Feeling the Board of Governors' badges genuinely losing their magic, the originally spirited and arrogant governors panicked.
What was the reason they were willing to spend millions of Galleons and countless resources each year to so firmly control the Hogwarts Board of Governors? Was it not all for the power contained within this very badge?!
As the only magic school in Britain and one of the oldest in the world, Hogwarts had always been the cradle for countless outstanding wizarding talents, educating many of the top figures in various industries of the magical world.
Controlling the position of a Hogwarts Governor was equivalent to holding a golden ticket to communicate with elites from all walks of life. It provided a constant stream of invisible wealth for their various families and offered vital support for the expansion of their social circles. This was one of the reasons why many successful, top-tier wizards were willing to return to Hogwarts to teach, even at the peak of their careers—it was not just because it was their alma mater.
The Board of Governors' badge was the ultimate symbol of this power. It was magically and intrinsically linked to the very foundations of Hogwarts Castle, granting its holder the special function of making centralised decisions on the school's development and direction.
It could be said that the governors with these badges were the true behind-the-scenes managers of Hogwarts. The governors without the badges were just a group of fools, contributing money and effort for absolutely no benefit.
Seeing the magical light on their badges gradually fading into nothingness, the governors were panic-stricken.
'Why is this happening?!'
'This is not right! Something must be terribly wrong!'
Lucius, watching the badge in his hand gradually lose its light, also fell into a state of cold panic. He suddenly looked up at the figure beside the round table, who was smiling, but not smiling.
'Dracula, what did you do to our badges?' he asked, his voice strained as he tried to remain calm.
'So you are not only visually impaired, but your hearing is also not very good,' Dracula said to Lucius, a faint, sarcastic smile playing on his lips. 'I said it very clearly. The Hogwarts Board of Governors has been dismissed.'
'Why?! I do not believe that the rules of Hogwarts can be controlled by one person!' the grumpy old governor, Yaxley, looked at Dumbledore, who was watching the show with detached amusement. He asked loudly, as if he had just grasped a life-saving straw, 'Dumbledore! As the Headmaster of Hogwarts, how can you allow others to control this—the only magic school in Britain?!'
He looked at Dumbledore hopefully, his eyes pleading. He hoped that this legend of the magic world would stand up resolutely, just as he had when confronting Grindelwald, and use his absolute hard power to lock Dracula away in Azkaban—just as Dumbledore had locked Grindelwald in the highest tower of Nurmengard.
However, he was destined to be disappointed.
Dumbledore just smiled and said something that chilled him to the very bone:
'Mr Yaxley, I am just an ordinary Headmaster who wishes to retire peacefully at Hogwarts. I am already far too busy managing the school and recruiting a few professors. As for the changes in the Board of Governors, this is really not within my scope of responsibility.'
The old governor, Yaxley, his face turning colder and more menacing, spat his next words.
'Dumbledore, the outside world is right! The comfortable life at Hogwarts has made you degenerate into a coward who only knows how to enjoy himself!' he said angrily.
Then, he secretly reached behind his back and gestured to several of the governors seated around him.
The other governors who had agreed to expel Dracula at the first opportunity saw this. They secretly exchanged obscure, knowing glances, and then quietly took out their wands.
'Since you are unwilling to uphold justice, then I will personally eliminate this scourge that affects the development of Hogwarts!' Yaxley declared, his voice booming with self-importance.
Then he waved his hand heavily and took the lead, raising his wand towards Dracula.
'Snatch the parchment from his hand, and the Hogwarts Board of Governors' position will still be ours!'
Several governors followed Yaxley, who held a deep prestige among the pure-blood families, and also rushed to cast various spells at Dracula. Not only did those governors who had voted in favour take action, but even a few of the governors who had been watching from the sidelines could not help but raise their wands. These governors all had their own agendas.
After all, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the key to the entire matter was the ancient piece of parchment in Dracula's hand.
Whoever defeated Dracula first would inevitably be able to get that parchment—the one that could strip the Board of Governors' badges of their magical connection with Hogwarts Castle. And whoever held that would have the power to distribute the spoils.
Lucius, watching this scene unfold, also could not wait any longer. He picked up his cane from the table and pointed it threateningly at Dracula.
'Father, do not!' Draco, seeing his father's action, hurriedly grabbed his arm, his voice filled with genuine anxiety. 'Do not be impulsive! Professor Dracula was able to take on a whole group of upperclassmen's powerful spells without using any magic at all! The few of you are not enough for him to fight!'
Hearing his son's words, although Lucius was not willing to believe it, his years of ingrained fence-sitting mentality made him hesitate for a crucial moment.
At this very moment of his hesitation, a round, spectral dark moon quietly appeared in the meeting room, absorbing all the light sources, leaving only a faint, ethereal moonlight that seemed to drain all the warmth from the air.
The spells cast by the several governors abruptly stagnated, frozen in the air by the oppressive presence of the dark moon.
The next moment, the spells suddenly reversed their course. Their power, seemingly doubled and corrupted by the dark moon's magic, shot back and heavily struck every single governor who had raised their wand.
A series of painful, agonised screams echoed in the school board meeting room. Several of the governors had used very vicious dark magic, and they were even more miserable, the most serious of whom almost lost their lives in the backlash.
'So you wizards not only have problems with your hearing and your vision, but your strength is not very good either.' A faint, mocking voice came from the dim moonlight.
The moonlight dissipated, and Dracula's silver hair reappeared in everyone's eyes. However, this time, that shock of silver in the hearts of everyone present was like the distant and cold moonlight itself—beautiful, but making it difficult for anyone to feel any emotion other than pure, chilling dread.
Lucius gripped his cane, his knuckles white, and swallowed hard. In his terror, he did not even notice that he was still holding the cane and pointing it directly at Dracula.
At this moment, Dracula looked over and gave Lucius a smile filled with cold, calculating interest.
'Mr Malfoy, do you have anything else to say?'
Only then did Lucius notice his actions, and he could not help but break out in a cold sweat, a drop trickling down his temple.
However, as the heir of the long-standing and powerful Malfoy family, Lucius's personal qualities were not to be underestimated.
He immediately adjusted his emotions, a mask of calm civility sliding over his terrified features. He held the cane in both hands, turning it from a weapon into an object of supposed admiration.
'Mr Dracula,' he said, his voice now smooth and utterly pretentious, 'this is a unique wand design that I commissioned from an excellent wandmaker. I came to you today specially to ask you to… appraise it.'
***********
✨ 300 gems = 1 bonus chapter
✨ 500 gems = another bonus chapter
Get access to advanced chapters at my P@treon.
[email protected]/meowthtl