Chapter 117: Learning from the Experience of Running Away
Though he had the idea of skipping class, Aaron still smiled shyly on the surface, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
"What are you pretending for?" Flo said with a disdainful laugh, "I know exactly what you're thinking, kid.
But as your ancestor, I feel it's necessary to remind you that I'm not sure if any of my predecessors skipped class, but eight of those who chose to skip class after me, only one succeeded.
In other words, the possibility of failing to skip class is very high, you need to be mentally prepared."
Aaron's expression changed, and his excited heart quickly quieted down.
He almost forgot, at home, Gines was watching him, and outside, at least two people were secretly protecting him.
With this setup, he would probably be caught by Gines the moment he tried to run away.
There definitely wouldn't be a punishment; after all, his parents weren't around, so he was the boss at home now.
But the problem was, it would be embarrassing!
Skipping class was not something glorious to begin with, and if he got caught skipping class, he estimated his voice would drop eight octaves when speaking in front of Gines.
"Wait, Ancestor Flo, how did the one who succeeded do it?"
"Very simple, the most dangerous place is the safest.
He directly hid in other Chambers of Secrets that didn't have ancestral memories, and only came out after he had enough fun.
However, this path has been blocked; now all Chambers of Secrets have been enchanted, and it's clear how many living people are inside."
Upon hearing this, Aaron's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
What a sin!
That ancestor had a good time slacking off, but he completely blocked the escape routes for all later generations.
"Don't be disappointed!
There haven't been any successful class-skippers in the past three hundred years, so the vigilance towards students is relatively relaxed now; there's still a chance for you to succeed.
I guarantee you, once you escape the Castle, you'll be safe for three or four hours."
"Hehe! I'll take that as you comforting me." Aaron smiled wryly, then suddenly thought of something and once again hugged Flo's leg tightly, "Ancestor, you've guided so many excellent students over the years, you must have accumulated some experience, right!"
Flo was stunned for a moment, looked down at Aaron, whose eyes were full of sincerity, and tried hard to pull his leg out, but the effect was not as good as he hoped.
This action confirmed Aaron's guess, "You really do have experience?"
"No, absolutely not."
Flo gritted his teeth, preparing to kick Aaron out with his other leg.
The last person who successfully skipped class also used the tactic of clinging to his leg, taking advantage of the failures of the previous seven, and doing the opposite by hiding in a huge Chamber of Secrets.
This was his biggest blunder after his death; after all, it was his help that led to that generation's successor's success. It sounds bad for a teacher to help a student skip class!
But before Flo could kick, a white figure flew over and clung to his other leg.
After Abey succeeded, he instantly grew several times larger, pressing down firmly and refusing to move, showing considerable stubbornness.
Flo was exasperated and laughed, "You two are going too far. I've already done my utmost by pointing out a way for you."
"As the saying goes, help a person to the end, send a Buddha to the west.
Ancestor, are you sure you're not just teasing me by pointing out a path that's almost impossible to succeed?"
"There are always more solutions than problems, believe in yourself, you can do it." Flo earnestly advised, "And the first step to believing in yourself is to let go of me."
Aaron pouted, shifted to a more comfortable position, but hugged even tighter.
Believe in himself? That sounds good, but if he really had that ability, he wouldn't be clinging to someone's leg here.
"Alright, alright, I'm scared of you, okay!" Flo said speechlessly, "I can give you a little advice, but whether you succeed or not is up to you."
Aaron's mouth curved slightly, he winked at Abey, and one person and one Dragon simultaneously released their grip.
As for whether Flo would go back on his word, he wasn't worried at all.
Ancestors were all highly respected; they wouldn't deceive a twelve-year-old child like him.
Even if they did, they could try to cling to his leg again; the black stone pillar was right here, and the initiative was in his hands.
"Ancestor, please speak."
Aaron adopted the attitude of listening attentively in class, his expression quite serious; if someone met him for the first time, they might be fooled by this appearance.
"Hmph!
First, the most dangerous place is the safest place—this is directly voided, because the safest place is precisely the most dangerous.
Second, you must think carefully about where you want to go. If you don't even have a destination and just run around like a headless chicken, the chance of being caught is almost one hundred percent.
Third, you'd best not go to places Gines knows. If he finds out you've run away, those will be the first places he looks.
Then, a cunning rabbit has three burrows; having only one destination is clearly not enough. You must always be prepared for someone to find you midway.
Finally, and most importantly, you must avoid your two bodyguards.
With them following you, even the most meticulous plan will be stillborn before it even begins to be executed."
Aaron nodded in agreement, feeling that he had hugged the right leg.
Listening to your words is better than ten years of study!
If it weren't for this guidance, he would probably be the eighth failure, but now he had a fifty percent chance of successfully skipping class.
However, before taking action, he still needed a small plan.
Thinking of this, Aaron once again looked at Flo, a gleam of light shining in his eyes.
"Don't look at me with that gaze; even if you look at me like that, I won't help you anymore." Flo said indifferently.
"Ancestor." Aaron showed a harmless smile, and just as he was about to go over and hug his leg again, he was pushed back several steps by a powerful magic force.
"Cut it out, you're just playing with what I've already played with."
"Hehe!" Aaron gave an awkward laugh, "I have just one last question. If you answer it, I'll leave. Whether I succeed or fail at skipping class, I won't expose you."
Flo gave him a deep look, and said playfully: "You're learning to threaten people at such a young age?
But unfortunately, this trick won't work on me, otherwise I wouldn't have told you so much.
Also, a warning to you: it's best not to threaten people casually in the future. Some people are arrogant and cannot stand threats; whatever you tell them not to do, they will insist on doing."
Aaron was stunned for a moment, then respectfully bowed, "I've learned a lesson."
"Alright, if you have a question, ask it quickly.
But whether I answer or not depends on my mood."
"Ancestor, do you have any way for me to avoid those who are secretly protecting me?"
"I knew you'd ask that." Flo seemed to have anticipated it, leaning leisurely against the stone pillar and saying, "They are all professionally trained; with your current strength, you can't possibly avoid them, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"You only have one advantage right now: they don't know you're going to run away.
As for the rest, figure it out yourself; I can only tell you this much."
After speaking, Flo waved his hand, and a hurricane swept towards Aaron and Abey. When they opened their eyes, they were already outside the Chamber of Secrets.
"Is this the power of a Saint Magister?" Aaron murmured, his heart filled with infinite longing.
Inside the Chamber of Secrets was merely a fragment of Flo's memory, far from his strength in life, yet with a mere wave of his hand, he could make him, a junior Magician, gasp for breath, completely powerless to resist.
Aaron couldn't help but lower his head, admitting the fact that he was still incredibly weak.
Abey climbed onto his shoulder, emitting obscure sounds, but Aaron could clearly hear that it was encouraging him.
Dragon Language: Master, you will definitely be stronger than him in the future.
"Haha!" Aaron patted Abey's Dragon head and laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not as fragile as you think.
It's just that I need to remember this lesson; I've indeed been a bit too complacent lately. I still need to maintain a sense of reverence for power!"
Back in his bedroom, Aaron looked at the crescent moon outside, contemplating his grand escape plan.
School started on September 1st, and it was now August 28th. He needed to finalize his plan tonight and act tomorrow.
Otherwise, if he ran away and school started shortly after, this attempt to skip class wouldn't have much meaning.
After a moment of contemplation, Aaron took out the half-bottle of invisibility potion he had left.
Looking at the bottle, he felt particularly lucky that he hadn't gulped it all down back then.
Using this, he could avoid the two bodyguards' sight, but the invisibility time was limited. He needed to act quickly and run as far as possible before they reacted.
Aaron nodded, then began to ponder the places he could go, or rather, places that could shelter him.
He took out a piece of paper from the drawer and wrote down about twenty addresses, but soon he eliminated them one by one.
He definitely couldn't go to relatives' houses, the shops of neighbors in Diagon Alley weren't safe either, and his old friends' houses wouldn't work; he estimated that as soon as he arrived, someone would report him to Gines.
Frowning for a while, Aaron wrote down two addresses on the paper: Malfoy Manor and The Burrow.
These two places were not too far from his home; with Abey's flying speed, it wouldn't take long to reach them.
Moreover, if he were discovered, he could transfer to another place. Even Gines would never imagine that he would be bouncing between the homes of two sworn enemies.