Upon arriving at the manor, Vinda was seen approaching Argus with a piece of parchment in hand.
He looked at it carefully and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Your Hogwarts grades have arrived."
"It's passable."
Sure enough, no matter where they were, grades were always an insurmountable hurdle for children!
Thank goodness she was first in her grade; if she had failed several subjects like Ron, Vinda would have been furious!
It wasn't until he returned to his room that Argus had time to take out the Philosopher's Stone and examine it closely.
He didn't intend to spend too much time on alchemy.
Everyone has limited energy; you have to give up some things to gain others in order to go further.
For example, Dumbledore might not be good at potions, otherwise he wouldn't have had Snape make him the Tooth-Strengthening Potion all the time.
But that didn't stop him from being the greatest white wizard of this century.
Similarly, the same applied to Grindelwald and Voldemort.
Focusing more time on what you need and are good at would lead to faster improvement.
In addition, alchemy itself required a lot of time for experimentation, learning, and accumulation.
With that kind of skill, Argus could probably take down Voldemort himself!
Was it even necessary to study these things?
"However, this Philosopher's Stone is indeed a good thing."
"It will be of great use in critical moments!"
Sensing the abundant magic and life force within the Philosopher's Stone, Argus seemed to know how to use it for the time being.
Wasn't this just a small, mobile fountain?
It allowed him to restore health and mana anytime, anywhere!
And this was precisely what he lacked most right now!
If they had had this before fighting Voldemort, would they have needed to go through all this trouble?
With level eight Apparition and a portable fountain, he had...
Argus finally felt more confident and began to think ahead about his next move.
"The development of the acolytes had temporarily reached a bottleneck. The events that happened before Gringotts were being forgotten. He needed to find an excuse to remind the British wizards again."
"After this, the opening of Acolytes Bank could be put into the planning stage."
"In addition, Voldemort's Horcruxes should also be prepared in advance."
"The diary must be kept in our hands; we can't let Harry get rid of it so easily."
"The Gaunt family ring was left to Dumbledore. Without it, it would be very difficult to kill this old Dumbledore."
"We'll deal with the Ravenclaw diadem once we get back to school, but we can grab the Slytherin locket now."
"If I remember correctly, this thing was in the hands of the house-elf of the Black family."
"This holiday's tasks are... quite heavy!"
It was only after careful consideration that Argus realized this, without even realizing it.
He had so many things to do this holiday!
He had originally planned to sneak off to see the old man in Nurmengard during his vacation, but now it seemed he'd have to postpone it again.
Bang bang bang!
There was a knock on the door, followed by Vinda's voice.
"Argus, are you asleep?"
"The acolytes have something important that requires your decision!"
Argus scrambled to his feet and opened the door.
"I wasn't asleep, I was just reading."
"What happened, Vinda?"
"Do you remember Scrimgeour?" Vinda's expression was somewhat serious.
"Wasn't he already arrested and tried? What happened this time?"
Argus struggled to search his memory for information about Scrimgeour.
It was no wonder he didn't take it seriously.
After all, Scrimgeour's masterpiece was a done deal, and with Fudge and a group of pure-blood families watching over him, he couldn't escape no matter how capable he was.
"Given his crimes, he should have been sent to Azkaban long ago, but for some reason, it had been delayed until now by the Ministry of Magic."
"Dragging it out until now? What is Fudge doing? Can he keep letting him drag this out indefinitely?"
Vinda shook her head: "It's not Fudge, it's the Wizengamot! They've rejected it several times on the grounds of insufficient evidence."
"Fudge was originally planning to send someone to Hogwarts to invite you to attend as a witness, but Dumbledore refused, citing class as an excuse."
"It wasn't until recently, when more and more people were paying attention and it became impossible to delay any longer, that he was put on trial."
Argus frowned: "Dumbledore doesn't want Scrimgeour to go to Azkaban..."
"Dumbledore?"
"That's right!" Argus nodded.
"There are more than one people who want Scrimgeour dead; Fudge, the pure-bloods, and even Barty Crouch are all possibilities."
"It can withstand so much pressure and still have an impact on the Wizengamot."
"Only one person in all of Britain can do that!"
A slight smile played on his lips as he asked Vinda, "How are our preparations going regarding the position of Head Auror?"
"It's hard to say. We've only been in Britain for a short time and our foundation isn't strong enough."
"No matter how capable someone is who infiltrates the Ministry of Magic, it's impossible for them to become Fudge's or Bones' confidant in a short period of time."
"This time, Head Auror, we have no choice but to take a gamble."
"Leave this to me. You arrange it for me. I need to see Scrimgeour alone. Don't let anyone else..."
"No!"
Before Argus could finish speaking, Vinda interrupted him.
"Don't you know how deep Scrimgeour's hatred for you runs?"
"Even if he doesn't have a wand, we can't gamble!"
"He's been imprisoned and can't move for a long time, Vinda!" Argus retorted helplessly.
"Trust me, I won't take any risks."
"Do you really have to see him?" Vinda was puzzled by Argus's behavior.
She didn't understand what there was to talk about with a prisoner.
Moreover, the other party was personally brought into the courtroom by Argus.
Could such a deep-seated hatred be resolved with just a few words?
Noticing Vinda's questioning gaze, Argus knew that Vinda wouldn't let him take the risk unless he explained things clearly.
He spoke slowly.
"Vinda, you should know how important this position of Head Auror is to us."
"It's about whether we can truly gain a foothold in the UK."
"The difficulties involved are definitely not something that can be resolved by simply taking a gamble."
"But we really can't do anything about this. No leader will open up to a stranger in a short time."
Argus patiently explained, "Vinda, we don't necessarily have to rely on Fudge or Bones to get the Head Auror position. Their competition is just creating space for us."
"Becoming a Head Auror does not guarantee that the Aurors under your command will obey your orders."
"It is your subordinate Aurors who obey your orders; you are the Head Auror!"
"The key to all of this lies with Scrimgeour!"
"But you personally sent him to court, how could he possibly be willing to help you?"
Argus looked toward the Ministry of Magic, his eyes gleaming.
"He will help me... because he has no other choice."
...
Share Powerstones for Bonus chapters