A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Get out of the way, Hagrid."

"No!"

Riddle, unable to contain himself any longer, simply waved his wand and shouted, "Treasure revealed!"

A sudden burst of light shone on the box behind Hagrid, and a huge spider emerged from it.

This spider has eight gleaming eyes and sharp pincers. After it appeared, it rushed frantically towards the door, its legs making a rustling sound as it ran aimlessly.

"Strike the giant spider!"

A beam of white light shot out from the wand, but it dodged it.

Riddle tried to give chase, but Hagrid lunged at him, grabbed his wand, and knocked him to the ground, giving Aragog enough time to escape.

Harry's memory ended there, and he felt a dizzying sensation as everything went dark.

After a sudden feeling of falling, Harry landed on his bed and remained dazed for a while before he came to his senses.

He stared at the open diary, his mind racing with thoughts of Riddle's memories from fifty years ago. He finally understood who Aaron had mentioned as the one who had been expelled from Slytherin fifty years ago, the one considered the heir to Slytherin.

Rupert Hagrid, he should have thought of this long ago.

After taking a few deep breaths, Harry composed himself and hesitated for a moment before writing in his diary: "Tom, I really don't want to say this, but Hagrid is innocent."

The diary contained jumbled words: "Impossible. No one but that monster would harm students, and there haven't been any attacks since Hagrid was expelled."

“But Aaron has already investigated and found out,” Harry wrote. “The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk.”

The diary seemed to fall silent for a few seconds before new words appeared: "What is a basilisk?"

"A magical creature with an extremely long lifespan. Looking into it will kill you, and even indirect eye contact will petrify you. It is the monster that Salazar Slytherin kept."

After the writing disappeared, the diary was flipped through rapidly, appearing extremely agitated: "You mean I wronged a student and let the real culprit go unpunished?"

Harry pursed his lips; he could feel immense anger and guilt just from those words.

"I'm afraid so. The heirs of Slytherin are very cunning. You were just trying to protect the school, so don't feel guilty."

Furthermore, Dumbledore arranged for Hagrid to take up the post of grove keeper, and he continued to live at Hogwarts.

"That's good. I owe him an apology."

However, Harry Potter, I hope you won't tell him about me, because it will bring back bad memories for him. Hagrid is actually very vulnerable.

Harry hesitated for a moment, then wrote: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Thanks!

By the way, can you tell me who Aaron is?

I'm very curious about what kind of wizard could find the basilisk.

Harry smiled slightly, dipped his quill in ink, and said, "Aaron Gaius, he is a good friend of mine, a very fine Slytherin."

However, I think I did something really wrong that I really let him down; I can sense that he's become more distant from us than before.

Everyone makes mistakes, but mistakes can be corrected and misunderstandings can be resolved.

Time is the best healer; it can heal all wounds.

If you treat others with sincerity, you will definitely regain your friendship in the shortest amount of time.

Harry's eyes lit up when he saw these words.

During this time, he, Ron, and Hermione did try to comfort each other, but since they had all made a mistake together, even the most optimistic words carried a pessimistic tone.

In contrast, the comforting words of a close senior alumnus are a powerful tonic, pure chicken soup for the soul.

"Thank you, Tom, I feel much better now."

"I personally think you need to be stronger. There's no hurdle in this world that you can't overcome."

Harry nodded, and considering the potential problems they faced, he continued writing: "Besides that memory, do you have any other clues related to the Chamber of Secrets?"

Soon, a few lines of neat handwriting appeared on the blank page: "That's all, but I can give you some valuable advice, but you need to tell me what you know."

I need to make amends for the mistakes I made fifty years ago. Only when I catch the true heir will I be qualified to apologize to Rupert Hagrid.

Harry hesitated for a while before reluctantly deciding to grant Riddle's request.

Firstly, Riddle was very similar to him, giving him a warm and trustworthy feeling.

Secondly, it's just a diary, so even if you know a lot, it won't make a big difference.

Thirdly, he—no, to be precise, they—did indeed need some helpers to find the real culprit, and Riddle undoubtedly possessed this ability.

"I can tell you, but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone else."

Another line appeared in the diary: "I guarantee it with my father's surname."

Having received a satisfactory reply, Harry wrote down all the clues he knew in his diary: "Besides the Basilisk, Aaron also gave us a list of possible Slytherin heirs, which includes not only pure-blood wizards, but also some half-blood wizards, and the Weasley sisters."

Unfortunately, we found nothing.

There are also places that could be locked rooms, but we have checked those as well. Only the Forbidden Forest and Black Lake remain.

Aaron didn't tell us all the clues; he was extremely secretive about the last possible location and refused to say anything.

"Perhaps there's something he can't say about it!"

Everyone has their own secrets; you should try to understand them.

“I know that.” Harry shrugged, his quill pausing briefly on the journal before continuing, “Tom, do you have any way to help us?”

"No, but don't act rashly for now."

"Aaron thought so too. He was afraid that the real culprit would fight Hogwarts to the death, so he wouldn't let us notify Dumbledore unless absolutely necessary."

"He is right, and you need to stay calm at this time."

"Remain unchanged amidst all changes; if the mastermind dares to harm someone again, they will inevitably slip up."

“But we can’t risk the lives of our students!” Harry wrote urgently. “I’m not unaware that Dumbledore would make the real culprit wary, but that’s precisely why I want to take the initiative.”

"Then you only have one choice."

A line of text caught Harry's attention, and before he could ask, another line appeared:

"Go find Hagrid. He has a good relationship with many magical creatures. With his help, your investigation of the Forbidden Forest might be easier."

"But how am I supposed to tell Hagrid?" Harry wrote with a worried expression.

Hagrid was wrongfully fired fifty years ago because he kept a magical creature. Aaron had to keep it a secret for him. If he were to mention the Chamber of Secrets and ask him to help investigate, what difference would it make from reopening old wounds?

"This is indeed a bit difficult, but I believe you will handle it well, as long as you do it properly."

My time is running out, goodbye.

After writing the two lines, he quickly flipped through the diary and closed it again.

Looking at the black cover, Harry didn't think much of it, guessing that the magic in the diary had been used up too much!

But it's alright, Riddle has already told him enough and given him enough encouragement. He can just keep investigating.

At the same time, Aaron, who was practicing magic circles in the Slytherin common room, suddenly shuddered, his right hand holding the pen trembled violently, and the diagram of a high-level magic circle was completely ruined.

Aaron frowned slightly as he looked at the specks of sparks on the table.

This had never happened before, and he was never easily distracted when he was fully focused.

Could this be some kind of ominous sign?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

He believed he was well hidden and posed no threat to anyone on the surface, so no one would be foolish enough to have designs on him.

Chapter 180 This imagination is spot on

In an empty classroom, Harry called Aaron, Ron, and Hermione together and eagerly told them the secret of Riddle's diary.

After hearing his story, Hermione and Ron looked at Aaron in unison. "You knew all along that Hagrid was innocent?"

“Obviously.” Aaron shrugged. “First of all, Hagrid is now too honest and too kind. Fifty years ago, he was about the same age as us, and it would have been impossible for him to let monsters kill people.”

Secondly, Hagrid is a giant. Even if Salazar Slytherin's judgment was terrible, he should have at least chosen a normal person!

His successor must at least be a half-blood wizard, not a half-blood giant.

"And what do you think about Hagrid...?" Harry hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is there anything he didn't tell you?"

“Perhaps, but he doesn’t know the location of the Chamber of Secrets, nor who the heir is.” Aaron sighed with some regret, then looked at Harry, “What about Riddle’s diary?”

If I could, I'd also like to take a trip through his memories; maybe I can find clues you missed.

“I’m afraid that won’t work.” Harry forced a smile. “The magic in the diary might not be enough; it will need time to recover.”

"Pity."

After a brief discussion, the group decided not to disturb Hagrid for the time being.

Because the current situation is relatively stable, there have been no attacks for a long time.

They didn't need to reopen Hagrid's wounds by asking him to help them find a possible secret chamber in the dangerous Forbidden Forest.

During the Easter break, second-year students begin choosing courses for their third year.

Aaron raised an eyebrow as he looked at the class schedule that Professor Snape had handed out.

In addition to the compulsory subjects that correspond to the second-year curriculum, there are five elective courses to choose from: Protecting Magical Creatures, Divination, Arithmetic Divination, Ancient Runes, and Muggle Studies.

After thinking for a moment, Aaron wrote his name after each course.

It's essential to learn how to protect magical creatures, since he's a wizard. If he doesn't understand the habits, abilities, preferences, and weaknesses of those magical creatures, he'll inevitably suffer losses in the future.

In just these two school years, we've encountered several magical creatures: unicorns, centaurs, three-headed dogs, trolls, dragons, and basilisks. It's easy to imagine that we'll encounter even more in the future.

Aaron was also somewhat interested in divination and arithmetic; in this world, metaphysics was more convincing than science.

He has already experienced the benefits of ancient languages ​​like Nirvana and the Dragon Language, and he might find it useful to learn a new foreign language in the future.

As for the final Muggle research, Aaron didn't care. His understanding of Muggles was definitely among the top ten at Hogwarts.

But in the world of business, having more skills is never a bad thing. Since this course is on the schedule, it must have its value.

"Aaron, are you mistaken?" Draco asked, puzzled. "If you select all the options, you won't be able to finish all the classes."