Chapter 197 The Freed Elf
"Harry, have you forgotten to tell us something?" Professor McGonagall reminded him. "For example, what happened in the Chamber of Secrets? How did you deal with the Basilisk? And how did you defeat Tom Riddle?"
Hearing this, Harry's face flushed, and he felt so embarrassed he wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
How could he explain it? He couldn't say it!
Aaron had handled the main attack all by himself. Hermione and Ron had also cast a few spells, and while they weren't very effective, they at least felt like they participated.
But him? Not only did he not help at all, he even contributed a wand to Lord Voldemort, which was outright aiding the enemy!
"It seems Mr. Potter is having some difficulty!" Professor Snape said sarcastically. "If he's unwilling, we won't force him."
"Potter." Professor McGonagall looked at him deeply. "This matter is very important; we must get to the bottom of it."
"Professor, it happened like this," Hermione explained. "The Basilisk was slain by Aaron with his family's heirloom sword."
Dumbledore seemed to recall something. Looking at the ruby-encrusted sword on the table, he said with a strange expression, "This sword is Godric Gryffindor's personal sword. Only a true Gryffindor can draw it."
Hearing this, Harry felt particularly relieved, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.
He had been doubting whether he was sorted into the wrong House all this time, but now it seemed he was just being overly sentimental.
"Not that one, sir," Hermione said with an awkward laugh. "Aaron's sword is much larger and is inlaid with three black magic crystals that can absorb blood, stamina, and magicrespectively.
After accumulating enough power, he released it all at once, splitting the Basilisk in half with a single strike."
"That was a fifty or sixty-foot giant snake!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "It was killed just like that?"
"Thanks to Fawkes.
He blinded the Basilisk's eyes, otherwise, the battle would have been much more dangerous."
"So what did you do?" Professor Snape asked, crossing his arms and a cold sneer playing on his lips. "You certainly weren't hesitant when you rushed into the barrier!"
"It's not that we didn't want to, but Riddle focused most of his attention on Aaron," Ron muttered, looking a bit unnatural. "At least we got Ginny to a safe place."
"Oh! I see. Truly worthy of Gryffindor."
"Severus, they are only second-year Wizards," Professor McGonagall said helplessly. "Even we would have to expend considerable effort against that snake."
Professor Snape shrugged, saying no more, but the mockery in his eyes became even more apparent.
"What about Riddle then?" Dumbledore asked sternly. "How did you defeat him?"
"Well…" Harry hesitated for a moment, then said, "Aaron used the Basilisk's blood to draw a giant magic circle on the ground, which triggered a terrifying lightning storm that defeated Riddle."
The Professors exchanged glances upon hearing this.
They had indeed felt a slight tremor at the time, but none of them had thought of a magic circle. That kind of magic had been obsolete for at least a few hundred years, almost becoming a legend.
Principal Dumbledore also narrowed his eyes, startled for a moment before recovering.
His experience was incredibly rich, and he naturally thought of more.
Different people using magic circles wielded different power. To defeat a sixteen-year-old Lord Voldemort, Aaron's talent and strength might be even higher than he imagined, at least not just what was seen on the surface.
And that sword capable of slaying a Basilisk—the Gaius family entrusting such a divine artifact to Aaron meant they possessed even stronger magical tools, their foundation unfathomable.
"It's necessary to pay a visit to the Gaius family," Dumbledore thought to himself, but quickly suppressed the idea.
Aaron, the sole heir of the Gaius family, was very averse to getting involved in troublesome matters, and the current magic world was relatively peaceful. They might not take Lord Voldemort seriously.
"Alright, we've learned pretty much everything.
But Aaron's wish is to keep a low profile, and we must respect his opinion and grant him this small request," Dumbledore said, then looked thoughtfully at Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, I think Hogwarts needs to lift the lockdown.
We need to tell the students that the Chamber of Secretsincident has been perfectly resolved. As for the specific process, it's not convenient to go into detail, but the students who discovered the Chamber of Secrets and made special contributions to the school should receive some rewards.
So, could I trouble you to arrange a feast in the kitchen?
Wait, let's have the feast tomorrow. Tonight, let's just tell them the good news. We need to wait for the petrified students and Mr. Gaius to recover.
Of course, we also need to write a letter to the Ministry of Magic to welcome back our gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid."
"Yes, I'll arrange it right away."
"Potter, stay. Everyone else, please go about your business!"
Professor McGonagall opened the Principal's office door, and everyone left one after another.
However, before leaving, Professor Snape gave Harry Pottera deep look and snorted indignantly.
"Sit down, Harry," Dumbledore said with a smile, gently stroking Fawkes. "I must thank you. You must have shown absolute loyalty to me in the Chamber of Secrets to be able to summon Fawkes.
Secondly, I feel something is troubling you, am I right?"
Harry nodded unnaturally. "Sir, why can I speak Parseltongue? What does this have to do with Tom Riddle?"
"You noticed?" Dumbledore didn't seem surprised and said calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, when he left that scar on you, he also transferred a part of his magic into you.
He didn't intend to, but that's what happened, because you have a great mother."
Just then, the door was slammed open, and Lucius Malfoystormed in, followed by a trembling Dobby.
The House-elf looked badly injured, with clear whip marks and bandages covering his body, looking utterly miserable.
Harry's eyes widened. This was the first time he had seen Dobby following his master. Although he knew he wasn't doing well at the House of Malfoy, he hadn't expected it to be this bad.
Lucius had come to settle accounts personally. Dumbledorehad returned to school without his permission, which meant he hadn't taken him, a board member, seriously.
Dumbledore remained quite calm and directly told Luciusthat after something happened to Ginny Weasley, a pure-blood Wizard, the other eleven board members all wanted him to return to Hogwarts.
Unable to exert his influence, Lucius, though angry, could only shift the conversation to the real culprit behind the scenes.
But he clearly didn't know that the Chamber of Secrets had been found, and both the Basilisk and the real culprit were dead.
When Dumbledore took out Riddle's diary, Lucius's face turned pale, and his hands clenched into fists.
He knew he had come in vain today, and he would have to act more discreetly in the future, because it was he who had slipped that diary into Ginny's textbook at Flourish and Blotts.
He had originally intended to reduce the inventory of Dark Arts artifacts at home and, incidentally, annoy his old rival, Arthur Weasley.
He kept reporting him for privately possessing Dark Artsobjects, and it would be a huge joke if his daughter was found to have hidden Dark Arts objects.
But… heavens know!
He only wanted to affect the Weasley family's reputation and had no idea this diary had such immense magic, even nearly causing more than one murder.
It was also fortunate that no one died, and the only evidence wouldn't speak, otherwise, the House of Malfoy would certainly be in a lot of trouble.
Lucius composed himself, resisted the urge to draw his wand, and, feigning composure, turned around. "Let's go, Dobby."
Dobby twisted the doorknob for his master, then was kicked out by Lucius, letting out a painful yelp.
Seeing this, Harry felt a pang of pity. "Principal, can I have this diary?"
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "But you'll have to be quick."
Harry immediately grabbed the diary and rushed out of the Principal's office. As he went downstairs, he quickly took off one sock and tucked it inside the diary.
A House-elf needed a gift of clothing from its master to gain freedom. He didn't know if this method would work, but he had to try no matter what.
"Mr. Malfoy." Harry caught up with the two in the corridor outside the Principal's office, panting as he shoved the diary into Lucius's arms. "This is yours."
"I don't know what you're talking about?"
Lucius wouldn't admit it, but he still took the diary and casually tossed it into Dobby's hands.
Although this piece of evidence was no longer really evidence, it was better to keep it in his own hands. He would deal with it when he got back, burning it to ashes with Fiendfyre to be safe.
"Let's go, Dobby!"
"Open it," Harry whispered.
Dobby dazedly opened the diary, staring blankly at the smelly sock inside, as if it were a priceless treasure.
"Master gave Dobby a sock."
"What? I didn't give…" Lucius turned around, looking at the black sock in Dobby's hand, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Master gave Dobby clothes." Dobby excitedly clutched the sock. "Dobby is free."
Lucius suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Harry Potter.
Sure enough, Harry pulled up his clothes, revealing his sockless ankle.
"You made me lose a servant."
Lucius roared, drew his wand from his cane, and strode quickly towards Harry Potter.
Dobby stepped forward. "You shall not harm Harry Potter."
A blue light shot from Dobby's hand, knocking Lucius, who was about to wave his wand, backward.
After taking a hit, Lucius calmed down. He stood up, put his wand back into his cane, and looked coldly at Harry, saying, "You and your parents are meddling fools.
Mark my words, Potter, one day you will end up just like them."
With a harsh threat, Lucius turned and left.
"Harry Potter gave Dobby freedom." Dobby looked directly into Harry's green eyes and softly asked, "How should Dobby repay him?"
Harry grinned. "Just one thing: don't try to save me anymore."
Dobby gave an embarrassed smile, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
Harry looked at the House-elf's bright but not particularly good-looking smile and suddenly thought of something. "Dobby, you're free, but you're also homeless.
Do you know where to go?"
Dobby paused, then looked at Harry seriously. "Can Dobbyfollow you?"
"Me? No, that won't work," Harry refused without thinking. "Listen, Dobby, I sympathize with you, and I really want to help you.
But you know how the Vernon family is; they have an extreme aversion to magic, and they absolutely would not welcome a House-elf.
If you came with me, you'd only be abused by them. Forget about supporting yourself, you might even be taken to Azkaban the very next day."
"In that case…" Dobby tremblingly put on Harry's sock, adding his first piece of clothing in years. "Then Dobby will go find a job himself."
Harry hesitated. Although he was young, he wasn't completely clueless.
Given the influence of the House of Malfoy, Dobby's job search would likely be unusually difficult.
"How about we go ask Aaron?" Harry mused. Although the Gaius family wasn't well-known, their strength was definitely not weaker than the Malfoy family.
"This… is that really possible?" Dobby asked with a hint of surprise.
"It should be fine!"