Chapter 96 Slytherin's Seven Consecutive Championships
"What's there to be so proud of?" Draco said, looking indignant. "If you hadn't intervened, Aaron, Weasley might not even be alive!"
"You can't say that," Aaron said, unconcerned. "I just gave Ron a push at the right time, but if it weren't for him, we really wouldn't have made it past that giant chessboard."
Draco snorted, a little displeased with this 'modesty'.
"Gryffindor now has 483 points, which is second place, but what does that matter?
The three of them have already had their points added; they can't just keep finding ways to add more! No one would accept that."
"This... who knows?" Aaron smiled helplessly. Based on his interactions with Dumbledore a few times, the White Magic King's bottom line was clearly not that high.
But the problem was, this old man could always maintain his persona.
He could repeatedly jump around within the rules, and no one could find fault with him. That was true skill.
"Fourth item," Dumbledore spoke again, and the entire Great Hall fell silent. "There are many kinds of courage. Standing up to your enemies and fighting them requires courage, but standing up to your friends requires even more courage.
I award ten points to Neville Longbottom."
Loud cheers echoed throughout the Great Hall. Everyone in Gryffindor was overjoyed, but Neville Longbottom himself was bewildered, unable to recover from the surprise for a long time.
He wasn't very clever, always indecisive, and his academic performance wasn't great. He was the kind of person who would be ordinary even in a crowd.
Throughout the entire school year, he hadn't earned a single point for his House, but unexpectedly, he made a big splash at the year-end feast.
"So now there's a small problem. Gryffindor and Slytherinhave the same score, and there's only one House Cup," Dumbledore said loudly, quieting the clamor in the Great Hall. He then looked towards the Slytherin long table and gave Aaron a meaningful smile.
The Gryffindor students also realized something, and their smiles faded slightly. While their expressions weren't as bad as they had been initially, they weren't particularly happy either.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged bitter smiles, having almost forgotten about this. Still, they turned to congratulate him.
Although Aaron was a Slytherin, he wasn't as arrogant as other Slytherins, and he had given them a lot of help; otherwise, that night truly would have been a matter of life and death.
It was just that after turning the tide and having hope of winning the House Cup, it was snatched back by Slytherinbefore they could even touch it, leaving them with a somewhat bitter taste.
"I believe you've all guessed what I'm about to say," Dumbledore said. "That's right, for the final item, Aaron Gaius.
He displayed astonishing ingenuity and extended a helping hand to his friends in their time of need, using wisdom and calmness to find the correct path through the mist.
Of course, his foresight was also quite excellent, as he made incredibly thorough preparations before the adventure.
I intend to award him, this outstanding Slytherin, one hundred points.
In summary, if our calculations are correct, Slytherin has won the House Cup."
Slytherin, having been suppressed for four rounds, finally couldn't hold back their emotions and cheered loudly, their collective voice easily overwhelming the other three Houses.
Six consecutive championships turned into seven, which was even more exciting than winning six times in a row.
Draco stood up and gave Aaron a hug, showing everyone their friendship. The Slytherin Prefect also smiled and gave him an encouraging look.
There were even a few older female students who winked at him, which made Aaron's expression a little unnatural, as the looks of these older students were really quite... subpar, with only one of them being presentable... In the third week of June, Hogwarts officially went on holiday.
Aaron packed his luggage and put it into his suitcase.
Abey also changed into a new outfit and put on a small backpack, acting as if he was going on a long journey.
Draco entered Aaron's dormitory holding a school notice. "The school warns students not to use magic during the holidays. Really, don't they know we're Wizards?"
"Stop complaining. This rule was set by the Ministry of Magic, and it doesn't have much to do with the school."
"Aaron, you must come visit my home during the holidays. My family would be very happy to have you."
Aaron hesitated for a moment and didn't give him a definite answer.
"Is there a problem?"
"I'm just not sure if I'll have time."
"Don't be silly, we're only twelve. We don't have to work at the Ministry of Magic, so how could we not have time?" Draco said, speechless. Then he suddenly thought of something. "Could it be that the heirs of your families have to take over some of the businesses at twelve?"
"How could that be?" Aaron rolled his eyes. "No matter how precocious, we wouldn't be involved in that at twelve.
Besides, my parents are only in their early thirties this year, and they're not too old to work. They won't put these burdens on me."
"Then why wouldn't you have time?"
Aaron pursed his lips. Seeing Draco's sincere expression, he felt awkward saying it was because of a hunch, so he changed his wording. "If I have time, I'll go."
"That's more like it."
Outside the station, Aaron saw Hagrid putting Harry on the train and looking over towards them.
Aaron immediately lowered his head, tucked Abey behind his suitcase, and repeatedly muttered, 'He can't see me.'
But when he reached the train door, he was still enveloped by a large dark shadow.
He looked up to see a familiar large face smiling at him.
Aaron sighed helplessly. He still couldn't avoid him! He should have been more frugal with that bottle of Felix Felicis.
"Not greeting an acquaintance is a bit rude," Hagrid said, feigning a lecture, while his eyes darted around, as if searching for something.
"Don't look, he's here," Aaron said, lifting Abey. Hagrid's eyes immediately lit up, wanting to get a closer look, but he quickly restrained himself.
"Envious?"
Hagrid nodded vigorously, his beard trembling constantly.
If the station hadn't been so crowded, he probably would have shouted.
Openly raising a magic creature, and a special dragon at that, Aaron was the only one in the entire Magical World. How could he not be envious?
Hagrid did raise many fantastic beasts, but they couldn't stay with him for too long. Once they grew too large, he couldn't hide them.
Most of them hid in the Forbidden Forest, a few went to other places, either sent to live in groups in the wild or taken in by professionals. For example, Fluffy was guarding the trapdoor for Dumbledore.
After all these years, only Fang, his Neapolitan Mastiff, could stay by his side.
"The little fellow is still so cute!
Will I see him next semester?"
"Barring any accidents, probably," Aaron said indifferently. "But I think he probably doesn't want to see you."
As he finished speaking, Abey also turned his face away, giving Hagrid no good look.
"Don't be so heartless!
I apologize again for what I did back then," Hagrid said, looking wronged, then took out a wrapped roasted chicken from his pocket. "This is my sincerity, from the kitchen, and it's still warm."
Abey opened one eye, glanced at it lightly, then looked at Aaron, barely restraining his drool.
"Hmph! Don't bring out such petty tricks to embarrass yourself.
You used that trick to knock Abey out back then," Aaron said disdainfully.
"That will absolutely never happen again," Hagrid chuckled awkwardly. "Besides, we didn't realize he was a dragon at the time!"
Aaron pouted but still took the roasted chicken and put it into Abey's backpack.
This train ride was going to be very long, and there wouldn't be anything like this on the train. He wouldn't be particular if he could eat something good.
"We've received your sincerity. See you next semester."
Aaron said, about to board the train, but Hagrid called out to him.
"Wait, can I touch him?" Hagrid said, a little embarrassed.
Aaron suddenly felt that the roasted chicken in his hand was no longer appealing. Taking someone's gift made him feel indebted.
But the item was already in his hand, and returning it was impossible.
"Sorry, I can't agree to that request."
Aaron directly refused. Hagrid wanted to try again, but Abeyquickly darted into the train door, preventing him from succeeding.
"He... he ran fast enough!"
Aaron shrugged, handed his suitcase to a train attendant, and boarded the train.
He passed several compartments, but they were all full, with no empty seats.
When he opened the door to the next compartment, the corner of his mouth twitched. They were all familiar faces, but they were three Gryffindors.
"What a coincidence! You must have an empty seat here, right?"
"Yes, of course," Harry immediately said, and Hermionehappily moved to make an empty seat.