Chapter 36: Leaving it to luck is not safe
After the Quidditch season began, Hogwarts was filled with passion, and both students and teachers were exceptionally excited.
This fervor slowly subsided more than a week after the season ended.
Students attended classes as usual, completing their assignments to the best of their abilities, and everything seemed to return to how it was at the beginning of the school year.
However, these days, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were often seen in the Library; a top student leading two struggling ones, diving into books whenever they had time.
But it wasn't for studying; it was to find information about Nicolas Flamel.
Harry and Ron were convinced that Snape's target was the item guarded by Cerberus Fluffy, so understanding what Fluffy was guarding became crucial.
Relying on Dumbledore to tell them was clearly unrealistic, and it might even tip off the enemy, so they could only focus their energy on Nicolas Flamel, hoping to find some clues from information about this Wizard.
Hermione, however, knew that the one harming Harrywasn't Snape, but someone else, but she had promised Aaron to keep it a secret and couldn't reveal anything.
The reason she joined them in searching for information about Nicolas Flamel was that she suspected the person harming Harry also targeted the item Fluffy was guarding.
The Library was vast, containing tens of thousands of books, with dense bookshelves and hundreds of narrow passages; trying to find a person's name among these books was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
They naturally wouldn't go through them one by one; that would take forever.
The trio guessed that since Nicolas Flamel had some connection with Dumbledore, the strongest white Wizard of the present age, he must at least be a great Wizard, so they narrowed their search to books documenting great Wizards of recent modern history.
However, they searched for more than ten days without finding Nicolas Flamel's name in these books, though it might also be because they weren't diligent enough.
After all, they only searched for information during their spare time, and ten-odd days of spare time was only enough for them to roughly flip through less than a hundred books, which was a drop in the ocean compared to the entire Library…
That night, Aaron lay on his bed in the common room, hugging a sleeping dragon-shaped pillow, and silently opened his personal panel.
Host: Aaron Gaius
magic Energy: 950 (Intermediate Wizard, your journey of magic has just begun)
Talent: Once in a Century (Can be upgraded, magic Energy increases by 2 points daily)
Items: moon drop (can remove any negative magic spell), Resurrection Potion (can revive any creature that has died within an hour)
magic Points: 888 (Hogwarts sign-in, increases by 10 points daily)
"Almost there, just a bit more effort for another half month and I'll be promoted to Advanced Magician," Aaron thought excitedly, nodding with satisfaction when he saw the number of magic Points.
For no other reason than this auspicious number, what a good omen!
"System, open the magic Mall."
"Alright, it has been opened for the Host."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Mall interface appeared before Aaron's eyes.
magic Type: Transfiguration (1000 magic Points, includes Animagus); Water-Repelling Charm (100 magic Points, allows free breathing underwater); Levitation Charm (10 magic Points); Patronus Charm (200 magic Points); Apparition (800 magic Points).
Material Type: phoenix feather (30 magic Points); dragon blood (20 magic Points); Mandrake (5 magic Points); Bezoar (1 magic Point); Rhinoceros Horn (3 magic Points).
Item Type: magic carpet (200 magic Points, 3 meters long and 2 meters wide); magic Crystal (100 magic Points, possesses powerful magic, can power magic arrays); Felix Felicis (500 magic Points); Invisibility Potion (100 magicPoints, grants invisibility for three hours after consumption); Collector's Edition quaffle (30 magic Points, priceless in the eyes of Quidditch fans).
"Whew!" Aaron took a deep breath, feeling both excited and a little helpless.
He looked at the magic carpet he had been longing for, decisively placed an order, and stored it in his system space.
After buying this item, Aaron only had 688 magic Points left, but the remaining items made him truly experience what it meant to not be able to have one's cake and eat it too.
He directly ignored the material type items; those were available on the market, and he didn't need them for now.
But the remaining item type and magic type were all things he wanted, yet with his current 'financial resources,' he could only choose a small portion.
After pondering for a while, Aaron set his gaze on Felix Felicis, gritted his teeth, and chose to purchase it.
He hadn't forgotten that there was still a big battle to fight this semester; dealing with a lingering Dark Lord required absolute strength.
But right now, he simply didn't have that strength, so he could only take an unconventional approach and focus on luck.
If luck was overflowing, even when charging into battle, bullets would go around you, and spells would be the same.
Of course, the luck that could be boosted was certainly limited, but sometimes, all that was needed was that little bit of good luck.
Looking at the small bottle of Felix Felicis in his hand, Aaron frowned, "Is this… two hundred milliliters?"
"Host needs to learn to be content; a small sip can bring good luck for the next twelve hours, and this small bottle is enough for the Host to use several times."
Aaron didn't speak, tacitly agreeing with this statement, but this could only be considered psychological comfort.
If he were to put all his bets on luck and think everything would be fine, it would be no different from seeking death.
After all, his opponent was the Dark Lord; even if it was just a remnant soul, it wasn't someone he could defeat right now; he might dodge the first spell by luck, but the second one might not be so lucky.
Thinking of this, Aaron silently made a decision in his heart: at worst, he would go big when the time came.
For the next period, owls delivered packages to Aaron every day.
Besides Abey's dragon-themed meals, Gines also sent some books and two mysterious small boxes.
"What is this?" Draco asked curiously one morning, picking up a box from Aaron's package.
"The one in your hand should be a magic ring from the medieval period, an antique over a thousand years old."
"Wow!" Draco exclaimed, "But why do you need this thing?"
"I can't tell you that, I naturally have my uses," Aaron said mysteriously, "Aren't you going to seize the time to study? Don't forget the bet you made with Hermione!"
"I won't forget," Draco's face flushed slightly, then he couldn't help but show a hint of frustration, "But I don't have that much confidence anymore.
You don't know, I originally thought I was working hard enough, and even my performance during this period exceeded my father's expectations; he even wrote to praise me a few days ago.
Honestly, my father has never praised me so seriously."
"Isn't that good? No one knows a son better than his father; this proves that your efforts during this time haven't been in vain," Aaron said meaningfully.
Draco's talent was quite good; after several months of dedicated cultivation, he was already among the top few in his Class.
"That's true," Draco scratched his golden hair awkwardly, "But when I went to the Library earlier, Granger almost scared me; the books on her table were this thick."
Saying this, he gestured with his hands, indicating about two feet thick.
Aaron's eye twitched; he knew Hermione liked to study, but her intensity in studying was quite astonishing.
"Ahem! People more excellent than you are still working hard, so what reason do you have not to work hard?"
"But now I feel like I can already see the outcome.
No, it's not 'feel like,' and I'm not the kind of person who can't recognize reality; I'm eighty percent sure I can't win this bet."
"Are you giving up already?" Aaron laughed, "Draco, do you know the difference between a crushing defeat and a narrow defeat?"
Draco paused, then pondered, "I think there's no difference, both are failures."
"Exactly," Aaron nodded in agreement, then stood up and patted his shoulder, "But you need to seriously consider this question right now."
"What do you mean?"
Aaron patted his forehead and explained, "You and Hermione are competing on grades; a perfect score is one hundred, she can score a hundred, and it's not impossible for you to catch up, right?"
"Hmm… I do have a slight chance of getting a perfect score now, but only a tiny bit."
"Then that's it! If you work hard, you still have hope of a draw, but if you lose, would you rather lose regretfully with ninety-nine points, or suffer a crushing defeat with eighty points, being far behind? Which would you choose?"
"Ninety-nine, of course," Draco said immediately, as if he had understood something.
"Right! In that situation, even if you lose, it's a glorious defeat.
To put it bluntly, at least it's not as ugly a loss, and no one will gossip about you.
Later, when you see Hermione Granger, you'll still be able to confidently hold your head high, at least not feel guilty."
"I know what to do," Draco said, then pulled Crabbe and Goyle, who were nearby, "Get up, you two, come with me to the Library to study."