A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

“I see.” Aaron nodded thoughtfully. “But to be fair, I don’t think it was Harry who did it. When I got there, the three of them were standing there dumbfounded, as if they were scared out of their wits.”

And, if I may be so bold, Harry probably doesn't even know what a Squib is.

Harry nodded hastily. He had only attended school for a year and didn't really understand the meaning of some of the terms.

Snape emerged from the shadows, a sneer playing on his lips. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

That's how Aaron happened to find them in front of that wall.

"Isn't that right, Mr. Potter?"

Harry paused for a moment, then exchanged a brief glance with the other two. "It's like this, Professor Snape, it's all a misunderstanding."

“Very good. With the three of you as witnesses, I believe Aaron is innocent.” Snape gave Aaron a reassuring look, then turned to Harry and the others. “Then can you explain why dinner wasn’t in the Great Hall?”

The three immediately explained that they had attended Sir Nicholas's death anniversary banquet, and that hundreds of ghosts could testify for them.

"You guys... are so boring." Aaron's eye twitched slightly; he was also speechless at their thought process.

Why would a living person skip a perfectly good Halloween party and go to a ghost's death anniversary? Aren't you afraid of having nightmares?

Harry and his two companions exchanged bewildered glances, filled with deep regret.

Attending a ghostly party on Halloween eve, getting scared and going hungry is one thing, but what's truly unfortunate is the unexpected disaster that befell you on your way back.

"And then?" Snape stared directly into Harry's eyes, a chilling smile flashing across his gaunt face. "Why didn't you come to the banquet?"

"Because, because..." Harry was extremely nervous. He dared not say that he went there because he heard strange noises, otherwise he would be unable to clear his name from suspicion.

“We need to go back to the common room,” Hermione interjected. “Aaron only ran into us on his way back.”

"I'm going back to sleep after I've eaten and drunk my fill, you guys..."

"We're not hungry."

Gulu!

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ron's stomach rumbled at an inopportune moment.

He awkwardly looked up and found everyone staring at him with different expressions, but Hermione's eye roll was quite obvious.

It didn't ring earlier or later, but it just happened to ring when we were about to get through it.

"Okay! I am indeed a little hungry."

However, if you attend the ghost's death anniversary banquet, you probably won't be able to eat even the best food in front of you.

Snape's smile grew even wider.

Isn't this a blatant attempt to cover up the truth? Do they really think everyone present is a fool?

"Principal, I believe you've noticed it too."

They weren't telling the truth; they were definitely hiding something.

"Professor, now that you mention it, I think I've thought of something too."

When I got to the other end of the hallway, Harry asked me a question.

"Oh?" Snape turned around smugly, not expecting such an unexpected gain. "What did he ask you?"

He asked...

"Harry asked if there would be pudding at the party?" Hermione asked anxiously.

Aaron rolled his eyes, but seeing the hint of pleading in their eyes, he decided to help them out, since he didn't think these three would do such a thing.

“That’s it, Professor.”

Snape rolled his eyes at Aaron with a hint of helplessness, as if to ask: What good will it do you to help them?

Aaron responded with a straight look: It wouldn't do me any good if I didn't help them.

“Severus,” Dumbledore said, “is innocent without evidence.”

“But my cat has been petrified,” Filch said sternly, “someone has to be punished.”

“We can cure him, Argus.”

As far as I know, Mrs. Sprout cultivated mandrakes, and once they matured, she could concoct a potion to cure Mrs. Lorris.

"In the meantime, I hope everyone will act with caution," Dumbledore said, then looked at Aaron and the other three, "You may go back and rest now."

Upon hearing this, the four of them tacitly left Lockhart's office.

On the way back to the common room, Hermione pursed her lips, looked at Aaron walking directly in front of her, and hesitated before saying, "Thank you for covering for us earlier."

"You're welcome.

To put it bluntly, I don't think you have the guts.

"Do you think I should tell them about the sounds I heard?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Suit yourself," Aaron waved his hand, "but you'll have to bear the consequences yourself."

“I also think it’s not a good idea,” Ron said. “It’s definitely not a good sign.”

“It’s strange, you heard that voice, and then Mrs. Lorris was petrified,” Hermione said.

“That might not be the case,” Aaron said thoughtfully. “Perhaps that voice deliberately led Harry there!”

Upon hearing this, Harry swallowed nervously. "You mean I'm being watched?"

“I didn’t say that, it was just a simple guess.” Aaron said, turning to the side of the aisle. “Good night, everyone.”

The three looked at each other, and Harry said with a bitter face, "Maybe I should tell Dumbledore about the voice! At least that would be safer."

“No,” Hermione frowned. “The three of us are already half suspects. If they find out you can hear strange sounds, it’ll be hard for us not to be wrongly accused.”

......

Back in his dorm, Aaron lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"System, you can open the task panel now."

[Found the legendary secret chamber:]

The reward for completing the task is 800 magic points; there is no penalty for failure. Do you accept this offer?

When Aaron saw the reward amount, he immediately thought of the Thought Body Magic he had been longing for. According to the normal sign-in calculation, he would need to work hard for more than a hundred days to learn this skill.

But if the task is completed, it would be equivalent to saving eighty days of hard work, which is too tempting.

Aaron gritted his teeth and chose to accept the challenge.

The reward for this task is not low, but it is not easy to complete.

Firstly, the legend of the secret room dates back at least to Lucius's time, and the further back in time it is, the harder it is to find.

Secondly, the blood-written words on the wall and the petrified Lady Lorris both signified danger, and he knew he couldn't withstand that level of petrification curse.

But he had no reason not to accept this task, because it concerned the safety of Hogwarts, the place where he could develop in peace and security, and he couldn't afford any accidents.

Most importantly, there is no punishment for failure; if things become unworkable, he can easily withdraw.

"System, if I may ask, are your task assignments random?"

"Yes."

"But weren't there three tasks assigned last school year?" Aaron asked, somewhat puzzled. "Why is there only one this year?"

"The tasks issued by this system are based on the actual situation. Considering the current situation of the host, this is the only task that can be assigned."

"That really makes sense..." Aaron said speechlessly. "Wait, if I cause trouble everywhere, will I trigger more system quests?"

"I advise the host not to do that; causing trouble will only lead to a quick death."

"Hey! Don't make it sound so scary, I'm not that kind of person."

I was just asking casually.

You're overthinking it.

With the host's current permissions, there will only be three tasks per year; more is not allowed, and fewer is not limited.

In addition, the tasks assigned by this system are entirely within the host's capabilities; they will not be too simple, nor too difficult. Moreover, the host has ample autonomy to choose and can abandon tasks with a high degree of danger, which is already very humane.

So... don't even think about taking advantage of the system.

Clues pieced together in Chapter 156

The next morning, Aaron went to the library after breakfast.

His current task is to find the legendary secret chamber, but he knows nothing about it and can only find the answers in books.

Aaron had also asked Draco, but he only had a vague understanding.

Lucius had told him that the secret chamber had been opened fifty years ago, but the person who opened it was expelled, and a wizard from a Muggle family died that time. Other than that, there were no other clues.

He spent over an hour without finding a single book related to the school's history, which was clearly unusual.

Aaron frowned and approached the librarian. "Mrs. Pince, I'd like to ask where I can find books related to the history of Hogwarts?"

"Sorry, Aaron, you're late," Mrs. Pince said with a hint of schadenfreude. "When the library opened today, a group of wizards came and borrowed all those books; not a single one was left."

Upon hearing this, Aaron felt as if a string of exclamation marks had floated above his head.

Damn, does it have to be this curled?

"You're looking for clues about the locked room, aren't you?" Mrs. Pince asked meaningfully. "I wasn't there last night, but the news spread this morning."

"Mrs. Pince, do you know about the secret room?"

"I don't know. I'm just an ordinary administrator. I really don't know that much."

"But I can tell you something else," Mrs. Pince lowered her voice. "The answers you're looking for aren't in the books about Hogwarts history."

Aaron blinked and stammered a thank you.

He didn't think Mrs. Pince was lying to him; this witch had been in charge of the library for over ten years, and her care and familiarity with the books was simply outrageous.

She wouldn't dare say she'd read every single book here, but her knowledge of books was undoubtedly the best at Hogwarts.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Pince."

"It's alright. If you really want to know about the locked room, you can ask the professors at the school. They should know some clues."