A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Is that so?" Aaron didn't doubt it much, but looked around and finally focused his gaze on the window. "I think I have a clue. Look over there."

The three of them felt a jolt; they knew exactly what Aaron was talking about.

They had just noticed that dozens of spiders were frantically crawling on the window.

They squeezed out one by one through the cracks in the window, hanging down on spider silk as if trying to escape.

“Fear, they are afraid,” Aaron muttered to himself, feeling it necessary to add a detail to the monster’s identity: it might be a natural enemy of spiders.

"You mean these spiders are afraid of the monster in the Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't say that, it was just a guess." Aaron chuckled awkwardly, glancing at the clean floor. "Looks like our caretaker cleaned the floor."

"Where did all that water come from?" Harry felt he had grasped the key point. Surely no one would be mopping the floor outside at a Halloween feast!

Even if they had a bucket, they should have used it instead of pouring so much water on the ground.

“It should be that one.” Ron pointed to a door parallel to the corridor, with the word 'malfunction' written on it.

"The washroom, but we can't go in, it's the girls' washroom."

“It’s alright, no one goes there,” Hermione laughed. “That’s Moaning Myrtle’s territory.”

“This name…” Aaron frowned, “Ghost?”

“This ghost might have a bad temper and be particularly fragile,” Harry said with a bitter face. “We only said a few harmless words at the anniversary banquet, and it upset her.”

Then she threw a huge tantrum, but it seems she was scared away by the mischievous ghost.

“Compared to Peeves, Crying Myrtle is pretty good,” Hermione said, turning the brass ball handle to open the bathroom door. “Come in! Maybe she saw something.”

This washroom is not just dilapidated; describing it as long-neglected would be a stretch.

It was dark, damp, and covered in dust. Some of the cement on the walls was peeling off, and some of the individual rooms were covered in scratches.

Even the mirror in front of the sink was covered in stains and had several cracks.

"Tsk! This place probably hasn't been visited in decades!"

“Don’t say that. At least there’s a ghost living here.” Hermione rolled her eyes at Aaron, then looked at one of the private rooms. “Myrtle, are you there?”

A female ghost wearing glasses and with pigtails emerged from behind the room; her wizard robes bore the Ravenclaw crest.

“This is the girls’ restroom.” Myrtle glanced briefly at the three people behind Hermione. “They’re not girls.”

“Of course they’re not girls. I just brought them here to have a look.” Hermione forced a smile. “This place is so beautiful.”

"You have a bit of a misunderstanding about the word 'beautiful'," Aaron said, his lips twitching. "These days, even beggars have to find someone clean to beg from, but here... well, it's a long story!"

Hermione gave Aaron a meaningful look: the weeping Myrtle is a bit sentimental, don't upset her.

Myrtle flew to Aaron's side, and just as she was about to glare at him, she saw Aaron's face clearly and immediately swallowed the words she was about to say.

"Hello, what's your name?" Myrtle landed slowly on the ground, her two index fingers touching slightly, and said shyly, "My name is Myrtle Elizabeth Warren. If you don't mind, we can get to know each other."

Rumble!

A sudden, muffled thunderclap struck Aaron's heart; it was like a bolt from the blue, leaving him completely stunned.

Damn it! It turns out being handsome really is a sin.

He wouldn't mind having a ghost friend, but the relationship absolutely couldn't go beyond normal friendship, and Myrtle was completely outside his aesthetic range.

Before he could refuse, a figure stood in front of him. Hermione glared angrily at Myrtle, "Aaron is not a ghost."

"I just wanted to get to know him, that's all."

Harry and Ron gave a chuckle, a soft laugh that sounded particularly jarring in the bathroom.

"Is it funny?" Aaron asked with a stern face.

“No, absolutely not.” Ron immediately waved his hand. “We’re just simply envious.”

"That's right, you're amazing, even a female ghost like Myrtle..."

Harry's words were cut short as Moaning Myrtle flew right up to him, almost touching his face.

"Go on, keep going, what about the female ghost?"

Harry took a few steps back, a forced yet polite smile on his face.

"Hmph! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking." Myrtle flew into the air and glared at Harry and Ron. "You must be mocking me, right?"

Even though I'm dead, I still have feelings.

“No,” Harry said immediately. “We, we just wanted to ask you some questions.”

"This is a joke, you just want to make me sad."

Indeed, who would sympathize with an ugly, pitiful, sullen, weeping Myrtle?

"Um..." Hermione said, "We really just wanted to ask if you've seen anything interesting lately?"

"What do you mean?"

“On Halloween Eve,” Ron said, “a cat was attacked outside the gate. Did you see who the culprit was?”

Myrtle stared at the ceiling, looking like she didn't want to say anything, but her eyes kept glancing at Aaron.

Seeing this, Harry and the others understood what was going on and looked at Aaron with a hint of hesitation.

Judging from Myrtle's expression, she would only answer the question if asked by someone else.

"Heh!" Aaron sneered. "Goodbye."

"No!" Ron grabbed him, laughing nervously, "Why don't you sacrifice yourself this time?"

"Abe," Aaron called out impatiently. The Holy Dragon, which had been crouching nearby, quickly ran up to Aaron, roared at Ron, and bared its claws and teeth.

Cute pets become battle pets, are you scared?

"Don't misunderstand, please don't misunderstand." Ron immediately let go; he didn't want to be slapped by Abe. "I'm doing this for the greater good; you don't want to be wrongly accused, do you?"

Aaron rolled his eyes in disgust, then looked at Myrtle and asked, "Did you see anything that night?"

I'll only ask this once. Whatever your answer, I'm leaving after I say it.

Upon hearing this, Myrtle began to sob, her voice trembling with tears. "Actually, I didn't notice anything that day."

"The pixie ghost scared me, and I thought I'd find a place to commit suicide, but when I came back, I remembered I was already dead."

Aaron nodded without saying a word and led Abe outside.

"Is he angry?"

The three looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

Whether Aaron was angry or not, they didn't know, but anyone would run far away from a ghost if they were targeted by one!

Seeing that the three remained silent, Myrtle seemed to be deep in thought, let out a sorrowful sob, and plunged headfirst into a water tank, splashing up a large amount of water.

Chapter 158 The False Heir from Fifty Years Ago

Gryffindor common room.

Harry and Ron were preparing their homework for the History of Magic class, while Hermione, the academic star who had already finished her assignment, seemed a little distracted.

"Who could it be?" Hermione asked, her brow furrowed. "Who would want to expel a Squib and a Muggle-born wizard from Hogwarts?"

"Think about it, who is the person who despises Muggle-borns the most?" Ron looked at Hermione and smiled meaningfully. "I think you already have the answer."

"Could it be Malfoy?"

“Of course it’s him,” Ron said seriously. “First of all, I want to clarify that this has nothing to do with personal grudges.”

As far as I know, the Malfoy family has been Slytherins for centuries. You saw it last year during the Sorting Ceremony; they called out "Slytherin" even before the Sorting Hat was on their heads. Doesn't that prove anything?

You've met his father, Lucius, at Flourish and Blotts. He looks down on not only Muggles, but even wizards who hang out with Muggles.

Hermione nodded blankly, then said with some doubt, "That seems to make sense."

“What do you mean by ‘seems’?” Ron asked, somewhat displeased. “Their family must have the key to the secret room, passed down through generations for centuries.”

“Um…” Harry looked at the two of them, hesitating for several seconds, “Do you think it could be Gaius?”

“That’s impossible.” Hermione decisively rejected the guess and said angrily, “Harry, you know what kind of person Aaron is. He can never be the heir to Slytherin.”

“Perhaps Harry’s guess is right.” Ron pondered, then said, “He seems more like the heir to Slytherin than Malfoy.”

"Why do you say that too?" Hermione frowned. "He's different from the other Slytherins. He even managed to save us last year."

"Don't be angry, Hermione."

I'm just stating the facts; many professors, even Headmaster Dumbledore, have said that he possesses all the qualities of a Slytherin.

Ambitious, shrewd, honor-conscious, astute, self-preserving, and victory-oriented—he is the epitome of Slytherin, and many people think so.

Moreover, the Gaius family's wizarding bloodline is very pure, dating back at least a thousand years.

"You can't be envious, jealous, or hateful just because someone is outstanding," Hermione said speechlessly.

Ron rolled his eyes and turned to Harry. "What do you think?"

Harry looked at the two of them, hesitated, and opened his mouth, "I didn't suspect him for no reason."

First of all, on Halloween night, he arrived at the crime scene after us.

The three of us were attending Nick's death anniversary party, which is why we weren't in the auditorium. I heard strange noises, so I led you to that corridor.

But we had barely arrived when he showed up.

“It’s just a coincidence,” Hermione said dismissively. “He also said he was going back to his dorm.”

"But this is too much of a coincidence!"

"Why him? Why Slytherin?" Harry asked. "Besides, he was alone at the time, and no one can prove when he got there; maybe even before us."

"Even if this is a coincidence, what happens next?"

We went to the crime scene, and he went too, and he immediately noticed those strange spiders.

Moreover, he seemed indifferent to Myrtle's answer.

Once could be a coincidence, but twice is a bit too much to be true.

“See!” Ron shrugged at Hermione. “The suspicion just started to rise rapidly.”