A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"You just let him in like that?" Ron stared in astonishment as the row of footprints disappeared into the doorway of the three brooms.

"What can I do?" Aaron sighed helplessly. "Our ancestors once said that we must always face the truth, no matter how bloody it may be."

"What fact?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Hopefully he doesn't know too much, otherwise his mental fortitude might not be able to handle it." Aaron picked up Abe and sat on the bench in front of the Three Brooms. "Just wait, he'll come out."

“But what if he gets discovered?” Ron asked worriedly. “These are all big shots in here!”

"Don't worry," Aaron said dismissively. "If he gets caught, who knows who'll be the one in an awkward situation!"

“Aaron, what do you know?” Hermione asked. “What is the connection between Sirius Black and Harry Potter?”

Aaron remained silent. How much he knew was no longer important; what mattered was how much Harry Potter would know.

Meanwhile, Harry followed Rosmerta and the others up to the second floor of the bar.

The professors and the Minister of Magic ordered their favorite drinks and began to talk.

“Many years ago, Harry Potter’s parents went into hiding when they found themselves being hunted, remember?” Professor McGonagall said. “Nobody knew where they were, but Black knew, and he told the Man of Void.”

“That night, Black took the Mystic to the Potters’ house and killed Peter Pettigrew,” Fudge added.

“That short, chubby boy?” Rosmerta asked in surprise. “I think I remember him.”

"He always followed behind Blake, and was inseparable from James and Blake."

Peter wanted to warn Potter's parents, and he could have succeeded, but he ran into an old friend, Black.

“Blake is ruthless and vicious. He didn’t kill Peter; he destroyed him.” Fudge held up his right little finger. “One finger. Peter only has one finger left.”

“That’s not the worst part.” Professor McGonagall sat down and said in a deep voice, “The worst part is that Sirius Black was, and still is, Harry Potter’s godfather.”

......

Harry Potter was unaware that he had heard all of this; he was still in a daze when he left the Three Broomsticks pub.

Hearing the door open and seeing two rows of footprints in the snow, Aaron and the other two followed quietly behind him without disturbing him.

Arriving at an open space, the three listened to the sound of crying coming from a rock and looked at each other in surprise. It was the first time they had ever seen Harry Potter cry so bitterly.

“Harry,” Aaron asked hesitantly, “how much do you know?”

“All of it.” Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak and looked at Aaron seriously. “You knew too, didn’t you?”

"I only know a little bit, and it was Draco who told me."

"But I haven't dared to tell you even this little bit." Aaron shrugged helplessly. "I'm afraid you'll go and fight Blake to the death."

“You should have told me,” Harry said, his eyes red. “You shouldn’t have stopped Malfoy. I have the right to know.”

“Uh…” Aaron chuckled, “Actually, I did think about telling you, but you know how it is, many people choose to keep it from you.”

"I don't think I've considered more than the professors at the school, the Minister of Magic, or even Rubeus Hagrid."

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, puzzled.

Harry paused for a moment, then told the three of what he had heard that was enough to shatter the worldview of ordinary people: the cause and effect of his parents' death.

"So our family doesn't use any spells of unwavering loyalty, and we never appoint any secret agents," Aaron said with a wry smile. "Gaius's greatest talent is probably making contracts. I used to think it was a tragedy, but now... I don't think so anymore. At least the two parties to a contract won't be betrayed by each other."

“Sirius was supposed to be my parents’ best friend, but he betrayed them. What kind of friend is that?” Harry roared angrily. “I hope I can find him. I’m going to kill him.”

“No, you can’t do something so foolish,” Hermione said hastily. “The Ministry of Magic will handle this, and the Dementors will definitely drag him to Azkaban.”

You can't take that risk; it plays right into Blake's hands, and your parents wouldn't want you to do it either.

“Don’t talk about my parents,” Harry shouted. “When the Dementors attacked, I heard my father’s voice. He told my mother to take me away, and then I heard my mother pleading with Voldemort to spare me.”

I had never spoken to them before, and the last time I heard their voices was their screams of impending death.

"If it were you, could you have tolerated it?"

"I can't stand it," Aaron said honestly, then changed the subject, "but I have to endure it even if I can't."

Not to spoil the mood, but if you go up against him, you'll be the one who dies.

Sirius Black is a genius wizard. Even though he was imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years, killing third-year wizards like you would be incredibly easy for him.

“You… third-year wizards?” Ron stared blankly at Aaron. “I know you’re stronger than us, but don’t talk like you’re not a third-year student.”

“That’s not important,” Aaron waved his hand. “The important thing is that Harry can’t beat Sirius Black.”

Moreover, the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light; he knows Harry is at Hogwarts and knows the location of the Gryffindor common room. He can kill Harry as long as he finds an opportunity.

But what about Harry? He had absolutely no advantage and was even being targeted by the Dementors.

“He has the Marauder’s Map,” Ron whispered a reminder.

"Okay, that's the only advantage."

But you have to keep an eye on that map all the time, otherwise you won't even know when Black sneaks out of Hogwarts.

“I know,” Harry said firmly, gripping the Marauder’s Map tightly. “I will familiarize myself with this map as soon as possible. As long as I can do that, even if Black gets into Hogwarts, he won’t be able to catch me.”

Also, I'll ask Professor Lupin to teach me the Patronus Charm. He wasn't feeling well before and couldn't teach me, but it should be fine after school starts.

Chapter 313 Who Sent the Fire Arrow? The Dragon Claw in the Crystal Ball

Christmas.

Aaron woke up early in the morning to find a pile of gift boxes at the foot of his bed.

He pulled out Genes' gift from among them, a crystal ball that was sparkling clear.

“I knew it.” Aaron carefully placed the crystal ball on the table and, following Professor Trelawney’s instructions, focused his attention to begin the divination.

However, after spending more than ten minutes, he only saw some blurry fragments on the crystal ball.

A stemmed glass containing a dancing blue-white flame, and a white claw.

Aaron shook his head violently, and it took him a while to come to his senses.

He has been studying divination for less than half a year and can barely be considered a divination apprentice. Using a crystal ball to divine the future is still quite energy-consuming for him at present.

"That paw looks like..."

Aaron looked thoughtfully at Abe, who was rolling around on a bed made of marshmallows, and felt a sudden toothache.

There shouldn't be any problem, right? His dragon is a bit mischievous, but it won't cause any trouble.

Aaron tried to reassure himself, but lacked confidence, before opening the gifts his parents had given him.

Just as he thought it was a postcard, a familiar file folder appeared before him, with a few words of inscription on it:

This is guaranteed to be much more detailed than the previous one.

I hope you can choose carefully and don't keep us waiting too long.

Gulu!

Aaron couldn't help but swallow hard, and subconsciously took a few steps back.

On a perfectly good Christmas, they actually sent over his blind date's file folder. Was this just to annoy him? A postcard would have been better!

Crunch!

A floorboard in the corner was opened, and the Memory Entity emerged from it.

"Merry Christmas."

"Stop making fun of me, this is the worst Christmas I've ever had." Aaron said speechlessly as he stuffed the file folder into the gift box, intending to leave it to gather dust in the secret room.

"How's the renovation going downstairs?"

“You know, Transfiguration isn’t a magic bullet.” The Psychic sighed meaningfully. “We’re not Salazar Slytherin; the resources we can mobilize are quite limited.”

"Change as much as you can!"

But at least the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, training room, and potion room should be separated.

“I understand, after all... it's me living down there.”

Aaron gave an awkward laugh. "I'm going to eat now. You can make your own arrangements. Don't forget to practice your magic circle."

Thoughts in words: ......

Upon entering the auditorium, a large dining table was placed in the center.

Since many students chose to go home for Christmas, there were only a dozen or so people eating here: Headmaster Dumbledore, the heads of the four houses, the caretaker Filch, Harry, Ron, Hermione, two first-year students, and one fifth-year student.

“Gaius, have a seat!” Dumbledore said with a smile.

Aaron naturally sat down at the table, and Abe also got a seat and began to enjoy a hearty breakfast.

"Did you give Harry a Christmas present?" Ron asked curiously.

"A broom model! I mentioned it before."

“Really?” Ron was a little skeptical. “Harry did receive a magic broom this morning, but in addition to the Nimbus 2000 specimen, there was also a world-class Firebolt.”

We've eliminated everyone we could, and now you're the only one left with this ability.

"If it really was you who sent it, just admit it openly, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," Hermione said with a smile.

“But it really wasn’t me.” Aaron shook his head. “I’m sorry for that Nimbus 2000, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give him the best flying broom. You can’t spend money like that.”

“Who else could it be but you?” Harry frowned slightly. There was no signature on the broom, and he didn’t know any wealthy people who could afford to spend so much money on him.

"How would I know? Maybe it's Hagrid."

“Impossible, absolutely not him,” Ron said with absolute certainty. “Hagrid could never afford a fire crossbow.”

"Heh!" Aaron couldn't help but scoff. "How ignorant. Hagrid may look a bit slovenly, but he's definitely one of the few wealthy people at Hogwarts."

Don't forget that he relied on a forbidden forest, unicorn feathers, venom of the eight-eyed giant spider, winged hippogriffs, and so on, plus various precious herbs in the forbidden forest.

If he wanted to, he could easily sell something in Diagon Alley and earn as much as a professor's salary.

The three looked at each other in disbelief. They hadn't expected Hagrid to be so rich. He usually didn't even own a decent set of clothes, and his living conditions were... well, let's just say they were terrible.

But he turned out to be a nouveau riche hiding among them, which truly dazzled them.

“Even so, it wouldn’t be Hagrid,” Hermione said after a moment’s thought. “He’s been preoccupied with dealing with the Committee on the Handling of Dangerous Animals these past few days and hasn’t had any time at all.”

“Buckbeak?” Aaron raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this dragging on a bit too long?”