A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Actually, it's all a misunderstanding," Ron said with a laugh, trying to smooth things over. "Our apology was quite sincere, so why don't you forgive us one more time?"

"Heh!" Aaron curled his lip in disdain. "You're really shameless. Neither of them would dare to say that."

Ron turned to look at Harry and Hermione; one was silent with her head down, and the other was on the verge of tears. He swallowed awkwardly.

“Forgiving is a bit difficult.” Hermione mustered her courage and looked directly into Aaron’s eyes. “But what’s done is done, and you have to give us a chance to make amends!”

Our goal is to find the real culprit. With the three of us helping you, things will be easier for you.

“No need.” Aaron refused without hesitation. “You’re lucky if you don’t hold me back.”

"But we already know all your plans..."

"Hey! Let me correct you, not all of them."

There are things you don't yet know, such as who the heir was fifty years ago, and who might be the final location of the secret chamber.

“What about the Gryffindor common room!” Hermione exclaimed. “You can’t possibly investigate that place!”

“And my sister,” Ron added immediately. “I won’t let anyone else investigate her, and I certainly won’t let Malfoy carry out your plan.”

Upon hearing this, Aaron's face instantly darkened. "What do you mean by this? Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"No, please don't misunderstand," Harry said hastily, while giving the two men a meaningful look: We're here to ask for forgiveness, not to bargain.

Ron gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry."

Hermione gritted her teeth and ignored Harry's glare.

She knew what Harry meant, but she knew even better what kind of person Aaron was.

No matter how grandly they explain their actions, they cannot change the fact that they are deceiving others, and it is completely impossible to get the other party to forgive them with just a few words.

"It's not coercion, it's cooperation."

You need help, and we can help you, and we hope we can.

Aaron took a deep breath and tapped his fingers on the table, making a tapping sound.

The three remained silent, waiting quietly for Aaron's response.

Half a minute later, he stopped tapping and said meaningfully, "Believe it or not, even without your help, I can find the real culprit."

Hearing this, Harry and Ron felt a little uneasy, but Hermione was relieved; the fact that they weren't directly rejected meant there was room for negotiation.

"But with our help, you can find the Slytherin successor much faster."

"That's true."

Aaron could not deny it; he had absolute confidence in his character. However, the image of Slytherin had been shattered in the minds of students from all three houses.

Even if he could gain access to the common rooms of the other three colleges, he would be severely hampered in his investigation.

"Cooperation is possible, but I have a few conditions."

"You said."

"First of all, you cannot reveal my plans to anyone, not even a little bit."

“No problem, we agree,” Harry said immediately. They knew what was important; they couldn’t trust anyone until they found the heir to Slytherin, not even Dumbledore.

“Secondly, personal feelings must not be involved in the investigation.” Aaron said, giving Ron a meaningful look.

“Ginny, she…” Ron was about to say something when he was stopped by two sharp glares and immediately changed his words, “I know, I will handle this officially.”

Aaron nodded in satisfaction. "Also, you must tell me what you've found out, but I won't give you any clues."

Harry hesitated; it didn't seem fair to them.

“Sure,” Hermione said, but rolled her eyes at Harry’s puzzled look. “What’s there to hesitate about? We’re still making a profit.”

Harry paused for a moment, then suddenly realized.

They investigated at the same time as Aaron, but what they found was incomparable.

But they almost kept pace with Aaron's progress last night, which means they were standing on the shoulders of giants. What more could they ask for?

Finally, return the Christmas presents I gave you.

"That was for friends, you don't count now," Aaron said calmly. "Cooperation doesn't mean I'll forgive you."

I gave you all a chance last year, but you didn't cherish it.

The three nodded with guilty expressions and placed the three gift boxes on the table.

“Wow, thank you for not opening them. The memories might be even more vivid this way,” Aaron said meaningfully, then slowly opened the first box, which contained a lottery ticket.

"Take this to the Magic Broom Shop and you can upgrade your Nimbus 2000 to the latest model."

I personally hoped for a fair game, although Flint would definitely yell at me if he found out, but thanks to your performance last night, I won't get scolded.

Tear!

Aaron tore the lottery ticket to shreds and threw it into the trash can.

Harry forced a smile, but his heart was bleeding with pain.

The Seeker's equipment can, to some extent, determine the outcome of a game; he could almost see the trophy for next semester sprout wings and fly away from his hands.

Ron patted him on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "It's okay. Even without the new broom, you're still the best Seeker."

"Thank you!"

"This is for you." Aaron handed a gift box to Ron. "Why don't you open it and take a look?"

Ron forced a smile and nervously opened the box.

A brand new brown wand lay in the box, as if welcoming its new owner.

“My great-uncle was a professional wand maker; he could remember every single wand he ever sold,” Aaron explained. “This wand was adjusted to your father’s measurements.”

"So, are you satisfied?"

“Satisfied.” Ron’s eyes twitched slightly, and he forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

What's the use of being satisfied? No matter how good the product is, it's no longer his.

Click!

The wand was broken in two, even more completely damaged than the one in Ron's hand.

hiss!

Harry and Hermione couldn't bear it and turned their faces away. It was like killing someone's heart! Just now, they seemed to have heard the sound of their hearts breaking.

Harry walked up to Ron, seeing the boy's expression of wanting to cry but unable to, and comforted him, "With your talent, even with an old wand..."

Harry couldn't continue his story halfway through.

Everyone who knows what kind of wand Ron is using now is; even the simplest levitation spell produces an explosive effect.

At that moment, a intact wand was more of a lifeline than a godsend for him.

"It's okay, just pretend nothing happened."

Ron's eyes were red and swollen. He choked back a few sobs, trying his best not to look at the wand that was broken in two. In his heart, he kept lamenting, "What did I miss?"

"Next, it should be my turn!" Hermione looked at the last gift box, her body trembling slightly. "I bet there's a book inside."

“I admire your intelligence.” Aaron smiled and pointed his wand at the gift box. The ribbon on it automatically untied, and a book with a dark blue cover that wasn’t very thick but had a weathered look flew into his hand.

"A work by a great magician, along with his annotations and autograph."

To be honest, I personally think Lockhart is just a clown. I just wanted to give you a book with more practical value, which is real knowledge.

By the way, you all know the author of this book, Nicolas Flamel.

Hermione staggered and almost fell to the ground, sharing the same feeling as Harry and Ron.

"You're not planning to tear it up, are you?!"

“Of course not. Although I’ve memorized everything in it, Flamel’s notes are a million times more valuable than Lockhart’s autobiographies, enough to make countless wizards flock to them.” Aaron said, rolling up the book and roughly stuffing it into Abe’s pocket, making Hermione’s heart ache.

Harry and Ron looked at Hermione with pity. They had only lost material things, which they could barely accept, though it pained them. But Hermione had missed out on spiritual wealth, and for a top student, nothing could be more cruel.

"I've said everything I needed to say, and I've taken back everything I needed to take back," Aaron said, extending his right hand. "Then it's a pleasure to cooperate."

The three shook hands with him with bitter smiles. Although their hearts were broken, it wasn't entirely without gain. With this foundation of cooperation, at least Aaron wouldn't treat them as enemies when they met again in the future.

"Oh, right, there's one last question." Aaron suddenly remembered something and asked jokingly, "Surely nothing like this will happen again!"

"No, absolutely not."

Hermione solemnly made her promise, while Harry and Ron shook their heads repeatedly.

The three gift boxes that were taken back clearly showed them that being dishonest with friends would come at a heavy price.

Chapter 178 The Diary Thrown into the Bathroom

A few weeks later, students returned to school after Christmas to begin the new semester.

During this time, Harry, his two friends carefully checked the three common rooms. Their method was very simple and crude: they put on invisibility cloaks and waited for Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw students to open the doors of the common rooms for them.

Of course, Gryffindor's common room is their own property, so checking it isn't that troublesome.

In addition, they also conducted a secret investigation into the twenty-three suspects on the list given by Aaron, but without any results.

Fortunately, the Slytherin heirs seemed to have quieted down during this time, and no further attacks occurred.

"So, you really didn't find anything?" Aaron walked down the hallway, looking thoughtfully at Ron. "What about Ginny? Are you sure you didn't show favoritism?"

“She is definitely not without suspicion, I swear on my integrity,” Ron said seriously. “Every time I subtly inquired about the secret room, she acted very scared, and once she even pushed me, her brother, down.”

"Is that so? Then things are going to be difficult."

I searched the entire school and only managed to narrow down these twenty-three students, but now the trail has gone cold again.

“We can’t find any mechanisms in the common room either, so we can be sure it’s not related to the Chamber of Secrets,” Harry murmured. “The Headmaster’s office can basically be ruled out, which leaves only the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake.”

“There’s another location,” Hermione said, looking at Aaron. “Shouldn’t you tell us about it by now?”

“No.” Aaron refused without hesitation. “I would rather investigate the Forbidden Forest and Black Lake first than go to places like that.”

Upon hearing this, the three exchanged bewildered glances.

Is this last location even more dangerous than the Forbidden Forest and Black Lake?