A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

“He’s definitely still alive,” Harry said somewhat uncertainly. “The Aaron Gaius I know wouldn’t risk his life if he wasn’t sure.”

"Hurry up and take him to the professors!" Ron was about to help Aaron up when he reluctantly withdrew his hands. "That won't work either! That barrier will take at least half a day to break."

"Never mind all that, let's get him there first." Hermione wiped away her tears. "At least they can tell us how to handle an emergency."

At this moment, Phoenix Fox flew to Aaron's side, shedding a few crystal-clear tears that landed on Aaron's face.

The charred blackness on his face had faded considerably, revealing a healthy rosy complexion.

"That's right! Phoenix tears can heal wounds." Harry suddenly realized, "Aaron is saved."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the phoenix, whose eyes were blurry. "Thank you, Fawkes."

A moment later, Aaron groggily opened his eyes and saw three familiar faces. A smile appeared on his lips. "I survived after all."

"Don't even mention it!" Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "You almost died, do you know that?"

"I won't die. I still have a potion. Abe will save me in time," Aaron explained. "By the way, where's my dragon cub?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen it since then."

"Forget it, now that the winner has been decided, that thing isn't that important anymore."

"What is that?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

Aaron didn't answer, but waved his hand and forced himself to sit up. "Could you get my sword back first?"

Harry nodded, drew the silver longsword, and handed it to Aaron.

"This sword is of really good quality; it was struck so hard by lightning, yet it's completely unharmed."

"Of course, if the quality isn't up to standard, I wouldn't dare to use it."

Harry paused for a moment, then turned to look at the two pieces of the basilisk still steaming from the lightning, and was speechless.

"Speaking of which, we're both second-year students, isn't your ability a bit too much?" Ron said with a hint of envy and jealousy. "Don't even mention the prefects, even the graduates probably couldn't beat you."

Aaron gave him a disdainful look and explained confidently, "I just used the time you used to daydream on studying, the time you used to play on training, and the time you used to plot on thinking."

Ron: ......

Why do those words sound so hurtful?

"Um... I admit to the first two sentences, but I really didn't have any ulterior motives."

"Really? Then please explain about the compound decoction."

"I...this..." Ron stammered, looking awkwardly at Harry and Hermione, hoping they could say a few words for him, since the three of them had done it together.

The two of them, however, were looking at the ceiling and the ground respectively, their coordination was quite tacit.

They're not stupid; it's better for one person to be embarrassed than for three people to be embarrassed together.

Aaron shook his head with amusement, looking at Ginny whose face had regained some color. "How is she?"

“She’s a little better than before, but she’s still unconscious.” Ron looked at Aaron gratefully. “Thank you so much this time. If you hadn’t defeated Tom Riddle and brought my sister back to life, I don’t know what would have happened.”

"You're welcome. I'm doing this for myself."

"If Voldemort were to resurrect, it wouldn't do me any good."

"Thinking like that really hurts me!"

Riddle's voice clearly reached everyone's ears, and the group was shocked and looked over in horror.

Riddle, his body charred black, slowly stood up. His injuries were healing at a visible speed, though he was emitting a faint glow that was much less distinct than before.

Aaron stared blankly for a moment, then turned to look at Harry and the others, "Don't tell me you didn't finish them off."

“We saw how badly he was injured…” Harry said anxiously, but seeing Aaron’s angry expression, he couldn’t say anything more.

Hermione and Ron were also pale-faced and trembling with fear.

Everyone thought Riddle was barely alive, but who would have thought he would be fully recovered in less than a minute!

"This is terrible. How could you guys be so unreliable?" Aaron said bitterly. At this moment, he truly understood how terrible a terrible teammate could be. The great situation he had worked so hard to create was completely turned around by Voldemort.

“Harry Potter, I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Riddle laughed. “Just now I really felt death brush past me.”

"Flames are raging!" Hermione suddenly shouted.

But Riddle simply raised his wand, and the Flame Curse was neutralized, and Hermione's wand was knocked away.

"If it were before, this spell would have posed a threat to me, but now this little fire isn't even enough to keep me warm."

Hermione took a few steps back in fear, and Harry grabbed his longsword and charged forward with a roar, but he was blasted away by a pale white light and landed at the feet of the three of them after only a few steps.

Ron immediately helped him up and said tremblingly, "Aaron, can you use that move again? We'll all take the lightning strike with you if necessary."

Chapter 195 The Diary is the Real Body

"I want to too!" Aaron said, on the verge of tears. "But I'm too weak, and do you think he'll give us a second chance?"

Upon hearing this, Riddle's face lit up with a smug smile.

Having personally experienced that terrifying baptism of lightning, he dared not give Aaron another chance to inscribe a magic circle.

The future Voldemort experienced what it meant to be caught off guard and suffer a humiliating defeat; the present Tom Riddle has no intention of experiencing the same disgrace.

“That means we have no choice but to fight him.” Harry looked serious, then suddenly remembered something as he looked at the wand in Riddle’s hand. “Aaron, lend me your wand.”

"What the hell?" Aaron's lips twitched slightly. "Even if you're out of your mind, you should at least consider the occasion!"

“You don’t have much magic left, but I do. All I need is a wand.”

Upon hearing this, Ron realized what was happening.

His wand is broken, but Aaron's wand is still in good condition, so it wouldn't hurt to borrow it.

"I also..."

"No way." Aaron rolled his eyes. "Even though I'm in terrible shape right now, the wand in my hands is definitely more effective than yours."

“Ginny’s wand,” Hermione reminded her. “You can use Ginny’s.”

Ron didn't think much of it and simply pulled a black wand from Ginny's pocket.

"Are you ready?" Riddle completely disregarded the four young wizards, toying with his wand with an air of detachment. "Today you will learn the meaning of despair."

Roar!

A roar suddenly rang out, and a white figure suddenly flew over, its crimson dragon flames forcing Riddle back several meters.

"That damn dragon."

"Abe!"

Aaron looked at it with relief and, upon discovering the black diary in its pocket, breathed a sigh of relief.

Abe laughed and jumped in front of Aaron, muttering in his sleep.

The gist of the story is that the basilisk lost its diary while biting everything in sight, and it took a lot of effort to find it under a collapsed pillar.

"Well done, you saved us all this time."

At this moment, Aaron had no more reservations. He had originally planned to add all the remaining magic points to magic power, and with the rewards from completing the two tasks, it would be enough to raise his strength to the peak of the intermediate-level mage.

At that time, he will have the means to confront Riddle head-on.

Although they might still lose, given the opponent's formidable strength, with Abe and Fox joining the team, they are not without a chance of victory.

A 40/60 split is a bit of a pipe dream, but a 50/50 split is still possible.

However, now that the Horcrux is in his hands, it's like he has Tom Riddle's life in his hands, so things aren't so complicated anymore. No matter how capable he is, he can't turn the tables.

“Too bad, Tom Riddle,” Aaron said meaningfully. “The outcome is decided; you’re dead this time.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Riddle frowned. “While I admire you greatly, both in terms of talent and character, which exceed my expectations, it doesn’t mean I can tolerate your disrespect again and again.”

puff!

Aaron couldn't help but chuckle, then saw the black lines on Riddle's face. "Sorry, I just think you're too arrogant. You don't even realize you're about to die."

"What do you mean?"

Aaron shrugged and took the diary out of Abe's pocket. "This thing should be a Horcrux!"

"Stop!" Riddle exclaimed in shock, looking at Aaron with extreme anxiety. "Do you know what this means?"

"Of course I know, this is your fate."

Harry and the others deduced the meaning of the diary from Riddle's expression and breathed a sigh of relief.

Although it felt strange, the situation seemed to have changed dramatically, and the initiative was in their hands.

“Destroy it, and Riddle will die!” Harry exclaimed excitedly. “Hogwarts will be at peace, and Ginny will wake up.”

"You're not hopelessly stupid."

puff!

Harry felt as if a sword had been pierced his heart, causing him excruciating pain.

But considering that they had done more than one absurd thing, he could only awkwardly force a smile.

“Hordeals aren’t so easy to destroy,” Riddle said confidently, but to the others it sounded incredibly uneasy.

"Normally, this is how it is; ordinary spells can't do anything to this diary."

Unfortunately, there are at least four ways to destroy it within this secret chamber. "Aaron chuckled, "Gaius's sword—you've seen its power."

Riddle's expression darkened, but Harry and his two friends grinned, thinking, "This is it!"

"Secondly, the fangs of the basilisk, and the venom of a magical creature that has lived for thousands of years, should also be able to destroy the Horcrux!"

Third, dragon breath. Abe's dragonfire is extremely effective against dark magic items like Horcruxes.

Riddle couldn't take it anymore. He knew he had to get the diary back, or he would die.

"Avada Kedavra".

A green, ominous spell shot from the tip of the wand, accompanied by a jumble of sounds, its target quite clear.

Although Riddle admired Aaron and hoped he would assist him, compared to the temptation of resurrection, a highly promising assistant was nothing.

“Fourth, the Killing Curse.” Aaron sneered and threw the diary away.