A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Really?" Aaron smiled knowingly. "I don't believe it."

The three of you are all first-year wizards. Logically speaking, you should have no interaction with him at all, and you shouldn't even have heard of his name. Why did you think of looking for him?

What exactly is their purpose?

“Um…” Harry hesitated, unsure whether he should voice their suspicions.

“Harry!” Ron shook his head slightly at him. Currently, only the three of them knew about this, but if Aaron, who was closely related to Snape, were added in the middle, the risk would increase significantly.

Seeing the situation reach a stalemate, Hermione interjected, "Tell him! Don't you trust Aaron's character?"

“It’s not that I don’t trust him, it’s just… I don’t want to involve him,” Harry said. “You know his relationship with that person…”

Hermione rolled her eyes speechlessly, knowing that given Harry and Ron's level of suspicion towards Snape, it was absolutely impossible for them to trust Aaron completely.

“Aaron,” Hermione said softly, “could you tell us something about Nicolas Flamel? It’s very important to us.”

"Alright! But I don't know much about it either."

The last time I saw him was when I was four years old, when my grandfather took me on a trip to France.

"France? Isn't there anything else?" Harry asked, somewhat taken aback. "Like, what does he do?"

"An alchemist!"

However, he wasn't just any ordinary alchemist; even my grandfather had to give him some respect, and he brought a batch of precious magical materials with him when he went.

The group exchanged glances; it seemed they needed to focus their investigation on books about alchemy.

"Anything else?" Harry continued to ask.

"And another thing is that the guy is very old."

“You don’t need to tell me that.” Ron smiled and shook his head. “He’s a wizard who can be associated with Dumbledore, and he probably has a white beard.”

That's not necessarily true.

Dumbledore is a famous white wizard, and his social circle is much wider than you might imagine.

For example, the Minister of Magic, some pure-blood families, the Hogwarts Board of Directors, and the foreign ministries of various countries' magical departments.

Even some races that live in the dark, such as werewolves, giants, vampires, and...

"Stop talking." Ron patted his heart. "I was wrong, Aaron."

I shouldn't have interrupted; please continue.

"Tch!" Aaron curled his lip in disdain and explained, "The age I'm talking about might be older than you think. Even Dumbledore would only be considered a junior in his eyes."

"No way!" Hermione's lips twitched. "Dumbledore must be over a hundred years old by now!"

"Hermione, wizards are different from Muggles; they are naturally destined to have a longer lifespan."

Moreover, wizards have countless ways to prolong their lives, including various potions and elixirs...

As for unconventional methods, you can go to Knockturn Alley and ask around. You can pull out any wizard there; they'll all know about ways to prolong life, but they're almost always involving bloodshed and violence, and they're not guaranteed to work.

"Gulp!" Hermione swallowed hard. "Let's forget about this one."

So how old is Nicolas Flamel?

"do not know."

"You don't know?" Ron was losing control of his emotions. "Then why did you say so much just now..."

"Calm down, stay calm."

I was only four years old at the time, a tiny bit better than a three-year-old, how could I possibly remember so much?

Moreover, do you think it's appropriate for a four-year-old child like me to ask a great magician about his age?

Even if it were appropriate, would Nicolas Flamel answer me?

However, there is one sentence that I remember quite clearly.

When Nicolas Flamel opened the door for me and my grandfather, he said, "The last Gaius child to come here was your great-grandfather."

Also, just a heads up, when my great-grandfather met him, he was a little older than me, a five-year-old child, and he was brought there by my great-great-grandfather.

This means he knew at least my great-great-grandfather.

Three people: ...

“So Nicolas Flamel must be at least two hundred years old!” Hermione said, then suddenly remembered something and slapped her forehead. “I was wondering why I couldn’t find Nicolas Flamel’s name in the books of famous modern wizards!”

The books that record his information should go back at least one or two hundred years!

“Maybe more than that!” Aaron said calmly. “His status in the hearts of some older generation wizards is something Dumbledore can’t compare to.”

That's all I know; the rest is up to you to find out.

“Thank you, Aaron,” Hermione said with a smile. “At least we can rule out modern wizards now. If we really can’t find any, we’ll have to go to the forbidden section.”

"Oh, the forbidden book section?"

To read books there, you need a professor's approval, but...excuse my frankness, you don't have that qualification yet.

"Can you help us? Every professor likes you, and if you go and borrow some..." Harry said excitedly, but was interrupted by Aaron before he could finish.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you with this. I suggest you don't do it."

It's quite dangerous for first-year students to come into contact with forbidden books, especially since your purpose there wasn't to study.

Harry scratched his head awkwardly, too embarrassed to ask Aaron for help again.

Chapter 38 Gift-giving still requires catering to the recipient's preferences.

"By the way, I don't think I saw you packing your luggage." Hermione looked at Aaron with some surprise. "Aren't you going home for Christmas either?"

Harry and Ron were somewhat taken aback when they heard this, because the Christmas holiday was quite long, and almost 99% of the students would go back to school, with only a few professors and some students with special circumstances choosing to stay on campus.

Harry didn't choose to go home because his uncle's house was too dark for him, and he was much happier staying at school.

Ron didn't go home because his parents were going to Romania to visit his brother, and there was no one at home. Even if he went back, it would only be him and his brothers, just like at school.

If that's the case, then it's better to stay at school; at least you won't have to worry about food and accommodation.

But they never expected that Aaron would also choose to stay at the school; it seemed like he had no need to do so!

"Is it surprising?" Aaron asked calmly.

The three of them nodded in unison.

"I matured early. The Gaius family generally adopts a hands-off approach to raising their heirs, believing that this can better cultivate their independence."

After I turned eight, my parents went on trips and usually didn't come back unless they were tired from playing or something important happened at home.

I spend less than a month with my parents each year in total, and my uncle usually takes care of my daily life.

"But...but it's Christmas!" Hermione said, feeling sorry for Aaron.

“Don’t get me wrong.” Aaron shrugged. “They will come back for Christmas, but I think it’s more fun to stay at school, so… I’ve chosen to stay.”

This is only part of the reason, but more importantly, the magic points you get from signing in at Hogwarts are ten times more than you get at home.

Before you have enough power, enjoying life and family reunions are all just fleeting thoughts.

"Oh, I see!" Harry said with a sheepish grin.

"Otherwise what? My family treats me very well, even though I'm their only son."

......

The day before Christmas.

After lunch, Aaron took Abe out of the hall, and the two of them strolled around the castle.

The snow and ice outside completely piqued their interest, especially Abe, who had hardly ever seen snow since he was born.

A few days ago, the students were busy packing their luggage, and there were still many people, yet it was still able to restrain its natural instincts.

But today is different. Everyone who was supposed to go back has gone back, and there are far fewer people left on campus, so the space is relatively much larger.

It recklessly charged into the snowdrift and rolled around, its white body and white clothes completely blending into the white snow. If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't be able to tell that there was a white dragon in the snowdrift.

If Aaron hadn't warned it not to spread its wings, it probably would have flapped them and flown high into the sky to watch the snow fall.

Upon arriving at the playground, Aaron, seeing that no one was around, took out the valuable magic carpet from his system space and then jumped onto it with Abe.

Unlike the flying broom, the dark blue magic carpet was not difficult to control. It obeyed Aaron's commands completely and moved at his will. Moreover, the magic carpet was quite large and could easily accommodate three to five people.

There are only the two of them now, and even if they lie down and roll around on it... they might fall off.

Sitting on the magic carpet, admiring Hogwarts in the snow, both the human and the dragon had lollipops in their mouths, it was incredibly pleasant.

However, perhaps because they were flying too conspicuously, Professor McGonagall, who happened to be in her office, saw the two of them and her eyes lit up.

“Aaron, Mr. Gaius, could you come here for a moment?” Professor McGonagall called out with a smile from the window, like a witch tempting an eleven-year-old to commit a crime.

Aaron paused for a moment, then controlled the magic carpet to fly over. "Um...Professor McGonagall, is there something you need?"

"Um... Aaron, what's this flying carpet of yours...?" Professor McGonagall glanced at the magic carpet every now and then, looking a little embarrassed.

After all, as a professor at Hogwarts, it was embarrassing for her to be interested in her students' things, but she really loved these magical gadgets.

Professor McGonagall herself is a Quidditch fanatic, and in her youth she enjoyed the thrill of flying with a broomstick.

However, now that she is older, not only is her body unable to use the flying broom, but her appearance also doesn't quite allow it.

The magic carpet perfectly meets her needs: it's elegant, comfortable, safe, and can fly smoothly—it's much better than a flying broomstick.

"Um... I found this in my family's storage room before I came to school," Aaron explained seriously, then frowned. "Professor, I don't think there's a rule against using the magic carpet at school!"

“No, that’s not it, and it’s not mentioned in the school rules,” Professor McGonagall said. “But we still need to be mindful of the impact, understand?”

"I understand. I only play with it during the Christmas holidays. I don't take it out during the school week."

“That’s good.” Professor McGonagall nodded, then looked intently at the magic carpet. “Mr. Gaius, I wonder if I could try out your carpet?”

Upon hearing this, Aaron was somewhat bewildered, then turned to look at Abe.

It shook its head seriously, took a step forward with one foot, and showed a strange sense of territory.

The light in Professor McGonagall's eyes gradually dimmed. "If it doesn't work, then forget it."

“Sure, why not!” Aaron immediately said. “It’s an honor for the professor to come up here.”