A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Isn't this a date? Then I'm even more disappointed."

"That's alright, we're only eleven years old, we can just stay good friends."

Hermione felt a surge of secret joy upon hearing the first half of the sentence, but that joy vanished upon hearing the second half, replaced by a bitter expression.

"Okay, I was just kidding."

If my mom found out I made a girl cry, she'd probably come all the way back from Loch Ness to beat me up.

"Pfft!" Hermione was amused and let go of her displeasure.

"Can you tell me what you want from me?" Aaron asked curiously.

Hermione composed herself, her expression grave as she surveyed her surroundings. Only after confirming that no one or any ghosts were around did she speak: "Aaron, you must listen to me. From now on, you must stay away from Snape. He's no good."

"Huh?" Aaron was a little stunned, never expecting that Hermione had called him over just to remind him of this.

Although Gryffindor students dislike Snape's expressionless face, it doesn't mean they should classify him as a bad guy!

"Impossible. I can still tell whether someone is a good person or not."

Professor Snape may be a bit strict, but he could never be a bad person.

“It’s true, I’m not lying to you.” Hermione explained anxiously, “You know that Harry almost fell off his flying broomstick during yesterday’s Quidditch match.”

"so...

What does this have to do with Snape not being a good person?

You don't suspect it was him, do you?

"He's the one who cursed Harry, I saw it with my own eyes."

He sat on the platform, his eyes fixed on Harry's broom, not blinking once, and chanting the spell incredibly fast.

"That doesn't prove it was him!"

"Why? This is already conclusive evidence!"

"Don't you believe me?" Hermione felt wronged. Originally, only she, Harry, Ron, and Hagrid knew about Snape's spell.

She made a huge decision, even risking being discovered by Snape, to come and tell Aaron.

Seeing Hermione's reddened eyes, Aaron panicked and hurriedly said, "It's not that I don't believe you, but are you sure Snape is trying to harm Harry?"

Snape was no weakling; he was at least a mage. If a mage was completely focused on casting spells on a flying broom, how do you think Harry was able to stay upright for so long without falling?

Relying on technology? Don't be ridiculous.

I admit he's talented, but ultimately he's still just a beginner.

"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned, as if she had grasped the key point, but was still unsure of what it meant.

"Idiot! You've wasted all those books you've read." Ling Ge shook his head speechlessly. "Since you've read the relevant content, you should know that there are also opposing spells that can counteract this kind of evil curse."

The method is similar: keep your eyes fixed on the target of the spell and concentrate fully.

In other words, at least two people were chanting the incantation at the time; one was chanting a malevolent incantation, and the other was chanting a reverse incantation.

If Snape had cast a reverse spell, he wouldn't have been harming Harry, but saving him.

You don't understand the specific situation, yet you've already pinned such a huge blame on Professor Snape. Isn't that too arbitrary?

Or did you hear Snape chant a curse with your own ears?

"But... at the time I only saw Snape chanting the spell, the other people's mouths didn't move that fast."

Boom!

Aaron flicked Hermione's head lightly. "Who told you that a curse has to be spoken aloud? Some high-level wizards can achieve the same effect under normal circumstances simply by looking at the object being cursed and using some props and secret techniques."

To give a simple example, before you came to Hogwarts, you probably also had times when you suddenly cast spells without using any incantations, right?

Hermione paused for a moment, thinking to herself that the magical world was truly complex, with so many intricacies involved in harming someone.

“But that only reduces Snape’s suspicion by half; there’s still a 50% chance he’s casting a curse,” Hermione said stubbornly.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible,” Aaron said, emphasizing each word. “At Hogwarts, everyone—you, me, even Dumbledore—could potentially harm Harry Potter, but Snape is the only exception. He is…”

"But what?" Hermione looked at Aaron, her curiosity almost overflowing.

"nothing."

"No, you must know."

"I really don't know," Aaron said very seriously. Even if Snape were beaten to death, he still wouldn't know.

"Really?" Hermione suddenly gave a meaningful smile. "Aaron, what do you think he'd think if I went to Professor Snape now and said that Aaron had told me everything?"

Aaron paused for a moment, then clapped his hands. "Hey! Good idea, very clever."

If I hadn't known, you might have gotten away with it.

Hermione's smile froze instantly. Snape Severus was the Head of Slytherin House, and Aaron, Slytherin and Snape's favorite student, could easily see him. But she was a Gryffindor; let alone see him, she probably couldn't even get through the door.

The two are now on the same starting line, but the finish line is clearly much closer to Aaron. Her little trick will probably fall apart before it even gets started.

"You've figured it out?" Aaron said smugly. "I can tell you with absolute certainty that Snape would never harm Harry Potter."

"Hermione, could you please move aside? I need to go back and catch up on some sleep."

“No, you can’t leave.” Hermione grabbed Aaron’s arm. “I have to know why.”

If you don't tell me, I...I'll cry in front of you.

Aaron sighed helplessly and lifted Abe up in front of him. "Do you know what species this is?"

"Cat, what's wrong?"

Aaron nodded. "Then you must have heard of 'curiosity killed the cat,' right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Abe began to turn over in Aaron's arms. It was a dragon, a dragon of noble blood, and such a vile curse was an insult to it.

Snapped!

Aaron patted it on the back. "Stop fooling around. I'll give you an extra chicken leg for dinner."

Faced with delicious food, Abe instantly calmed down.

It's just a curse, isn't it? It's a holy dragon, and it's least afraid of curses, let alone a curse that has nothing to do with it.

Hermione hesitated for a moment, then said, "But I still want to know."

I really can't tell you.

This matter could very well concern Professor Snape's pride, and the more he knew, the greater the risk he would take.

"I am not afraid of risks; Gryffindor has no shortage of adventurous spirit."

"But I'm afraid," Aaron said with a wry smile. "If you accidentally let something slip, I'll be the one in trouble."

“Alright!” Hermione said with some regret. “Since you won’t tell me, I’ll have to find out myself.”

Aaron had just breathed a sigh of relief when she startled him with the second half of her sentence, and immediately said, "You stand right there."

Hermione straightened up, then flashed a victorious smile and stuck out her tongue sheepishly.

"I'm really scared of you."

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

“I promise,” Hermione said, raising her right hand solemnly. “I swear I would never tell anyone.”

"Heh! In the wizarding world, oaths have the least binding force."

"But I'm still willing to trust you this time, as long as you don't take my trust for granted," Aaron said, then his expression turned serious. "Do you remember what question Professor Snape asked Harry in the first Potions class?"

"Remember what you get when you add daffodil root powder to mugwort infusion?"

Yes, that's it.

Have you ever wondered why he asked that question?

In the language of flowers, daffodils and mugwort can be interpreted as 'my regret follows you to your grave,' as well as 'absence' and 'bitter sorrow.'

Snape apologized in this way during their first meeting; he felt immense guilt towards Harry and would never harm him.

"You mean... Oh my god!" Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. The shock of this secret was so great that she could hardly accept it.

"Wait a minute, that doesn't quite make sense either!"

Why was Professor Snape always making things difficult for Harry?

"Who knows? Maybe they're just angry at their lack of ambition!"

After all, Harry's grades were completely unworthy of his fame and talent.

If he's good enough, Snape has no reason to make things difficult for him, does he?

Hermione nodded blankly, "It seems that's true."

Since Harry started hanging out with Ron, he hasn't been paying much attention to his studies.

They both copied my homework too.

Aaron's lips twitched. He hadn't expected that these two had started going astray at the age of eleven.

But it doesn't matter anymore. Whether they copy his homework or hand in a blank paper, it has nothing to do with him.

Chapter 36: Relying on luck isn't always reliable.

After the Quidditch season began, Hogwarts seemed to be ignited with passion, with both students and teachers showing great enthusiasm.

This level of enthusiasm didn't gradually subside until more than a week after the season ended.

Students attended classes as usual and did their best to complete the assignments given by the teachers. Everything seemed to have returned to how it was at the beginning of the school year.

However, these days you can often see Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the library. The academic superstar and the two academic underachievers spend their free time immersed in books.

However, it wasn't for studying, but rather to look up information about Nicolas Flamel.

Harry and Ron were convinced that Snape's goal was something that the three-headed dog, Moose, was guarding, so figuring out what Moose was guarding was crucial.

Hoping that Dumbledore would tell them was clearly unrealistic and might even alert the enemy, so they could only focus their efforts on Nicolas Flamel, hoping to find some clues from the wizard's records.

Hermione knew that it wasn't Snape who harmed Harry, but someone else, but she had promised Aaron to keep it a secret and couldn't tell anyone.