HP: Embrace the Darkness

"I am sure."

Ases lowered his eyes and nodded, his gaze was calm, and his voice was faint, as if it came from a very far away place, with a faint echo, almost deafening.

Everyone was stunned, and somehow they could sense something unusual in these light words.

However, except for Dumbledore who knew the situation and Bradley who made some guesses, no one would associate Aces and Snape, two people who seemed to be from different worlds.

So, when they finally got close to the truth, they denied it themselves and just thought that there was something on Snape that Athis was seeking.

"In that case, the Grand Magician Medal Qualification Review will officially begin."

The purple-robed man made the final decision, stood up, and held up the two experimental data that were considered milestones in the potion world.

"Everyone has a certain level of knowledge in potions and should be able to understand the data and records above. I won't let Mr. Cavendish explain too much, and will go directly to the voting stage. Do you have any objections?"

No one raised their hand.

The purple-robed man nodded and continued.

"Please raise your hands if you recognize Severus Snape's contribution to potions and think that his contribution is worthy of the Grand Wizard Medal."

Most people raised their hands and gave Athis a kind look.

As if they felt it was not obvious enough, they moved their raised hands in front of them as a hint, sending out a signal of friendly cooperation and seeking win-win results in all directions and without blind spots.

Unfortunately, Ases is still blind and can't see anything.

They flirted for a long time but got no response.

This made everyone grit their teeth and feel frightened at the same time.

I didn't expect that Cavendish, who looks young, is so difficult to deal with.

I gave them a warning at the very beginning, but they still remained calm.

However, what they didn't know was that in Ases' eyes, they were just a ball of fire.

If the movement is larger, the flame can still shake. If the movement is smaller, nothing can be seen and it is burning normally.

“It’s time to vote.”

The person at the top seemed to be unaware of the subtle atmosphere and spoke directly, attracting everyone's attention.

"Now, please raise your hands if you do not recognize Severus Snape's contribution to potions and think that his contribution is not enough to receive the Grand Wizard Medal."

A few scattered hands were raised.

There was also a part that abstained from voting as they did not want to offend either side.

In this way, the agreement and disagreement were very obvious, but the head under the purple hood still shook left and right, carefully confirmed the number of people, and was about to speak when a voice interrupted him.

"Wait, a potion that can heal the soul should benefit the wizarding world. There are still many wizards in St. Mungo's who have fallen into madness because of damaged souls. I believe that even if the original author of the potion is here, he cannot sit idly by, so I hope Mr. Cavendish can sign an agreement to protect our basic rights."

No, he could sit back and watch.

Snape, who had been silent for a long time, emerged from behind Athis and stared dimly at the wizard who was using him to morally blackmail Athis.

If looks could kill, that wizard would have been stabbed in the throat long ago.

The wizard felt a little cold for no reason, but he still forced himself to continue speaking.

"Or, Mr. Cavendish, are you unwilling to benefit the wizarding world?"

"Benefiting the wizarding world has nothing to do with potions. If you insist on linking benefiting the wizarding world with potions, I suggest you improve your potion-making method and benefit the wizards over there."

The wizard who committed moral kidnapping came from India. Ases was deeply impressed by the potions made by the Indian wizard. They were even more terrifying than the potions made by the little wizard who didn't know anything about potions.

The wizard slammed the table and shouted angrily: "You are slandering us. There is nothing wrong with our potions. Why do we need to improve them?"

"I'm sorry, I can't agree with that." Aces smiled nonchalantly, his tone sarcastic, "And I always think that the responsibility of protecting the rights of wizards in your country is not on me, a foreign wizard. What do you think?"

"you--"

The Indian wizard still wanted to use moral blackmail, and Ases narrowed his eyes.

The invisible pressure weighed heavily on the Indian wizard's shoulders. His expression changed slightly under the hood, and he quickly changed his words.

"Do you think a potion that can heal the soul is rare? Our holy water can do the same! Since you are unwilling to benefit the wizarding world, forget it, we will do it from India."

The wizards were amazed.

This was the first time they had seen someone say the most cowardly words in the most forceful tone and indirectly threaten them.

I have to say, Indian wizards are really powerful and shameless.

Some people secretly despise it, while others look fearful. After all, everyone knows what India’s so-called holy water is.

Seeing that the Indian wizard, who had taken the lead, had given in, the others were undecided for a moment whether to continue to oppose and fight for some rights.

Smart people have already stayed out of this matter. Most of those who are still struggling are both cautious and greedy. Now it depends on whether their caution will prevail over their greed or their greed will prevail over their caution.

The scene was once again filled with low voices of discussion, but Ases was in no hurry.

The Grand Mage Medal is even rarer than the First Class Order of Merlin. One of the reasons for this is that to obtain the Grand Mage Medal one not only needs more people in favor than those against, but also needs the opposing wizards to be convinced that their opposition is only out of selfish motives.

This means that the Grand Magician Medal is more valuable than the First Class Merlin Medal, and basically, it is a lifelong gift once you get it.

For example, when Dumbledore was framed by Fudge, he was forced to lose the Order of Merlin, First Class. However, the Order of the Great Wizard was still hanging in his room, and no one dared to move it, because the merits behind it could not be erased.

In addition, the application requirements for the Grand Magician Medal are also very complicated.

Although the soul-healing potion has made a great contribution to the potion world, it is actually not enough to apply for the Grand Magician Medal.

The normal way to obtain the Grand Magician Medal should be:

The potion that can heal the soul has officially spread in the wizarding world and the number of people using it and the degree of use are over 80%.

This is a universal standard.

Then there is a three-year limit. Within three years, the potion must not have any side effects or hidden dangers.

This is a test of security.

It is extremely difficult and time-consuming to achieve these two conditions.

So Ases took advantage of the information gap and let Snape get the First Class Order of Merlin from the International Potions Guild first.

Then, using the judgment criteria of the Merlin First Class Medal and the Grand Magician Medal for the same kind of research, he directly bypassed the application requirements for the Grand Magician Medal and applied to the Grand Magician Medal Review Committee for review.

In this way, he and Snape successfully saved three years.

The whispered conversation ended, and caution eventually triumphed over greed, with the vast majority of wizards grudgingly admitting that they had voted against it only out of selfish motives.

Of course, there were also people who were unwilling to give up such great wealth. They found all kinds of excuses and talked a lot just to get a little benefit, but they were all taken away by Ases.

After nearly half an hour of debate, the result came out - of the sixty wizards present, forty-six agreed, seven abstained, and the rest were against, but because they did not mention Ases, they reluctantly admitted that they voted against it out of selfish motives.

"Boom-"

The hammer fell heavily.

Everyone's soul seemed to be shaken.

"On behalf of the Wizengamot, congratulations to Severus Snape on receiving the Grand Wizard Medal and title."

The second time, other people's voices were added in, and it was recited three times in total.

"…the medal and title of the Grand Mage."

"All right."

After the third time, the mysterious man in purple knocked on the table.

"Everyone, remember to give me a written report when you go back. Make three copies. Keep one copy for yourself and seal the remaining two copies, and put one copy in the Wizengamot."

"And you, Mr. Cavendish, you need to produce four copies, including the report and all aspects of the experiment. One copy will be placed with the International Potions Association, and the other three copies will be distributed the same as for everyone else."

This is a smart man. With just a few words, he was forced to hand over all the data and materials in person and be grateful to him in return.

Ases responded with "Okay", and a hidden smile flashed across the corners of his lips.

It's a pity that they can't produce the experimental data even if they hand it in.

It’s not like he hasn’t tried.

In the end, it was Snape's hands-on teaching that helped him grasp the essence of the art.

Even so, the failure rate is shockingly high, which is embarrassing to watch.

Now something even more embarrassing has emerged.

Ases finally felt balanced.

The meeting has adjourned.

Everyone rushed out in an instant, with a clear goal, and surrounded Ases in three layers inside and outside.

Ases stood still, his eyes looking around with confusion and distraction, then he lowered his head, not speaking or moving.

Everyone thought he was waiting for them to offer cooperation so that he could bite off a piece of meat from them. Only Snape knew that Athis had to stay where he was simply because he couldn't see and was surrounded.

In the world of darkness, Ases listened quietly to the various conversations around him, all centered around one central point. He noted down the voices and locations of the speakers, then looked at the owners of the voices one by one and tactfully declined.

Fortunately, his memory was pretty good, and he answered all of them correctly. No one else noticed anything wrong and just thought that Ases was unwilling to give in, so he was so cold.

Dumbledore knew Athis better than anyone else. The wise old man stared at Athis for a while, then suddenly pulled Bradley over and whispered a few words to him.

When Bradley heard that someone wanted to interfere with the profits of potions without his permission from the Potions Association, he immediately became anxious. He used his hands to clear the way, pushed through the crowd with unstoppable momentum, turned around, and stood in front of Ases with a big sword.

"What are you talking about? Talk to me!"

Athis silently retracted the spell he had just cast to disperse everyone, nodded in cooperation, and his scattered gaze shifted to Bradley's shoulder.

"Relationship potion, as it should be."

Hearing this, the wizards took a few steps back, looked at Bradley's thick arms and his posture that clearly showed he had no intention of making sense, and then quietly took a few steps back.

When they talk with Ases, it's a game of interests, a competition of who has more brains. Even if they lose, it doesn't matter, at most they will pay a little blood as a price.

But if they talk to Bradley, it will be a physical fight, and people will die if they punch each other in the flesh.

After weighing the pros and cons, everyone made way for him and watched Bradley arrogantly walk away with the cash cow that they hadn't had time to shake any money from.

The two men walked out into the corridor, Bradley loosened his hand, and Dumbledore was there, the two old men staring at Athis.

Ases turned to the other side calmly and bowed slightly, "Thank you for helping me out this time, President. I still need to go back and prepare the materials to hand in. Excuse me."

"No hurry." Dumbledore said in a gentle tone but did not allow Athis to be refused. "Let's talk more. Or go out for a walk?"

Athis frowned slightly. The dim light inside the Ministry of Magic could help conceal the abnormality of his eyes, but as soon as he went out, Bradley would probably be able to discover the problem with his eyes.

"Sorry, excuse me."

Dumbledore wanted to continue to stop him, but a gentle magical force pushed him away irresistibly, and the next moment, Athis disappeared.

Snape looked at Bradley at the last second before disappearing.

"Thank you."

No one knew how painful it was for him to see Ases standing alone in the crowd and accepting the temptations from all sides, but he could do nothing but watch.

Fortunately, there is Dumbledore, and fortunately, there is Bradley, the powerful killer.

Following Athis back to the safe house, Snape thought that no matter what, Athis would have to go down to see him this time.

However...no.

Ases only took one thing from the safe house, then left and came to a wooden house that Snape had never seen before.

Before Ases could get closer, the door of the cabin opened and an old man walked out.

The old man looked ordinary and no one would remember him if he walked on the street, but Snape felt that he looked familiar.

The Potions Master searched his memory thoroughly and finally found some clues.

Mellors?

That weird Defense Against the Dark Arts coach?

Damn it, he knew Dumbledore would always be able to find someone special to serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor.

The first thing Merlin did when he came over was to support Athis, as if he had already anticipated that there was something wrong with Athis's eyes.

"You came to me, which means you saw your future. How about seeing your future? Is the price high?"

"It's OK." Aces said ambiguously, avoiding Merlin's support and just walking behind him, "At least I can accept it."

Merlin chuckled and didn't force it, "Young people are always stubborn. Let's go. They are waiting for you inside."

With that, Merlin turned and led the way.

I don’t know if it was Snape’s illusion, but the old man seemed to glance at him when he turned around, and nodded with a smile, as if saying hello.

Can you see him?

Snape clenched his fists suddenly, shocked that Athis knew such a person.

Merlin led Athis through the cabin and into the small garden at the back.

Next to the flower bed, there was a simple pure white round table. The four founders and Haierbo sat around the table. Each of them had a cup of tea in front of them, but their minds were obviously not on the tea. They kept looking towards the door, and when they saw Ases, they deliberately looked away.