A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

However, just as he was thinking this, his cheek twitched involuntarily, because there really was a neat cut on the floor, as if it were tailor-made for him.

Harry quickly looked away from the crack.

"Aaron, have you found out who the real culprit is?" Hermione asked tentatively. "Or do you have any other clues?"

Aaron thought for a moment, then nodded seriously.

"You found it?" Harry slapped his thigh excitedly. If Ron hadn't bumped his arm, he probably would have jumped up.

"You're getting a little too excited, Gore."

"I only have some clues; I'm still a long way from finding Slytherin's successor," Aaron said with a faint smile, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Hogwarts searched for the Chamber of Secrets for decades without finding it, but he discovered real clues and even learned the identity of the monster inside.

Chapter 173 The whole story is revealed, the gap between misunderstanding and reality.

"Could you tell us the clues you found?" Hermione asked expectantly.

"This..." Aaron hesitated for a moment, then pondered, "Draco, you know I'm investigating the secret chamber, so you should be able to guess that the reason I haven't told you more is because I don't want you to get involved!"

The more you know, the more dangerous it becomes. You're one of my few friends, and a pure-blooded one at that; you could easily stay out of this.

“We’re not afraid of danger,” Harry said somewhat anxiously, but then, remembering his current status, he quickly added, “Otherwise, Malfoy wouldn’t have brought us here.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Are you really Gore? You seem quite strange, a little different from usual."

"He's probably just too excited," Hermione said, trying to smooth things over. "You'd better tell us already!"

Just like he said, we're not afraid of danger, and the heir to Slytherin wouldn't harm a pureblood, right?

“Alright!” Aaron took out his wand and tapped it lightly on the wall, revealing a dense array of clues to the group.

"These are the clues I've pieced together." Aaron pointed somewhat proudly to a snake in the center. "First, the identity of the monster in the secret chamber—the basilisk."

"Are you sure?" Harry's eyes widened slightly. They had searched for a long time without finding anything, but now the results were right in front of them, so easy that it was hard to believe.

"Gor, you'd better not interrupt when others are speaking."

"Besides, don't you think you've been talking a bit too much today?" Hermione said, glaring at Harry to signal him not to rush things, that half an hour would be enough to understand everything.

Harry nodded, swallowing awkwardly.

"No need to be so nervous." Aaron waved his hand dismissively. "It's a serious matter, so it's only right to understand it thoroughly."

Draco, you told me that the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, and I unexpectedly found the heir who was expelled fifty years ago...

Harry's expression shifted slightly, and he was about to ask a question when Ron nudged him with his elbow.

Their identities were Malfoy's henchmen; Malfoy had barely said a few words, so it was hardly their place to ask them questions.

"The heir from fifty years ago?" Hermione asked, somewhat surprised. "Who was it?"

"I'm sorry, I can't say."

But that's not important. What's important is that I got some clues from him.

The monster inside the sealed chamber is the spider's natural enemy.

The three exchanged glances, and thinking of the group of spiders that had rushed out of the window at the crime scene that day, they couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Professor McGonagall also said that the monster was raised by Salazar Slytherin, which means it may have lived for thousands of years."

Spiders' natural enemies, lifespans of thousands of years, plus Lady Loris's petrified state, and so on.

"Think about it, think about it carefully, isn't this some kind of extremely ferocious magical creature?" Aaron laughed. "While everyone else was foolishly busy searching for clues that didn't even exist in the school history, I borrowed every book about magical creatures from Ms. Pince, and the only one that fit these characteristics was the Basilisk."

"The basilisk possesses a terrifying power; any creature that makes direct eye contact with it will die instantly, while those that make indirect eye contact will be petrified."

Mrs. Lorris probably saw its eyes through its reflection in the water, while Justin guessed it saw them through Nick's body. As for Nick, he's a ghost who's died once; dying again is a luxury for him.

“And what about Colin?” Hermione asked. “He seems to have been petrified too.”

“Um… I guided him, but I can only say he was unlucky.” Aaron shrugged. “After the Quidditch match, he went to see Harry Potter, but Abe gave me a warning in the corridor.”

At the time, it was just him and me there—a pure-blood wizard and a Muggle-born wizard. The basilisk didn't even need to think about who it would attack.

"With your abilities, you should be able to run away with him, right?" Harry's voice held a hint of anger, but he managed to conceal it well.

"Hehe! Gore, when did you become so compassionate?"

"Um... I was just a little curious."

“Then I’ll satisfy your curiosity,” Aaron explained. “The situation was critical at the time, and I did indeed waver between life and morality.”

At that time, I knew very well that if I turned around and left, the basilisk would definitely not hurt me.

But what if I take Colin with me? What if the Basilisk chases after us? I can't risk my life."

"So you're just going to stand by and watch?"

Hermione said with some surprise, although it is only natural to save one's life, Aaron's behavior was a bit too cold-blooded, and she even felt that she might have misjudged him.

"of course not.

Before Colin turned into that corridor, I had him take a few photos to send to Harry.

“Oh, I see.” Hermione exclaimed. “The worst that could happen if I made eye contact with the basilisk through the camera would be that I would be petrified, but the school has enough mandrakes. Once the herbs mature, they can restore Colin.”

Snapped!

Aaron snapped his fingers. "That's it."

I can't take any risks, so this is the only way I can save his life.

Wizards of our age, without adequate preparation, have no chance of defeating a magical creature from Salazar's era. Choosing petrification over death isn't necessarily a bad thing; at least there's a chance of survival.

"I see!" Hermione nodded, then turned to give Harry and Ron a meaningful look.

You all heard that, didn't you? This is the person you suspect.

Fortunately, they didn't confront him directly, otherwise their friendship would have suffered another irreparable rift.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, feeling extremely ashamed. The bad guy they had suspected was actually a very good person.

“Wait a minute.” Harry raised his right hand. “I have a small question. Now that we know the creature in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk, why didn’t we tell Dumbledore?”

“Great idea, really great idea! How come I didn’t think of that!” Aaron said with a meaningful smile, feigning a look of sudden realization. “Tell Dumbledore, and then have him tell the whole school that we’ve found out Salazar is keeping a basilisk, and everyone’s safety is now guaranteed.”

Harry scratched his head sheepishly, but Aaron's next words wiped the smile off his face.

"The heir to Slytherin may keep quiet and remain hidden in Hogwarts as a ticking time bomb, but who knows if he might unleash the Basilisk in a fit of rage and then fight to the death?"

He has already ordered the basilisk to kill several people. Do you really think he would have any compassion?

"A giant serpent that's over a thousand years old! Even the academy professors had a hard time dealing with it, so how difficult could it be to kill us underage wizards?"

Harry was a little frustrated, and Ron didn't know how to comfort him.

It seems that knowing about the existence of the basilisk is of little use; it only provides one more option when facing it: indirect eye contact.

Although petrification is painful, at least it saves your life.

Hermione pondered for a moment, then murmured, "What if we tell Dumbledore and ask him to keep quiet and prepare in secret?"

"Draco, I'm still glad you're willing to acknowledge Dumbledore."

But it doesn't matter what you do if you can't find the Chamber of Secrets or the heir to Slytherin.

Dumbledore either did nothing, or he prepared the basilisk's natural enemies.

"Does the Basilisk have any natural enemies?" Harry asked excitedly. If they made preparations in advance, wouldn't Hogwarts be less dangerous?

"Gor, I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at your expression, but do you think I haven't thought of that either?"

Hearing this, Harry's heart sank again.

During those ten minutes, his mood was like a rollercoaster, going up and down.

"The basilisk's natural enemy is the rooster."

But I regret to inform you that on the day Justin was attacked, Harry Potter and I went to Dumbledore's office, and Hagrid was holding a dead rooster.

In other words, the heir has already begun eliminating the Basilisk threat. He'll definitely know if the number of roosters in the school increases, and if he decides he doesn't want to play anymore, the entire Hogwarts will be in great danger.

"So that means there's nothing we can do? There's nothing we can do?"

"That's one way to put it, but since the school has the greatest white wizard of this century, the other side will be hesitant to launch a large-scale massacre and will only target those lone Muggle-born wizards."

"Besides, we're all purebloods, so as long as we pose no threat to him, we're safe."

“What about those Muggle-born wizards?” Hermione asked anxiously. “Hermione Granger, for example, isn’t she your friend too!”

“Of course, I was prepared for this.” Aaron pointed his wand at the corner of the wall.

A pale white light flashed, and a simple chicken coop appeared before the three of them, but what surprised them even more were the two roosters inside.

"This is a lifesaver. I caught it from the chicken coop on the day of the Quidditch match without anyone knowing."

The heir may have started exterminating roosters a long time ago, but he had no idea these two existed. Aaron chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Stealing public property could result in Slytherin losing more than ten points."

However, if the other party starts attacking students indiscriminately, these two roosters can ensure the safety of most students.

Thinking about it carefully, I'm actually quite great.

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry again, their meaningful gazes making him blush and unable to lift his head.

He had previously assured Aaron that his only good deed was to eliminate Muggle-born wizards, but it turned out that Aaron was quietly preparing to protect the entire school.

"Why are you all looking at him like that?" Aaron asked, somewhat surprised. "Draco, are you hiding something from me?"

“No,” Hermione immediately shook her head. “You know me, I’ve never lied to you.”

Aaron frowned, carefully examining the expressions of the three people, and strongly suspected that they were hiding something from him.

But he won't ask too many questions. He'll say what needs to be said sooner or later, and he won't get anything out of people no matter how much you ask.

"Never mind, everything today was inexplicable."

"Aaron, are we destined to only passively defend ourselves?"

"Draco, I really didn't expect you to be worried about those Muggle-born wizards."

Mr. Lucius probably wouldn't be too happy if he knew, but you're right, I'm not the kind of person who only cares about comforting myself. If Hogwarts goes bankrupt, it won't do me any good."

As he spoke, Aaron lightly waved his wand, and another clue wall appeared before the three of them.