Chapter 250: The Founding of Hogwarts
The next day, Aiden packed his luggage with careful precision.
The four founders were already waiting for Aiden outside the house with obvious anticipation.
Lady Helga blew a whistle, and five Graphorns came running over with thunderous steps.
"Ah!" An aged voice cried out in alarm.
Aiden turned his head to see Gorden, who had been startled by the massive Graphorns.
He shakily climbed up from the ground with obvious difficulty.
"Are you leaving with your companions?" Gorden asked, feeling somewhat sad about his friend's departure.
"Yes, thank you for taking care of me during this time, Gorden." Aiden said with a genuine smile.
"Not at all, we should be thanking you for teaching us how to prevent diseases and identify herbs..." There was obvious reluctance in Gorden's eyes.
"Oh right, this is for you." Aiden said, suddenly remembering something important.
He pulled out one of his dragon scales from his pocket. The front was carved with the protective rune Algiz, and the back with Perthro, representing fate and inner self.
"Gorden, my friend, may your path ahead not be obscured by mist."
The talisman carved from the Mind Dragon's own scale began to glow with soft fluorescent light.
Gorden accepted Aiden's talisman, feeling a profound sense of peace emanating from it.
"Thank you." Gorden said, carefully hanging the talisman around his neck.
He watched as Aiden and his companions departed into the distance.
"I didn't expect you to get along so well with them." On the road, Salazar steered his Graphorn closer.
"Speaking of which, I have a question I want to ask you all. Why was it Salazar who came to negotiate with me yesterday?" Aiden asked with growing curiosity.
Understanding the implication in Aiden's words, Salazar smiled and answered with obvious amusement,
"Your legend claimed you slaughtered tens of thousands of Viking pirates. At first, we thought you were a wizard supremacist."
"Me? Tens of thousands?" Aiden asked, completely dumbfounded.
"Yes, and some regions say you capture children to brew potions. I was thinking that if a dark wizard opened the door, I'd cut off your head immediately." Godric also came over to join the conversation.
"Wait, so you originally didn't come to find me to be a teacher... you came to eliminate a dark wizard!"
Godric's blunt words made Aiden realise the truth, and the four of them awkwardly lowered their heads.
"So who exactly was spreading these rumours? Don't let me catch them!" Aiden said through gritted teeth.
At that moment, far away in Malmesbury, Gorden sneezed unexpectedly.
The group rode their Graphorns through valleys, rivers, and swamps with steady determination.
Finally, they arrived at a magnificent castle in the Scottish Highlands.
"This place is..." Aiden said, looking at the 'brand new' castle before him.
"It's my family's castle. I'm contributing it to serve as the future teaching location." Salazar said with obvious pride.
"Does this school have a name?" Aiden asked.
The four people looked at each other and smiled with shared excitement. "Hogwarts!"
"Uh, Hogwash?" Aiden said, deliberately joking.
The mischievous Aiden was knocked on the head by Lady Rowena.
"The texture feels quite nice." Lady Rowena said with obvious laughter.
Aiden followed them into the castle. At this time, the interior of Hogwarts was completely empty, without the numerous portraits that would appear later.
"I plan to hang portraits of outstanding graduates on these walls." Gryffindor said with obvious excitement.
"Oh, they'll definitely cover the entire wall." Aiden said, making a joke.
The castle at this time had not yet undergone so many magical modifications. It was just an ordinary, albeit impressive, castle.
Lady Rowena sent out letters by owl, beginning to summon the teachers they had previously sought.
"Well then, now that we have our teaching staff more or less assembled, we should consider the students' situation." Lady Helga said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps we could establish a monitoring system covering all of Britain." Salazar proposed.
"But the Wizards' Council won't agree to our methods. They even oppose the establishment of this school." Godric said with a concerned frown.
"Then let's compromise and only monitor young wizards after magical outbursts." Lady Rowena suggested diplomatically.
"I say, with the abilities of you four, even if you established a monitoring system covering all of Britain, they wouldn't detect it, right?" Aiden said, weakly raising his hand.
"No, wizards' intuition is very keen. If we monitor them without their consent, they'll feel uncomfortable." Lady Rowena explained to Aiden patiently.
"And this kind of widespread emotion could cause tides in the Misty Illusion." Lady Helga continued Rowena's words.
"You mean it could trigger prophecies?" Aiden murmured with growing understanding.
"So we need to find a way to make them accept it." Salazar said, stepping forward.
"How about I give it a try?" A certain Manipulator said, adjusting the glasses on his nose.
"You?" came four voices in unison.
The four brought Aiden to the Wizards' Council, where Aiden gave them a live demonstration of what master-level speechmaking looked like.
"My dear wizard friends, think about how great the significance of establishing this school is."
Aiden stood in the centre of the platform, waving his arms with practised charisma.
"If our heritage suffers a break in transmission, then the school would be the best place to preserve it. Just by contributing knowledge that's gathering dust in family collections, everyone could enjoy much better education."
"Then how can we ensure that you won't pocket this knowledge for yourselves?" An old wizard in grey robes raised his hand to ask.
"Good question. We will hold a ceremony at the castle to ensure this knowledge is used fairly. At the same time, we can bring the new young wizards under the ceremony's protection, making their burgeoning magical power a line of defence for their own safety."
"Whether you are ordinary wizards," Aiden said, his gaze sweeping over the wizards in shabby robes.
"Or noble wizards," Aiden said, looking toward those wearing luxurious clothing.
"All can freely absorb knowledge in the academy and grow in the directions they prefer. Everyone, imagine this beautiful vision... our children being able to freely choose who they want to become under the blue sky."
At the centre of the platform, a certain charming dragon spread his arms, weaving his abilities into his voice, painting grand dreams for the wizards below.
When the meeting ended, Aiden strutted out proudly while dealing with wizards who came to network with him.
Finally, he made his way through the crowd to the four founders.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Aiden asked, questioning the four's strange gazes.
"You... this..." Godric said, hesitating with obvious amazement.
"I didn't expect mental magic could be used this way." Lady Rowena said, covering her mouth and giggling.
"I feel like you might be very suitable for my house. Why not consider it?" Salazar said, extending an invitation.
"Oh right, we haven't told you yet. Based on your speech just now, we four are planning to divide the entire school into four houses."
Lady Helga came over and linked arms with Aiden, explaining to him with enthusiasm,
"We hope students can enter corresponding houses according to their traits so they can be cultivated into outstanding talents." Helga's eyes held obvious expectation.
"But what if students hate their own traits?" Aiden enquired thoughtfully.
"Then of course we follow their wishes. Did you forget what you said on the platform? Let them become who they want to be."
Gryffindor said, patting Aiden's back and originally intending to make Aiden stumble, but instead making his own palm red.
"Hahaha!" The others all laughed, seeing Godric clutching his hand in pain.