A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

“No, Dad, it’s just that you’re behaving so strangely,” Ron said. “You weren’t this excited when Harry came.”

“What do you know? Weasley has hit the jackpot this time.” Arthur picked up the photo. “Just half an hour before I was about to leave work, the Ministry of Magic suddenly issued a special arrest warrant with a validity period of only two days.”

A bounty is offered for the capture of a twelve-year-old boy, Aaron Gaius, who must be captured alive and not harmed in the slightest.

A reward of two hundred Galleons is offered for information about him; a reward of five hundred Galleons is offered for his exact location; and a reward of five thousand Galleons is offered for finding him and safely returning him to the Ministry of Magic.

With this money, we won't have to worry about anything this year or even next. We can buy a new set of furniture, wands, textbooks, and clothes, and even take a high-class family trip.

Aaron: ......

This is very embarrassing.

Chapter 132 A Feeling of Nowhere to Go

Snapped!

Life's slaps are so loud, so unexpected.

One second Aaron was gloating over his successful strategic retreat and outmaneuvering Butler Genes, but he never expected to see a wanted poster of himself the next second. It was like a bolt from the blue.

Arthur, the head of the Weasley family, was so used to living in poverty that he looked at Aaron as if he were looking at a mountain of gold, and his eyes even flashed with the symbol of money from time to time.

Aaron chuckled awkwardly and quickly lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with him.

That's incredibly hurtful, absolutely outrageous!

It's just running away from home, why make such a fuss about it and take it all the way to the Ministry of Magic?

The foreign players they found are way too outrageous. Are they just too lazy to play this game?

“Aaron, you…” Ron swallowed hard, a forced smile appearing on his lips. “I didn’t expect you to be so valuable.”

“Five thousand Galleons!” Fred laughed. “I’ve never seen so much money in my life.”

“If we sold you, we could renovate our house.” George looked at Aaron. “Why don’t you take pity on us?”

Aaron's lips twitched involuntarily; he could actually detect a hint of attraction in those words.

Are you kidding me? I pity you, but who pities me?!

Having finally escaped from home and narrowly avoided the dangerous phase, it's truly pathetic, laughable, and lamentable that they ended up being sent into the lion's den in the second half.

“Um…you’re not really planning to hand Aaron over to the Ministry of Magic, are you?” Harry Potter asked somewhat awkwardly. “He saved Ron and me.”

George and Fred exchanged a glance and laughed in unison, "We were just saying it casually to set the mood."

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his gaze to Arthur and Molly.

In the Weasley family, the children have a certain say, but the real decision-making power lies with the parents.

"Haha!" Arthur sat down opposite Aaron and said in a very friendly tone, "Don't be so nervous, we know a bit about your name."

Harry, Ron, George, Fred, Percy, and even Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, have all mentioned you.

I just couldn't help myself. You know, it's not common for something to fall from the sky, especially such a big one.

“I understand, I understand.” Aaron forced a smile. “But I’m still quite scared, after all, five thousand Galleons is no small sum.”

“Who says otherwise!” Molly said with a regretful look. “If only you hadn’t saved Ron, we wouldn’t have felt any guilt about handing you over.”

"What?" Ron stared at his mother in astonishment. He had previously thought that Aaron was not his biological son, but now he felt like he was the one who had been adopted.

“Just kidding.” Molly rolled her eyes at Ron. “I just wanted to say that Weasley wouldn’t betray his friends.”

Even if you hadn't saved Ron and Harry, we wouldn't have reported a twelve-year-old to the Ministry of Magic, since you hadn't done anything wrong.

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief, but whether he truly believed it or not was something only he knew.

“Well… let’s get back to the point.” Arthur rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Aaron, why did you run away from home?”

Of course, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I still hope you can satisfy my curiosity.

After all, this is no small matter. Your family even pulled strings with the Ministry of Magic and issued an internal bounty in order to find you as soon as possible.

You'd better not wander around aimlessly right now. Many Ministry of Magic employees see you as a potential source of a hefty bonus and a key performance indicator for the year-end.

Upon hearing this, Aaron's smile grew even more bitter.

He had initially felt that the humble dwelling was no longer safe and planned to secretly find another place to move, but now it seemed that whether he liked it or not, he could not leave here for the time being.

With this bounty posted, he will be targeted as soon as he shows his face.

He'd rather surrender than be hunted down; at least that would be more dignified.

Thinking this, Aaron showed the calluses on his hands to the group of people, and then said in a serious tone, "Although it may seem unbelievable, the tutoring classes my family enrolled me in were just like this... cruel."

This kind of life had been going on for almost two months, and I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I ran away.

The group exchanged glances, all feeling a pang of sympathy for Aaron.

Arthur touched his receding red hair and comforted him, "No wonder, if it were me, I probably would have run away too."

The one who touched me the most was Harry Potter. He suffered a lot of grievances and bullying in the Dursleys, but even they had never treated him so cruelly.

"Poor child," Molly sighed.

Arthur gave his wife a hug, then turned to Aaron and said, "You can stay here for the next couple of days!"

However, let me make this clear from the start: our family's circumstances are not comparable to those of you wealthy families, so..."

"It's alright, I'm not that dramatic." Aaron waved his hand dismissively, hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "To be honest, I actually stayed at Malfoy Manor for a day before I came here."

"what?"

Everyone exclaimed in unison, their faces filled with astonishment.

“Perhaps I’m mistaken,” Ron said. “Is it the Malfoy I’m thinking of?”

"Lucius Malfoy?" Arthur was incredulous.

Aaron nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"I know you and Draco are on good terms, but why did you think of going to their house first?"

"That family is absolutely detestable," Ron said unhappily, while Harry and the Weasley brothers nodded in agreement beside him.

"Since I was planning to flee, I made certain plans."

I definitely can't go to my relatives' houses, and I can't go to hotels in the Muggle world or any other crowded or noisy places.

That leaves only my classmate's house as an option. The only reason to go to Malfoy Manor first is that their house is closer.

I know this might be hard for Weasley to accept, but I think it's better to be clear about some things to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings later.

“That’s true.” George said thoughtfully. “After all, we and Malfoy both attend Hogwarts, so we see each other every day.”

"Um... well, if I may ask a question," Arthur said somewhat embarrassedly, "since you stayed at Malfoy Manor for a day, what's their situation like...?"

“I’m sorry, Mr. Weasley.”

Although I stayed at Malfoy Manor, I knew my status was merely that of a guest.

"All right!"

Arthur was somewhat disappointed. He had originally wanted to ask Aaron Malfoy if they had any contraband, since he had been wanting to make Lucius suffer for quite some time.

But now it seems that the opportunity is gone. Guests should behave themselves in the host's home and not know what they shouldn't know.

However, precisely because of this, Arthur's opinion of Aaron improved considerably. Although Aaron was a Slytherin, he seemed quite sensible.

“Aaron,” Harry suddenly asked, “did you ever meet a house elf at the Malfoys’ house? Dressed in rags, and punishing himself from time to time.”

"More than?"

"It's him! It really is Malfoy," Harry said indignantly. "How awful! Malfoy doesn't want me to go back to Hogwarts."

“I’ve heard about the situation and have already criticized Dobby,” Aaron said. “He knows he was wrong, but he said it was for your own good.”

Harry opened his mouth, but said nothing more.

In his eyes, Dobby was still kind, but his status dictated that he could not disobey his master's orders, and his master happened to be Malfoy.

"Ahem!" Molly coughed. "Our guests have come all this way, we're not here for you to ask all sorts of questions."

"Fred, George, Ron, do we have anywhere else to stay?"

The three brothers were stunned for a moment, exchanged a few glances, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on their faces.

"It seems there aren't any left." Ron looked at Aaron sheepishly. "We never expected you to come."

Harry is now sharing a room with me, Fred and George share a room, my mom and dad share a room, Percy's room is being used as an office and can't fit anyone else, so Ginny is the only one left..."

“Ron Weasley!” Molly suddenly yelled, “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Her eyes seemed to blaze with fire, and her fierce aura instantly erupted in the crowded living room.

Aaron could clearly feel everyone, including Harry Potter, tremble involuntarily. Sure enough, when a woman is angry, she is second only to a Tibetan mastiff in terms of danger!

“Mom, Mom, let me finish,” Ron said, his voice trembling. “Ginny is our youngest sister, so you definitely can’t have her room.”

The flames of anger gradually subsided. Mrs. Weasley glared at Ron, then turned to Aaron and gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, child, how about... we build you a small hut temporarily?"

Arthur's carport was pretty good; I'd disliked it for a long time, and the materials were readily available after it was dismantled.

Arthur Weasley: ......

“This is somewhat…” Arthur began, but then saw the flickering fire in Molly’s eyes and decisively chose to follow his heart. “This is indeed a very good suggestion, I have no objections.”

Chapter 133 Treading the Line Between Law and Law

Aaron glanced at Arthur Weasley, who was somewhat unwilling but had to submit to Molly's pressure, and while finding it amusing, he stopped Molly's idea.

"There's no need to dismantle the carport. I'm just here as a guest. There's no need for me to damage Weasley's private property."

"Really?" Arthur was a little excited, but quickly calmed down. "I'm glad you had this idea, but where will you live then?"

“I brought it.” Aaron picked up Abe and pulled a bunch of accessories out of its pocket in front of everyone.

"This is a tent?" Harry looked at Aaron in astonishment. "You actually brought a tent with you?"

"Running away is a big deal, so it's best to plan ahead."