"The second item on the agenda: Mr. Weasley has proposed that C needs greater independence to ensure that certain Ministry officials' prejudice against werewolves does not affect werewolf affairs or C's cooperation with the International Confederation of Wizards."
Amelia stood up and read out the agenda for the second stage of the meeting, then looked at Vaughn. "Mr. Weasley, please present your case."
Vaughn nodded slightly, rose with a sheet of parchment in hand, and launched into a lengthy speech.
No one had expected Vaughn, who had been so concise during the previous stage, to pull out such a long speech this time.
Throughout his speech, Vaughn left virtually no gaps in his argument. He approached the drawbacks of keeping C under the Ministry's control from all sorts of unexpected angles, eventually extending the issue to the very survival of Wizarding Britain.
At the end of his speech, Vaughn added, "The outcome of the previous stage of this meeting has only strengthened my resolve to secure autonomy for C."
"The Executive Bureau's non-werewolf members may exercise oversight over C, and even influence its decisions, but C will never tolerate puppets controlled by others undermining the werewolves' living space."
"Of course, if the Council of Wizarding Sages rejects my proposal, there is nothing C can do."
At this point, Vaughn paused, turned to Amelia, and asked with a smile, "Amelia Bones, I believe I need to request an extended leave of absence from you in my capacity as a member of the Wizengamot."
"That is because I intend to visit China for an educational exchange this summer." With that, Vaughn sat back down without waiting for Amelia's reply.
The Wizengamot chamber fell utterly silent. Everyone was initially stunned, unable to understand why Vaughn had suddenly brought up something unrelated to the