze the specific ingredients and proportions of the potion, but it is a spell that is strictly restricted in circulation by the Ministry of Magic."

"That's why I'm really looking forward to going to Hogwarts. Its library and professors can teach a lot of knowledge that you can't learn on your own... Let's get back to our previous topic. Although I've never brewed Polyjuice Potion before, I do know its main ingredients. I suggest you use its main ingredient, horn powder, to conduct some low-risk experiments..."

By noon, Cedric had become a complete fan of Vaughn.

He even ignored Mr. Amos and deliberately sat next to Vaughn so that he could ask him questions.

Upon hearing this, he pondered for a moment and asked, "You mean, the main factor enabling the compound decoction to transform comes from the two-horned beast?"

"No, shapeshifting mainly relies on the properties of the sap grass, while the two-horned beast offers even more possibilities. Just like its appearance, it resembles a leopard, a bull, and a human all at once. It's the key to the Compound Elixir's ability to transform you into other people, even allowing for gender reassignment. This involves modifying the very essence of the human body, and I believe its potential has yet to be fully explored!"

Vaughn spoke eloquently.

No one in his family was particularly talented in potions, and he could hardly find anyone to talk to about potions. Although Cedric mainly asked him about potion transformations, he was still happy to have someone to talk to.

While they were having a lively conversation, Ron was in deep trouble on the other side of the table.

Even though he tried his best to stay until dinner time, he was still caught by Mr. Amos and had to endure, along with his father, Mr. Amos's elaborate praise of his son and his overt and covert belittling of him.

In order to extricate himself, Ron even had to bring up Vaughn.

"Sed is asking Vaughn about potions, and I'd like to go listen," Ron said.

Mr. Amos immediately shut up and let him go.

This made Ron feel even worse, as he always felt that his brother's shadow was everywhere!

Especially when it was time to eat, Molly brought out a carefully prepared hot pot—a Chinese dish that Vaughn, who had been eating British "food" for years and hated it, had "recreated" from a Muggle magazine by taking advantage of his father's work.

When the hot pot was served, seeing his father who had been listless for half a day, he cheered up again and boasted to Mr. Amos about Vaughn's culinary invention.

Ron felt completely powerless!