A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Yes, it couldn't be Aaron either, I believe him."

“Hagrid,” Dumbledore drawled, “I never said I didn’t believe them.”

“Okay, oh…” Hagrid’s face showed a hint of embarrassment. “Then I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Wait, Hagrid,” Aaron called out to him, looking at the dead rooster. “What’s this?”

"This is the fourth one to die in this period of time." Hagrid sighed regretfully. "There weren't many chickens in the coop to begin with, so it was probably either a fox or a vampire that did it."

I plan to cast a spell on the chicken coop when I get back, but that requires Headmaster Dumbledore's permission.

“Do as you please, Hagrid,” Dumbledore said with a smile.

Aaron felt a little heavy-hearted as he watched Hagrid leave the office.

Besides the two roosters he stole—no, the two he protected—two others were killed.

This means that Slytherin's successor has begun to eliminate threats, and he may soon order the Basilisk to attack again. We must be on guard!

“You don’t think it’s me, Professor?” Harry asked expectantly.

Dumbledore nodded. "I don't think it's you."

"Thank you."

Harry was flattered. When everyone around him doubted him, Headmaster Dumbledore chose to believe him. What could be more encouraging than that?

“However, I still have to ask you,” Dumbledore said gravely, “is there anything you want to tell me?”

Harry's heart leaped into his throat as he recalled his suspicions about Aaron.

He had many guesses, but no evidence whatsoever. He couldn't very well tell Dumbledore about the Compound Herbs, could he?

Besides, Aaron is standing right here; there's no better way to blatantly alert him.

"No, sir, there is nothing."

Dumbledore nodded, then looked at Aaron. "Mr. Gaius, what about you? Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Um...this..." Aaron hesitated for a while before a smile finally appeared on his lips. "The principal truly has a discerning eye!"

"I do have something I'm hiding from you."

Harry looked at Aaron in surprise. Even if you are the heir of Slytherin, aren't you being a little too arrogant?

The man sitting in front of you is the most powerful white mage of this century. Unless Salazar is resurrected, no one can save you.

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is it important?"

“It’s very important, Headmaster Dumbledore.” Aaron emphasized the word “Headmaster.” “I’m willing to give you some respect, but that respect comes not from your status, but from your ability.”

But I'm sorry, I can't tell you what I did yet, because if it gets found out, it might cause Slytherin to lose ten or so points.

But you can rest assured, what I did was absolutely beneficial and harmless to Hogwarts.

Chapter 170 Disgusting Compound Decoction

Christmas.

The weather grew colder, and thick snow blanketed the entire Hogwarts Castle.

Because of the series of attacks, many students are panicked, and the number of names on the list of those allowed to remain on campus is much smaller than last year.

Most people chose to go home for Christmas, except for students who were confident enough in their own bloodline, who felt that the heirs of Slytherin had no reason to harm them.

When Aaron woke up in the morning, he went to collect his package, Christmas gifts from his family and friends.

He took all the packages back to his dormitory and couldn't wait to open the gifts his parents had sent.

Two postcards, one depicting the vibrant aurora borealis and the other the vast ocean, accompanied by the message: "I hope you can visit these beautiful places someday."

“Beautiful! I shouldn’t have had any expectations of them, but at least it shows they haven’t forgotten they have a son like me.” Aaron smiled helplessly, then opened the large package that Genes had sent.

The package contained several gift boxes of different sizes, which he had asked Genes to prepare as gifts for his friends.

But a longsword gleaming with silver light drew Aaron's attention, causing him to subconsciously ignore the gift boxes.

This sword ranks among the top three in the family's armory. It was Argo Gaius's most satisfying work and took two full months to complete.

Made of mithril, the sword is enchanted with runes that enhance its sharpness, and the hilt is inlaid with three black magic crystals.

Aaron hadn't forgotten that one of his tasks was to slay the serpent monster, but powerful magical creatures weren't so easy to kill; they could even be immune to spells of limited power to some extent.

He's currently a novice mage, not exactly weak, but relying solely on magic to defeat a serpent monster that's lived for over a thousand years is indeed a bit presumptuous.

Unless you use all your accumulated magic points at once to increase your strength to the point of approaching that of a mage, you might have a better chance of killing it, but it will still be quite difficult.

Although Aaron planned to lead a group of professors to the secret room to overwhelm the enemy after finding it, he needed to have some means of self-protection just in case.

Aaron picked up the longsword with some excitement. The erosion of time had left almost no trace on it; it was still sharp and chilling.

Zheng!

With a casual wave of his hand, a crisp sword sound rang out, and a sword mark was left on the ground.

"No wonder it's the legendary sword that slayed a dragon." Aaron couldn't help but exclaim. Just ordinary sword energy could cut through rocks. If magic power were added, its power would increase many times over.

"I don't like it." Abe snorted unhappily. What could be more malicious than taking out a dragon-slaying weapon in front of a dragon?

"What are you panicking about?" Aaron laughed. "This sword has only killed ordinary dragons. You are a holy dragon, don't you know how thick your skin is?"

Abe gripped the ground with its four paws and said somewhat aggrievedly, "That's for later. I'm still a baby now, and I need to evolve a few more times to become invulnerable."

Aaron rolled his eyes and said earnestly, "You're almost two years old now, not a baby anymore."

Also, I won't use this sword to hurt you, otherwise, if Viko and the others find out, who knows what they'll do to me!

Abe nodded, then flew to the top of Aaron's head. "I'm hungry."

"Okay, I'll take you to the auditorium after I put this thing away."

I'll also take some Christmas presents to a few people while I'm at it.

The Myrtle's Weeping Washroom.

Thick black smoke billowed from the crucible, and Harry and Ron watched nervously as Hermione divided out the Polyjuice Potion.

The viscous potion was divided into three glasses, resembling bubbling mud.

“This is disgusting,” Ron said, his face grim.

“That’s not even the worst.” Harry swallowed hard, his gaze falling on the three glass test tubes on the sink. “We also have to add Malfoy’s hair, Crabbe’s hair, and Goyle’s hair.”

vomit......

Ron instinctively covered his mouth, feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit.

"I have to admit that it takes a lot of courage to drink this stuff, although courage is the one thing Gryffindor has no shortage of."

Hermione put the last ingredients into the glass, and the soup boiled, turning into yellow, brown, and tan solutions respectively.

“It should be fine. The reaction is just as described in the book,” Hermione said confidently. “After drinking it, we will have an hour to transform into the likeness of the three of them.”

"Shall we act now?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Of course not, we still need to make final preparations."

"Still waiting?" Ron asked, puzzled. "We've been waiting for over a month already, we can't back down at the last minute!"

“It’s Hermione. I know you don’t want to suspect him, but I’m 99% sure that Aaron is the heir to Slytherin,” Harry said urgently. “He’s always at the crime scene, and even I, who can hear those strange sounds, am not that accurate.”

More importantly, he personally admitted to Dumbledore that he was hiding something from him, and that it would be of no benefit to Hogwarts.

I bet Salazar had the same idea when he planned to purge Muggle-born wizards.

“But…” Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something but then hesitated, “Okay! I didn’t say we were going to back down, it’s just… we have to make sure the real Malfoys don’t show up when we ask Aaron questions, and we also have to change our clothes.”

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance; they really hadn't expected this.

If the real Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle were to encounter them in the Slytherin common room, they would be impossible to hide their deception, and the Slytherins would not consider it a prank.

Moreover, their clothes were indeed ill-fitting. Putting aside the size, the Gryffindor logo on their clothes alone was enough to attract a lot of attention.

“Alright!” Ron shrugged. “Since you’ve brought it up, I think you should have a solution too!”

Hermione raised an eyebrow and pulled out three chocolate cakes. "I put enough sleeping pills in them to make them sleep for a few hours. Then we can hide them in the broom cabinet."

"What about the clothes?" Harry asked. "Are we just going to strip them off? Wouldn't that be too..."

“That’s actually a possibility.” Ron rubbed his hands together excitedly. “If you can’t bring yourself to do it, let me do it.”

"Ugh!" Hermione gave him a disdainful look. "Just the shoes are fine. They can find their clothes in the laundry room; they usually have spares there."

“Okay, it’s settled then. We’ll start tonight.” Harry looked at the two of them, a wise glint in his eyes. “Hermione, I’ll leave the clothes to you.”

Ron, let's figure out a way to get them to eat these cakes.

We'll meet here after we succeed.

......

As night fell, the teachers and students who chose to stay on campus gathered in the auditorium for dinner.

Compared to last year, this Christmas was a little quieter, but it was just less crowded.

The auditorium was still decorated in a particularly grand manner, with more than a dozen Christmas trees covered in silver frost, and the ceiling was also enchanted, with warm, dry snowflakes constantly falling to regulate the indoor temperature.

Everyone ate with relish, even some people with ulterior motives.

While Aaron was eating, he noticed that Harry, Draco, and his two friends were whispering to each other and glancing at Draco from time to time. This made him a little curious, so he went to the Gryffindor table.

"Merry Christmas, you three look a bit strange."

"Really?" Harry gave a forced smile.

“I can’t be mistaken,” Aaron asked meaningfully. “If I may ask, what did Malfoy and the others do to upset you?”

“No, that’s not it,” Ron immediately changed the subject. “We were just wondering why Crabbe and Goyle had such good appetites.”

They wolfed down four servings of rice cake, and this was their fifth.

“Um…” Aaron paused for a moment, then chuckled, “They both always have a good appetite, but I always felt that wasn’t the point. I vaguely heard you talking about Draco.”

“Okay!” Harry shrugged. “We were just wondering who the heir to Slytherin is.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow. Could they be suspecting Draco? If so, then all their efforts would be in vain.