A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

As for your presence, it was purely a pleasant surprise. He guessed you might come for a friend, and that proved to be true.

"I'm sorry," Harry said weakly, "if only I could calm down..."

There's no need to apologize, really.

You've already paid the price for your impulsiveness, and I don't think an apology will teach you a lesson.

Your level of self-destruction is absolutely masterful. You do it at least once a year, and it's never the same thing twice. I'm always curious how you manage to do it.

To be honest, it's a miracle you're still alive today.

Harry:......

"As for you," Aaron said, looking at the captured Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville behind the curtain, with a wry smile, "Weren't you all very stubborn before you came? We couldn't stop you!"

And now? Do you feel even a tiny bit of regret?

The group exchanged glances, their grievances unspoken; they had indeed acted impulsively.

“And you.” Aaron looked at Hermione speechlessly. “What did I tell you?”

I gave you enough tools for just one person, not to save six people. You could have escaped unscathed.

"I..." Hermione bit her lower lip, her eyes slightly red, "I'm sorry, but I can't just stand by and watch!"

"Forget it, there's no point in talking about it now," Aaron said dejectedly. This time, he had taken the initiative to appear in front of the Death Eaters, which had already violated the ancestral teachings of the Gaius family.

From this moment until the conflict in the magical world ends, the family will no longer provide him with any protection.

"Enough with the nonsense," Bella said impatiently. "It would be your honor to come with us to see our master."

“Let me finish.” Aaron took a deep breath and looked at Harry seriously. “Do you know why I came here?”

Harry paused for a moment, then shook his head in confusion. "I don't know. Surely it's not because they're worried about our safety?"

"Have some self-awareness," Aaron said with a sneer. "To be honest, whether you, especially you, live or die has little to do with me. I tried to persuade you, but I couldn't stop you, so I won't feel any guilt."

However, she was a bit of a special case. I didn't want her to die with you all, so I gave her something to save her life, but it turns out my plan wasn't very sound.

"After I returned to my dorm, I did several divinations and saw some scenes of you after you came to the Ministry of Magic."

To be honest, I wasn't worried when I saw you being chased by these Death Eaters. It was within my expectations. After all, it was a trap. It would be unreasonable for Voldemort to have planned everything.

But when I saw someone give up the chance to leave and waste a precious bullet, I couldn't stand it anymore. At that moment, I realized something I had overlooked: she might not follow the safe path I had arranged. What I gave her was at most enough to protect herself, and it was impossible to save six people.

Actually, when I saw this, I almost smashed the crystal ball in anger, but I managed to hold on. After all, if you hold on a little longer, reinforcements might arrive.

"But in the end I received a terrible prophecy: tonight someone will die at the hands of the Death Eaters."

“One person?” Bella chuckled knowingly. “Your prediction is probably wrong; there should be at least four.”

“If the four of them are sent into the veil, their fate is uncertain; they might not necessarily die,” Aaron explained thoughtfully. “Then who will die?”

Hermione and Harry exchanged a glance, both feeling goosebumps all over their bodies.

"I... am I going to die?" Harry murmured. If he were taken to see Voldemort, he would have no chance of survival. This time, he didn't have the Flashback Charm or the Portkey.

“It’s highly likely, after all, the items I gave her are enough to buy Voldemort’s life,” Aaron said, then changed the subject, “However… judging from Hermione’s previous behavior, I’m a little uncertain. She might be foolish enough to bargain with Voldemort and try to save you as well.”

It's not that she's incapable of doing such a thing, but for a Muggle-born wizard to make such a demand is a death sentence.

Hermione looked a little awkward; she actually had that idea.

I'm telling you this so you can be mentally prepared.

If someone is destined to die tonight, then you will bear a large part of the responsibility.

Harry nodded, pale-faced; he couldn't find any excuse to refute it.

“An interesting story,” Bella said, raising an eyebrow. “But it won’t just be one person who dies.”

"Avada Kedavra".

A green glow shot straight at Neville, and at that moment a yellow magic circle appeared in front of him.

Bella's lips curled into a slight smile. The Killing Curse wasn't so easy to ward off; she could almost see Longbottom's death.

But her smile froze the next moment as a rocky hand shoved Neville to the ground, just in time to avoid the green light.

"It's a bit unreasonable for them to suddenly take action."

“He’s lucky,” Bella said coldly. “He’s wasted enough time. Come with us, Gaius.”

"Putting aside the fact that I haven't decided whether I want to go with you to see the Dark Lord, at least tell me why he wants to see me!"

“It might be related to your identity.” Lucius paused, then added, “A deeper identity.”

“Lucius, is it alright to tell him this?” Antonin asked, frowning.

"This is just my guess; the master never said that."

If you guessed wrong, just pretend I didn't say anything. If you guessed right, it's okay too; the master will talk to him about this anyway.

Upon hearing this, Aaron's expression darkened slightly.

It seems Voldemort has other plans this time; he's given up on making him submit, but he definitely won't be friendly to him.

"Phew!" Aaron took a deep breath. "I don't really understand, but as long as I don't go, it's fine."

“You have no choice,” Bella sneered. “If you cooperate, fine, but if you don’t, we might kill you.”

Aaron: ......

That's quite surprising, but where does your confidence come from?

“Aaron,” Lucius gave him a meaningful look, “The Dark Lord won’t hurt you.”

"I believe that, after all, I have always remained neutral and have not explicitly stood on the opposite side of him."

But... Uncle Lucius, do you think I'll just give up?

“No, but there’s no need to take the risk. Now that you’re here, you won’t be leaving so easily, and…” Lucius paused, then turned to look at Ron and the others, “We have three, no, including Potter, Granger, and Longbottom, we have six hostages. You don’t want them to get hurt, do you?”

“Despicable,” Ginny cursed.

"This is an opportunity you've provided," Lucius said calmly. Ginny was speechless; there's no more awkward situation than being a hostage.

Aaron glanced at the silent hostages and couldn't help but chuckle. "Uncle Lucius, I'm not like Harry Potter, a lone hero who's addicted to saving people."

One of our family's ancestral precepts is: do not accept threats.

Whether they got hurt or not is their own fault, what does it have to do with me?

"Malfoy, what nonsense are you spouting?" Travers, one of the escaped prisoners, glared at Lucius with displeasure. "Just arrest him and be done with it, or do you have other plans and are you disobeying your master's orders?"

“Shut up! You don’t know him. If we really fight, at least half of us will be dead,” Lucius said, barely containing his anger. He then pointed his wand at Hermione. “I can decide to release her, as long as you make the right choice.”

Aaron: ......

Chapter 499 The Dark Lord is about to arrive, the red demon mask

"Ugh!" Aaron slapped his forehead. "What a hassle! I hate hassles."

“I don’t like trouble either, but sometimes you have to make choices, don’t you?” Lucius said meaningfully. “I can guarantee that the Dark Lord won’t harm you, and you can even leave unharmed afterward.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Hermione shouted, then pointed the spider lily at Lucius. “I’m not a hostage.”

“Naive,” Lucius sneered. “You’re no different from a hostage now.”

"Aaron, you don't want your girlfriend to get hurt, do you?"

"Uh... well, I have to correct you, she's not my girlfriend yet," Aaron said somewhat embarrassedly. "I'm very busy, and I won't be thinking about dating anytime soon."

Actually, there's a difference between liking someone and having a crush. The reason I took such a big risk to come here wasn't because I liked her, but because I didn't have many crushes on any woman, at least not during my school years—she was the only one.

Hermione:? ? ?

Is it really necessary to divide it into such detailed categories?

Everyone:......

Damn it! Even if you're going off-topic, at least consider the context!

"Enough. He won't listen to reason, so he'll have to suffer the consequences." Antonin said coldly. "Malfoy, he's clearly not appreciative, so you don't need to be polite to him."

Bellatrix laughed as she lifted Neville up, pointing her wand at his throat. "Perhaps the death of his companion will make him face reality a little better."

"Avada..."

"No!"

Hermione screamed and pulled the trigger, a burst of blue-white lightning erupting from the dark muzzle with a thunderous roar.

"Gan!"

Lucius stared in astonishment, completely unprepared for Hermione to actually fire. He was caught off guard and struck by the lightning, tumbling off the platform.

Bella instinctively turned around, holding her wand in front of her, creating a white barrier with her magic.

The blue-white electric light collided with the barrier, producing a hissing sound.

After a stalemate lasting several seconds, Bella roared and unleashed her magic to neutralize the blue-white electric light, but she herself was forced back a few steps, her body twitching from the subtle electric current.

The third shot took away all of Hermione's remaining magic, and she staggered to the ground, her face completely pale.

"Damn Mudblood!" Bella snapped out of her daze, glaring angrily at Hermione. "Crunch in the Heart!"

"Expelliarmus."

As soon as Bella finished chanting the spell, a white light shot out from Aaron's wand, blasting her away.

"What did I tell you before?" Aaron walked up to the platform and glared at Hermione with annoyance. "After the third shot, you'll have no choice but to run away, but it seems you didn't listen to me."

"Well, here you are!" Hermione said with a forced smile.

“Yes, you’ll definitely be fine as long as you’re here,” Harry said confidently.

"Heh! You guys seem quite confident in me."

"I'm sure I can protect myself, but..." Aaron paused, pointing to Ron, Ginny, and Luna, who were captured by the Death Eaters, "...they, and you guys, it's a different story."

"Kill them," Bella said viciously as she got up from the ground. "Do it now."

"Wait," Lucius immediately interrupted the three Death Eaters who were about to attack, "Don't make a move yet."

"What do you mean by that? Are you going to protect them?"