A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

The dragon burst through the city gates, soared into the sky, spun a few times in mid-air, shook off the golden liquid covering its body, and flew towards Changhu Town.

"What have we done?" Bilbo murmured, filled with endless regret. Perhaps they shouldn't have disturbed the dragon's eternal slumber.

“The prophecy is about to come true.” Aaron patted Bilbo on the shoulder. “Laketown will be ravaged.”

“It was our fault,” Bilbo said listlessly.

“This day would have come even if we hadn’t,” Aaron said in a deep voice. “Bard gave the townspeople a choice, but without exception they chose gold. Now it’s time to pay the price for their greed.”

Chapter 268 The Contract is Completed, Facing the Evil Dragon

Aaron walked up to Thorin and took out the Arkenstone. "Now it's time to fulfill the contract."

“Arkenstone.” Thorin swallowed hard.

"One-fifteenth of Irubb's treasure is my reward, is that alright?"

"Heh!" Thorin gave a bitter laugh. "Is there any point in talking about this now?"

“Of course,” Aaron said with great certainty.

“Gaius, Lord Baggins, I am very grateful to Gandalf for recommending you two companions to me.”

If it weren't for you, we might have died on the expedition long ago, never reaching Lonely Mountain, never opening the secret door, and perhaps never even surviving.

It is my honor to have friends like you, but I still have to apologize, as the contract may not be able to be fulfilled for the time being.

Smaug is still alive, and he will not relinquish the wealth of Elubert; even if I wanted to give it to you, I am powerless to do so.”

“What it thinks is unimportant; what matters is your decision.” Aaron held up the Arkenstone in his hand, which emitted a milky-white light. “One-fifteenth of the treasure.”

"What time is it, and you're still thinking about money?" Bilbo looked at Aaron with exasperation. "Laketown is about to be destroyed."

Aaron ignored him and looked at Thorin seriously. "Whether we can get the treasure from the dragon is another matter."

"Just tell me whether you're willing to acknowledge that one-fifteenth of Irubb's wealth belongs to me."

Thorin looked at the Arkenstone in Aaron's hand and nodded silently.

They are no match for Smaug, but if they inherit the throne, they can gather a large army of dwarves, and then they will surely be able to kill him and reclaim Irubor.

“Then…” Aaron placed the Arkenstone in Thorin’s hand, “The contract is complete.”

After saying that, he focused his attention on the first system task: [Complete the contract with the dwarves; reward 1000 magic points], and decisively claimed the 1000 magic points.

“Aaron,” Bilbo shook his head speechlessly, “Don’t forget, Smaug isn’t dead yet!”

“It will die soon,” Aaron said meaningfully. “I’ve made all the arrangements. Long Lake will be Smaug’s final resting place.”

"Are you kidding me?"

"If you don't believe me, we can find a place to watch the game."

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it won't see the sun tomorrow morning.

Everyone:......

......

"They're here." The thought entity opened its eyes and turned to look at Tauriel. "Take them downstairs and don't leave the magic circle's range."

Looking at the firelight rising on Lonely Mountain, Boff couldn't help but worry, "I hope Thorin and the others are alright."

"They are all alive, none of them are dead, and none of them are injured."

"How did you know?" Qili asked, puzzled.

"Don't underestimate wizards. I am the most outstanding heir of the Gaius family in the last hundred years," the thought entity said with some arrogance. "You should leave now. I can't take care of you anymore."

“Aaron,” Barn called to him, “I’m entrusting my father to you.”

The thought made an OK sign, turned to look at the clock tower outside the window, and instantly teleported there using Phantom Teleport.

Everyone in the house stared in astonishment as Aaron suddenly disappeared.

Barn and his sister were alright; they had witnessed the magic circle earlier that day and quickly recovered. Tarell had also seen the power of the Guardian Charm in the Dark Forest and could barely accept Aaron's way of moving.

The three dwarves looked at each other in bewilderment. They had been traveling together for more than half a year, but it seemed that they had never really understood Aaron. He was mysterious as if there was no limit to his abilities.

"Let's go!" Tarel picked up his bow and weapons and led the six people in the house to hide inside the defensive magic circle beneath the house.

......

Bell tower.

The thought teleported to Bard's side, startling him.

"You... do wizards have such methods?"

"There's a lot you don't know," the shrug said. "How's the preparation going?"

Bard took a deep breath, looking at the oppressive black shadow on the horizon getting closer and closer. His solemn expression was filled with determination. "The black arrow has been loaded onto the crossbow, but we can't use our trump card lightly."

Once Smaug is on guard, killing him will become many times more difficult.

The thought entity nodded secretly, having also received the memories of the original body.

Smaug is not only incredibly strong, but also exceptionally shrewd; you can't be too careful when dealing with him.

Upon hearing the dragon's roar, the residents of Changhu Town came out of their homes.

The firelight on the lonely mountain instilled in them a long-lost sense of fear, especially as the evil dragon drew ever closer, and they finally realized what kind of disaster Long Lake was about to face.

The dragon's silhouette lingered in the dark clouds, and the howling wind sounded like the scythe of death.

Some of the older people who had witnessed Smaug's power trembled at this moment, the shadow of the apocalypse instantly creeping into their hearts.

Faced with the ever-present threat of death, the townspeople did not hesitate to abandon their desire for gold and flee in panic.

The few wooden boats available became highly sought after, making the river extremely crowded. Those poor souls who couldn't get on a boat could only hide in the corners of houses and pray they wouldn't be noticed by the evil dragon, or jump directly into the icy lake and desperately swim to the other side.

"If only I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place!" Bard sighed helplessly.

"Don't feel guilty. This is the price they have to pay for making the wrong decision." The thought entity didn't seem to care. "No matter when, the stupid ones always die the fastest."

And this day will come sooner or later, it's just that you've been selectively forgetting it.

Actually, I admire you guys quite a bit. To dare to be neighbors with a dragon, and for so many years at that—your侥幸心理 (侥幸心理 refers to a mentality of taking chances or relying on luck) is truly...unparalleled.

“We really have nowhere to go,” Bud laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Give me a break!" The thought scoffed. "If you want to leave, you can always leave, but if you don't want to, who can you blame?"

"Is that your mayor?" The psychic looked meaningfully at a ship filled with gold below, where the mayor and Alfred were standing and directing several guards to row away.

Bud turned his face away in disgust. He was utterly humiliated. Having a mayor like that was definitely the biggest stain on the lives of the residents of Longlake Town.

"Impressive, they still have so much money on them at this time. But at this speed, everyone has probably already escaped. They won't even be able to paddle out of the river."

But the next moment, the mayor kicked his lackey into the river, lightening the boat's load by one person.

The thought twitched slightly as it turned to look at Bard, whose expression was equally complex, and asked, "Doesn't it feel especially satisfying?"

Bard opened his mouth, about to say something, when Smaug roared and flew down.

The fierce dragon flames instantly destroyed a corner of Longlake Town, and many residents were reduced to ashes.

“Our turn.” Bard immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow at Smaug.

when!

The arrow struck Smaug squarely in the abdomen, but was deflected by his tough dragon armor, causing zero damage.

"It's useless. Unless you hit its weak point, this kind of arrow can't even penetrate its defenses."

“I know, but we can’t just stand by and watch,” Bard said, firing several more arrows in quick succession. “Drawing its attention might give more people a chance to escape.”

Thoughts in words: ......

Standing next to you is really dangerous.

"Fine, I'll help you out. If you want to attract attention, this is what you have to do." The psychic took a deep breath, drew back the bowstring of another bow, and aimed at Smaug's right eye, which was constantly spewing flames.

Ding!

The iron arrow magnified in Smaug's vertical pupils, and he instinctively closed his eyes, using his eyelids to block the arrow.

"Who?" Smaug roared angrily.

It can ignore the arrows that came before, not because it doesn't care, but because it wants to enjoy the despair of humans before they die.

But this arrow was too much. If someone were hit, they might not become a one-eyed man, but they would inevitably be blind for a period of time.

"See that? That's what you call skill," the Thought-to-be said smugly.

Bard was speechless. This technique was very useful, but he might not be able to learn it.

"It's you?" Smaug looked at Aaron on the clock tower in surprise. "No, you couldn't possibly be faster than me."

What's your relationship with the Dragon Speaker? Are you twins?

Aaron immediately gave Bard a wink, then smiled at Smaug and said in Dragon Language, "Is it possible that I am him?"

Smaug paused for a moment, a thoughtful look flashing in his cold eyes.

The smell was the same, the movements were the same, the expressions were the same, even the tone of voice was the same cynical, and it was even in the language of dragons.

Smaug immediately became alert. "What's wrong with you?"

Before it could even utter the word "coming over," it heard a sharp whooshing sound, followed by a frantic warning in its mind, and its body reacted instinctively.

"This is troublesome." This thought flashed through the minds of Bard and the thought entity simultaneously.

Ding!

A dark blue scale was dented by the impact.

Smaug felt as if he had been pricked by a needle, and his massive body shuddered.

It noticed Bard riding the wind crossbow, but even the black arrows fired by the wind crossbow only caused it pain, not a fatal crisis. So where did this crisis come from?

It touched the scales that had been shot, and was surprised to find that the feel was a little off. It looked at the lake and finally saw that there was a small patch on its left chest that was not covered by scales. It immediately realized what was going on and roared angrily to the sky.

It sneered at the two of them, "Is this the flaw that human left me with back then that you were planning to exploit?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm asking." The Missing Body rolled its eyes.