Vincent opened his eyes after having a sweet dream and saw Gu Gu standing by his pillow with a letter in his mouth.
It seemed startled, its raised paws pausing in mid-air.
Are you trying to scratch my face?
Gu Gu tilted its head, pretending not to understand the sentence.
Vincent grabbed him and started pulling him around.
After he had finished fussing over it, he finally opened the letter.
It was written by Lestrange from Germany that Yamamoto had arrived safely in Austria.
After writing the reply, Gu Gu was finally tamed.
"You remember—never mind, you can't just show your face in public like this now."
Picking up the letter, Gu Gu proudly flapped its little wings and flew out the window.
It is no longer the most prestigious owl in all of Hogwarts.
Commanding tens of thousands of owls across the British Isles, only the title of supreme ruler is worthy of it.
James solemnly closed the comic book in his hand.
"It seems that Gu Gu is the next Sorcerer Supreme."
Vincent threw a pillow at him, saying, "Kamar-Taj doesn't exist."
James narrowly dodged it, "But magic is real."
Awakened, Neville nodded dazedly.
"I don't even know how to refute it."
"Hahaha—Old Wen, I've finally won an argument with you!"
The happy times didn't last long.
After washing up, going downstairs, and having breakfast, James reluctantly ran laps around the castle.
After his daily workout, Vincent sat on the steps by the gate and opened today's newspaper.
Unsurprisingly, everyone was unanimously pessimistic about the Wizard Cards.
The Daily Prophet was the most exaggerated.
Rita somehow found an old wizard who was an expert in Muggle finance, and he actually analyzed the probability of inflation in the Wizarding World with great seriousness.
The wording is sensational, as if Britain is about to go down.
Skipping over the uninformative content, he put down the newspaper with some disappointment.
Until the Ministry of Magic reveals the progress of the investigation, it's at best just scratching the surface for the gentlemen.
Its nearly thousand-year-old foundation is hard to shake.
There are many wizards who hate them, but there are also quite a few who are used to the status quo.
There's nothing we can do but wait.
Everything was peaceful until Wednesday, when the nightmare-like Potions Class began again.
Snape had a sour face the whole time and deliberately harassed students other than Vincent.
Even Hermione was criticized for turning off the fire half a second too late, which completely ruined a pot of healing potion that should have been perfect.
Vincent, who was only going through the motions, was already cursing under his breath.
The Old Bat is cunning; he deliberately only "favored" him. Even a fool could see something was wrong.
Arthur didn't even tell his own son who he was temporarily acting as the School Board Member. Apart from the school's official staff, only the gentlemen and the Ministry of Magic knew.
"Bang—" Thick black smoke billowed from the crucible in front of Vincent.
Snape walked over with a grim expression.
With a wave of his wand, he swept the smoke and pot out of the classroom.
"Wayne, you should go to the Hospital Wing right away. Your delicate body can't be injured."
It was a mix of gritted teeth and fawning.
"Professor, didn't you always say I was as strong as Troll?"
"I'm not hurt, you don't need to make a fuss."
Snape resisted the urge to deduct points and floated lightly to Harry.
"Potter! You actually managed to cook a lump of slurry while distracted!"
"I--"
"Gryffindor loses 10 points!"
Vincent's hand trembled as he sprinkled the carefully selected Essence of Dittany, spilling it directly onto the desk.
"Mr. Wayne!" Snape floated back again.
"I have to take you to the Hospital Wing myself!"
He even used polite titles, so it seems he's determined to reveal his status School Board Member.
"Professor, this will affect the class."
"It's alright, no one in the whole school is more important than you."
All eyes in the classroom were on Vincent.
Has the Old Bat changed its nature?
Impossible, that clenched-teeth expression was real.
Are they in debt? Or have they been caught red-handed?
Hermione and Daphne exchanged a glance, both sensing the secret at the same time.
Their curiosity was piqued.
Vincent calmly grabbed a handful of Dittany.
The treatment solution is very safe; even an overdose will only result in black smoke.
Moreover, this is a carefully selected powder, and it only works when used in extremely large quantities.
Fortunately, I didn't add wormwood, otherwise it would have neutralized the negative reaction with the daffodils.
A handful, two handfuls.
In the third game, Snape finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"Wayne, are you going to blow us all up?"
"No, Professor," Vincent said innocently, withdrawing his hand.
"You didn't deduct points from my score today, so I thought I hadn't done anything wrong."
Snape sneered, "Mr. Wayne, who dares to say you're wrong now?"
Not only me, but even the wise Dumbledore wouldn't dare."
It's about 80% done; looks like it's time to reveal our hand.
Vincent subtly raised a finger. "How could that be? I'm just an ordinary student from an ordinary Muggle family."
"Hmph—" Snape was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.
"That's great. I thought you had some kind of terrifying identity."
"Of course not, Professor." He held up three fingers.
"Really not?" Snape suddenly smirked. "I've heard some rumors lately—"
"Those are all rumors, don't take them seriously." Vincent withdrew one finger.
"Hah—" Snape turned and returned to the podium.
"Continue the lesson!"
Knowing when to quit while you're ahead, and without suffering any losses.
Vincent was the one who really suffered a loss.
Or should they give an extra 20% of the operating expenses each month, or just hush money for Snape?
Wait, fatten them up before you kill them!
I hadn't chosen a time by the time get out of class ended, and as soon as I left the classroom, I was followed by two little witches.
They're not easy to fool.
Follow them to the Great Hall, when there aren't many students yet.
"I'm not pretending anymore. I'm the new School Board Member, and I'm coming clean."
"Huh?" Hermione and Daphne blinked their big eyes in disbelief.
They pinched each other's arms, then reached their little hands toward Vincent's forehead.
"No fever."
"Could it be true?"
He pushed their hands away, "Of course it's true, you know Yamamoto is one of my men."
"No wonder Snape exposed you." Hermione quickly calmed down.
"Then what are you afraid of? Not many students used to fawn over Malfoy."
Daphne nodded in agreement. "There are 12 School Board Members, and apart from providing operating funds, they have almost no real power in the school."
Vincent looked around.
There are already quite a few students.
He gestured for the two of them to move a little closer.
"Professor Dumbledore had a lot of dirt on the School Board Member, and he was the one who helped me get the price down to the lowest possible level."
"So you're saying you're occupying more than one seat?"
"Yes."
"So how many did you actually claim?"
"The professor suggested I take seven, Gold Galleons that Yamamoto brought back were just enough."
"Seven!?" Hermione and Daphne simultaneously slammed their hands on the long table and stood up.
"Shh—" Vincent quickly pulled them both back to sit down.
"Please don't tell anyone, I don't want to be fawned over day and night right now."
If Hogwarts were a joint-stock company, he would already be a major shareholder in the true sense.
Unfortunately, the School Board Member are just a bunch of swindlers who give money away.
The only thing that could be called power was the ability to dismiss any faculty member.
Besides, he is not a formal School Board Member yet; he must wait until he comes of age.