Chapter 310 Reopening the Secret Chamber, Advancing to Grand Magister
Harry Potter, after much deliberation, reluctantly handed the remains of the Nimbus 2000 to Aaron, asking him to restore its 'former' appearance as much as possible.
Aaron patted his chest and promised to do so. It was a delicate task for him, but only slightly harder than a jigsaw puzzle, and patience was something he never lacked.
On Monday, Professor Lupin returned to class. His first act in Defense Against the Dark Arts Class was to announce that the two-page parchment assignment given by Snape did not need to be turned in, which brought joy to students who hadn't finished it.
Malfoy finally took off his bandages, celebrating the Gryffindor team's defeat.
However, his happiness was a bit premature. At the end of November, the Hufflepuff team narrowly lost to the Ravenclaw team, which meant the Gryffindor team received a timely boost and still had a chance to win the QuidditchCup.
Although the hope was slim, the Gryffindor team was invigorated and began intense training... in the SlytherinChamber of Secrets.
Aaron and his Thought-form sat on the sofa, warming themselves by the fire, their hearts filled with a sense of accomplishment.
Last semester, the Heir of Slytherin caused several attacks, spreading panic.
It wasn't until the Basilisk was killed and Lord Voldemort's sixteen-year-old diary (Horcrux) was destroyed that Hogwarts returned to normal order.
But after that, the Chamber of Secrets seemed to lose its value and meaning. Everyone, including Albus Dumbledore, chose to selectively forget about it.
However, before Halloween, Aaron decided to reopen the Chamber of Secrets and had his Thought-form spend a lot of time remodeling it.
First, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was no longer Myrtle's girls' lavatory.
The Thought-form studied the intricate network of pipes within the Chamber of Secrets, found the one closest to the bottom of the Black Lake, and used earth-element magicarrays to continuously excavate and modify it, finally constructing a stable passage directly to his dormitory.
Secondly, he made full use of the building materials within the Chamber of Secrets, transforming it into a brand new secret base with Transfiguration. It was huge, fully functional, and had all the basic living facilities.
Thirdly, he drained the Basilisk's blood and used this special blood to engrave dozens of giant defensive magic arrays. While it couldn't compare to Weichert's Chamber of Secrets, as long as there was enough magic power supplied, even if the Dark Lord fully revived, he wouldn't be able to break in for a while.
Finally, he destroyed all other passages, leaving only the one connected to his dormitory. Besides Dragon Tongue, the only way to open this passage was with a key, the one given to him by Thorin Oakenshield, the King of the Dwarves.
"Thank you, great Salazar Slytherin," Aaron said, raising a glass to the statue of Slytherin.
One generation plants trees, another enjoys the shade. If Slytherin hadn't laid the foundation for him, it would have taken him at least a year and a half to build a base, and its safety and practicality would be incomparable.
"And thanks to the great ancestors of Gaius," the Thought-form said with a proud smile.
Good family education is the key to success. If not for the teachings of more than twenty ancestors, even with the legacy of Salazar Slytherin, he wouldn't know where to start with the renovation. At most, he could only barely use it, and he would have to sneak into the girls' lavatory every time.
"Finally, thanks to our little dragon," both Aaron and his Thought-form said in unison, as more than half a year's worth of their provisions in this base had been scrounged from Abey's dragon mouth.
Wuwu... Abey covered his shriveled pockets, which now only contained money, and burst into tears.
It was all gone, everything was gone.
He pounded the ground with force, and large teardrops fell uncontrollably.
He had thought the food he had hoarded last school year would last him another year, but he didn't expect it to be confiscated in less than three months.
And that wasn't the worst part; the worst part was that the food he had painstakingly saved up this semester was also gone.
"Look on the bright side!
What's yours is mine, and what's mine is..."
Abey barely stopped crying and looked at his master with hope.
"Mine... mine..." Aaron's face twitched, and he sat on the ground somewhat dejectedly, "I'd like to share with you, but I've sadly discovered a truth I'm unwilling to admit.
It seems that most of the time, I, your master, am much poorer than you."
Abey:...Seeing tears welling in the dragon's eyes, Aaronimmediately added, "What's mine is ours.
Don't cry. Next time we go to Hogsmeade, I'll buy you more snacks, enough to fill you up."
Abey wiped away his tears and reluctantly stood up.
Although he would definitely be spending his own money then, the phrase 'what's mine is ours' still gave him some psychological comfort.
"System, open the personal panel."
[Host: Aaron Gaius]
[magic Energy: Main Body 5036, Junior Archmage; Thought-form 5036, Junior Archmage; Total 10072 (Junior Grand Archmage, a rare existence in the Wizarding World)]
[Talent: Once in a Lifetime (magic energy increases by 4 points daily, Main Body increases by 2 points, Thought-form increases by 2 points)]
[Items: Drop of the Moon (2/3 can remove any negative curse), Resurrection Potion (can revive any creature that died within an hour)]
[magic Points: 1700]
Looking at the five-digit magic energy, Aaron's heart swelled with emotion, even having the urge to laugh loudly towards the sky three times.
Grand Archmage, this was a Grand Archmage!
Although only a Junior, it meant he had become a true powerhouse in the Wizarding World.
In fact, he had already reached this stage more than half a month ago, but at Hogwarts, he dared not advance casually, because there was a Wizard who could step into the Saint Realm at any time—Albus Dumbledore.
If this White Dark Lord noticed, all his previous concealment methods would lose their meaning.
A thirteen-year-old Archmage was already conspicuous enough; if he went up another level, that old bastard would definitely increase his attention on him, and who knows what kind of traps he would set!
To be on the safe side, he established this secret base deep beneath Hogwarts. Coupled with the many magic arrays isolating his aura and perception, he dared to confidently advance to Grand Archmage.
Aaron took several deep breaths and turned to look at his Thought-form, "Are you ready?"
"Of course."
The Thought-form smiled calmly, his body gradually becoming transparent, turning into countless golden light particles and merging into the main body.
A few seconds later, Aaron slowly opened his eyes.
He carefully felt his own magic energy and felt that his strength had increased by at least fifty percent compared to when he was an Archmage.
It didn't seem like much, but the increase in magic power and the reduction in magic energy consumption were enough for him to easily defeat his peak Archmage self.
In addition to magic power, he also fully absorbed the knowledge of elective courses and the experience of carving magic arrays that his Thought-form had learned in the past three months.
In the blink of an eye, a complex crimson magic array appeared in front of him, and fierce flames spewed out from it, striking heavily against the wall.
Boom!
The defensive magic array activated instantly, and a huge pale yellow magic array blocked the flames in front of the wall.
The wall remained intact even after the fire dissipated.
"Instant casting of advanced magic arrays is now possible," Aaron muttered to himself with some relief, feeling that his efforts over the past few months had not been in vain.
Next was to shorten the casting time of ultimate elemental magic arrays until they could be cast instantly. This was ten times harder than advanced magic arrays, but if he could achieve it, his combat power would far exceed his peers, and fighting above his level would not be difficult.
At the Grand Archmage level, it wasn't so easy to improve his strength, but he still had some confidence in himself. He aimed to be on par with Dumbledore before graduation!
"Oh, right, I also need to try layering," Aaron extended his right hand and released an intermediate fire-attribute magicarray, but in the next instant, a green wind-attribute magicarray attached itself above it.
Wind fueled the fire. Although they were only two intermediate elemental magic arrays, when combined, they unleashed power no less than an advanced magic array.
"As expected of me," Aaron nodded in satisfaction, "It really succeeded."
"System, open the store. It's time to buy some things."
"Okay, supporting the host's consumption."
[magic Category: @Divine Thunder Palace (1500 magicPoints, converts magic power into magic crystals, concentrates them in a certain space, generates a large amount of lightning strikes when activated, destroying magic crystals will also inflict huge recoil lightning strikes on the destroyer); @Skywalk (100 magic Points, flight speed depends on personal strength); @Fiendfyre Curse (200 magic Points, generates huge and scorching magical flames that can destroy almost anything in its path); @Charm (500 magic Points, literal meaning, but ineffective against those with strong will); @Astral Projection (300 magic Points)]
[Material Category:
@Phoenix Feather (30 magic Points); @Mithril (100 magicPoints); @Mandrake (5 magic Points); @Bezoar (1 magicPoint); @Rhinoceros Horn (3 magic Points)]
[Item Category:
@Ninja Mask (2500 magic Points, wearer can summon the Shadowkhan Ninja Clan, Note: Collecting ten masks allows control of the Shadowkhan Kingdom); @Pensieve (500 magic Points, stores thoughts and memories from the mind); @Wizard Chess (1 magic Point); @Jilani's Emerald (50 magicPoints, the one who obtains the gem will be plagued by bad luck); @Muggle Wand (50 magic Points, injects magic power into a magic crystal, before the magic power is exhausted, even a Muggle can use the simplest Levitation Charm with it)]
"Alas! Indeed, one regrets not having enough money when it's needed!"
Aaron sighed and shook his head, then placed orders for Divine Thunder Palace and Fiendfyre Curse.
All his magic Points were cleared, effectively bringing him back to square one overnight.
During this time, he refreshed the blank item slots dozens of times before he found magic or items worth buying.
Among them, the Ninja Mask was what he wanted most. When others wore this mask, they needed a specific magicsolution to remove it, otherwise they would gradually be controlled by the mask. But if he bought it, he could fully absorb its power without any side effects.
However, the number of magic Points was a major drawback. The time required for relying solely on sign-ins was too long, and no system tasks had been issued, so he decided to use them to improve his strength first.