A letter from Hogwarts was very important to any family.
It could change the destiny of a Muggle family, allowing them to enter the magical world from then on.
It could also dispel the greatest fear of a wizarding family—that their child was a Squib!
Therefore, for an entire day, the Weasley family was celebrating, and Molly prepared abundant ingredients.
At noon, the family set up a tent in the garden, right near the edge of the garden pond, ready to enjoy the breeze, the beautiful scenery, and the sparkling water with a picnic party.
Arthur even wanted to invite all the nearby neighbors, but ultimately failed under Molly's raised feather duster—Molly always felt that the Lovegood family acted weird, and they didn't interact much with the Fawcett family, so it wasn't very appropriate.
So in the end, only the Diggory family was invited.
Amos Diggory, like Arthur Weasley, was a Ministry of Magic employee working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, so the two could barely be considered colleagues.
However, Arthur's purpose for inviting him was not out of professional courtesy.
"That guy is very annoying!"
"Every time we meet, he always shows off to me about how his son Ced is this and that, wearing an awful expression that looks down on other people's children!"
When he said these words, Arthur had a very indignant expression.
Therefore, when Amos Diggory Apparated at the Burrow with his son, Arthur happily put an arm around Vaughn and welcomed them!
"Amos, welcome to the Burrow. This is my son Vaughn. I bet you must have heard his name."
Amos had a short brown beard and a ruddy face, looking as if he had been drinking.
As he shook hands with Arthur, he sized up Vaughn.
Vaughn showed a smile that met the expectations of his elders.
"Yes, yes, Arthur, the potions genius of your family, of course I've heard of him. Is he the one who received the Hogwarts letter today? What about Ron?"
Arthur's smile froze for a moment, not expecting the other party to accurately find his weak point. He looked around with flickering eyes: "Oh, Ron received one too..."
Amos immediately raised his eyebrows: "Why didn't you bring him over? If you ask me, you should let Ron interact more with Ced. Our Ced is obedient and good at studying, his Transfiguration makes even Professor McGonagall full of praise, and he's also a Quidditch Seeker. Maybe he can help Ron make some changes..."
When it came to showing off his son, Amos was clearly experienced, knowing how to avoid the other party's strengths and grasp their sore spots.
The childish competition between adults almost made Vaughn laugh out loud.
Instead, the young boy who followed Amos, Cedric Diggory, looked a bit embarrassed.
He was very handsome, still carrying a youthful shyness.
Taking advantage of the dazed Arthur being pulled away by Amos, he leaned in front of Vaughn and apologized: "Sorry, my dad means no harm, he's just always used to exaggerating when he speaks."
Seeming to have heard his words, from afar, Mr. Diggory loudly praised: "...Ced is always humble and polite, always full of gentlemanly grace..."
"..."
Cedric's expression stiffened, and he was forced to awkwardly change the subject.
He extended his hand to Vaughn: "My name is Cedric Diggory, Mr. Vaughn Weasley, nice to meet you. I have read the several papers you wrote about potions, and I must say, some of the development ideas you mentioned in them are amazing."
Vaughn shook his hand and smiled: "Thank you, it's just some petty cleverness. Right now there are still people in the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers attacking me for being unorthodox."
Wherever there are people, there are disputes.
Over the past few years, Vaughn had earned quite a few gold Galleons relying on the Vaughn Beautification series of products, which naturally aroused the jealousy of other potioneers.
Not to mention Vaughn's shocking talent in potions—being only 8 years old and having not yet enrolled at Hogwarts, he was able to develop mature potion products, which had never happened in the past.
If it weren't for the fact that they still cared about their faces at the time and were too embarrassed to snatch a child's research results, as well as the reason that Vaughn was a pure-blood, the formulas for the Vaughn Beautification series of products would have probably been cracked long ago to compete for the market.
Of course, with the publication of several papers on potion development, Vaughn had now gained a firm foothold, and Vaughn Beautification had made a name for itself, so those people could only fight wars of words in the newspapers.
Vaughn's composure made Cedric a bit envious.
He was very ambitious and admired people with genuine talent and practical knowledge, so even though Vaughn hadn't enrolled yet, Cedric still kept a low profile and asked Vaughn for advice on several questions regarding potion transfiguration.
"...I haven't tried Polyjuice Potion yet. You know, you simply can't find the formula for this kind of advanced potion on the market. It is said that Scarpin's Revelaspell can analyze the specific ingredients and ratios of a potion, but it's a spell explicitly restricted from circulation by the Ministry of Magic."
"So I'm really looking forward to studying at Hogwarts, its library and professors can teach a lot of knowledge that can't be learned through self-study... Let's get back to the previous topic. Although I haven't brewed Polyjuice Potion, its main ingredients can still be found out. I suggest you use its primary ingredient, powdered Bicorn horn, to conduct some low-risk experiments..."
As time advanced to noon, Cedric had completely become Vaughn's little fanboy.
He even ignored Mr. Diggory, specially sitting next to Vaughn to make it easier to ask for advice.
Hearing these words, he pondered for a moment and asked: "Do you mean that the main factor allowing Polyjuice Potion to transform comes from the Bicorn?"
"No, the transformation mainly relies on the properties of Fluxweed, while the Bicorn provides more possibilities. Just like its appearance, which looks like a leopard, a cow, and a human, it is the key to Polyjuice Potion helping you turn into someone else. It can even cross genders, which already involves the modification of the human body's essence. I think its potential is far from being fully tapped!"
Vaughn spoke with assurance.
No one in his family was particularly gifted in potions, so normally he couldn't find anyone at all to chat about potion topics with. Although the part Cedric asked for advice on was mainly about potion transfiguration, he was still very happy to have someone to communicate with.
While they were chatting enthusiastically on this side, on the other side of the dining table, Ron was plunged into deep suffering.
Even though he tried hard to hide until mealtime before coming down, he was still caught by Mr. Diggory. He had to endure, along with his dad, Mr. Diggory's fancy flattery of his own son, as well as his overt and covert belittling of him.
In order to get away, Ron even had to bring up Vaughn.
"Ced is asking Vaughn for advice on potions. I want to go listen," Ron said.
Mr. Diggory immediately shut his mouth and let him go.
This made Ron feel even worse, always feeling that his brother's shadow was everywhere!
Especially when it came time to eat, Molly brought out a carefully prepared hot pot—that was a Chinese dish that Vaughn, who deeply detested British delicacies after eating them for a few years, had recreated from a Muggle magazine under the guise of his dad's work convenience.
When the hot pot was brought to the table, watching his dad, who had been dispirited for half the day, cheer up again to boast to Mr. Diggory about Vaughn's culinary invention.
Ron only felt completely powerless!