Dumbledore had had a miserable couple of days. He had no idea Vaughn had arranged what would come after his operation before he even began. It was only when Crouch started shaping public opinion and ordered the fear to keep spreading that Old Dumbledore learned everything from Amelia.
But as he had just said, he had no objection to Vaughn's approach. In fact, he supported it.
No wizard in England wanted to believe that the dead Voldemort would return. No one wanted to live under that shadow of fear again.
So to make people believe it, they first had to let panic spread, then drop the bombshell.
From the broader perspective, everything was going according to Vaughn's plan. Dumbledore could tell Vaughn had designs on WAC as well, but he didn't mind.
It was the countless little problems, not the big picture, that gave the centenarian the worst headache.
The Board of Governors was making trouble, and pressure from students' parents had already worn Old Dumbledore down.
He had expected that much. Students had been attacked at Hogwarts, Death Eaters had appeared openly, and Snape had defected. None of it could be kept secret, especially when those people couldn't use Apparition and had been forced to fight their way out.
Besides, the Board of Governors already had informants among the staff.
And Vaughn had only made matters worse, leaving a mess behind before sleeping for two whole days.
Vaughn looked at Dumbledore with an innocent expression. "Albus, you can't blame me for that!"
"If you'd shown up a little earlier that day, I wouldn't have slept for two whole days."
Dumbledore's eyes widened further. He had no answer, and a sudden wave of regret washed over him.
He hadn't thought that far ahead or expected so much to happen. He'd