The Suspicions Were Temporarily Cleared

Lockhart's office.

In the bright candlelight, Dumbledore placed Mrs. Norris on the desk and began to examine her carefully.

"It must have been a curse that killed it," Lockhart said dramatically. "Transfiguration Torture Curse, I remember something very similar happened before."

Unfortunately, I wasn't there at the time. I just happened to know the method to break the curse, which could have saved it.

"Can you be quiet for a while?" Aaron looked at Lockhart speechlessly, wanting to say, "You're like a Clown," but he held back.

"Mr. Gaius," Lockhart's voice was slightly lower than before, "Is detailed in my autobiography."

"Can you save Mrs. Norris?" Aaron asked meaningfully.

"Um... this..." Lockhart stammered, looking at Filch who was choking with sobs, and felt inexplicably guilty. "I'm sorry, my spell probably can't save the dead."

"Then please be quiet for a while, Professor, and at least don't interfere with the work of the professionals."

"It's not dead, Argus," Dumbledore said, looking up. "Mrs. Norris has simply been petrified, but I don't know exactly how."

"Ask him, he did it." Filch looked angrily at Harry Potter, sobbing uncontrollably. "You all saw what he wrote on the wall, he knew I was a Squib."

"Squib?" Aaron was stunned for a moment, somewhat incredulous. "Warlock who can't use magic, it must have been quite an achievement for you to have stayed at Hogwarts for decades!"

"Mr. Gaius," Dumbledore said solemnly, "Argus has been doing his duty for decades, and I dare say no one loves this castle more than him."

"I see." Aaron nodded thoughtfully. "But to be honest, I don't think it was Harry. When I got there, the three of them were standing there dumbfounded, as if they were scared out of their wits."

And, with all due respect, Harry probably doesn't even know what a "Squib" means.

Harry nodded hurriedly. He had only been to school for a year and didn't really understand the meaning of some of the terms.

Snape emerged from the shadows, a sneer still playing on his lips. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

That's how Aaron found them; he just happened to discover them near that wall.

"Is that right, Mr. Potter?"

Harry paused for a moment, then exchanged a brief glance with the other two. "It's like this, Professor Snape, it's all a misunderstanding."

"Very good. With the three of you as witnesses, I believe Aaron is innocent." Snape gave Aaron a reassuring look, then turned to Harry, and the other two. "Then can you explain why you didn't go to the Great Hall for dinner?"

The three immediately explained that they had attended Sir Nicholas's death anniversary banquet, and hundreds of Ghost could testify for them.

"You guys... are so boring." Aaron's eye twitched slightly; he was also speechless at their thought process.

Why would a living person skip a perfectly good Halloween party and insist on attending Ghost's death anniversary? Aren't you afraid of having nightmares?

Harry and the other two looked at each other, feeling very regretful.

Attending a Ghost party on Halloween eve was one thing, being scared was another, and going hungry was also one thing, but on the way back, an unexpected disaster struck.

"And then what?" Snape stared directly into Harry's eyes, a chilling smile flashing across his gaunt face. "Why didn't you come to the banquet?"

"Because, because..." Harry was extremely nervous. He dared not say that he had gone there because he heard strange noises, otherwise he would be unable to clear his name of suspicion.

"We need to go back to the Common Room," Hermione interjected. "Aaron only ran into us on his way back."

"I'm going back to sleep after I've eaten and drunk my fill, you guys..."

"We're not hungry."

Gollum!

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ron's stomach rumbled at an inopportune moment.

He awkwardly looked up and found everyone staring at him with different expressions, but Hermione's eye roll was quite obvious.

It didn't ring earlier or later, but it just happened to ring right when I was about to finish my workday.

"Okay! I am indeed a little hungry."

However, after attending the Ghost's death anniversary banquet, you probably wouldn't be able to eat even the best food in front of you.

Snape's smile grew even wider.

Isn't this just a blatant attempt to cover up the truth? Do they really think everyone in the audience is a fool?

"Principal, I believe you've noticed it too."

They weren't telling the truth; they were definitely hiding something.

"Professor, now that you mention it, I think I've thought of something too."

When I first got to the other end of the hallway, Harry asked me a question.

"Oh?" Snape turned around smugly, not expecting such an unexpected gain. "What did he ask you?"

He asked...

"Harry asked if there's any more food at the banquet?" Hermione asked anxiously.

Aaron rolled his eyes, but seeing the hint of pleading in their eyes, he decided to help them out, since he didn't think these three would do such a thing.

"That's it, Professor."

Snape rolled his eyes at Aaron with a hint of helplessness, as if asking: What good will it do you to help them?

Aaron gave him a straight look: It wouldn't do me any good if I didn't help them.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, "Is innocent without evidence."

"But my cat was stoned," Filch said sternly, "Someone has to be punished."

"We can cure him, Argus."

As far as I know, Madam Sprout cultivated Mandrake, and once they matured, she could concoct Potions to cure Mrs. Norris.

"During this time, I hope everyone will be careful," Dumbledore said, then looked at Aaron and the other three, "You can rest now."

Upon hearing this, the four of them tacitly left Lockhart's office.

On the way back to the lounge, Hermione pursed her lips, looked at Aaron walking directly in front of her, and hesitated before saying, "Thank you for covering for us earlier."

"You're welcome.

To put it bluntly, I don't think you have the guts.

"Do you think I should tell them about the sounds I heard?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Suit yourself," Aaron waved his hand, "But you'll have to bear the consequences yourself."

"I also think it's not a good idea," Ron said. "It's definitely not a good sign."

"That's strange. You heard that voice, and then Mrs. Norris was stoned," Hermione said.

"That might not be the case," Aaron said thoughtfully. "Maybe that voice deliberately lured Harry there!"

Upon hearing this, Harry swallowed nervously. "You mean I'm being watched?"

"I didn't say that, it was just a simple guess," Aaron said, turning to the side of the aisle. "Good night, everyone."

The three looked at each other, and Harry said with a bitter face, "Maybe I should tell Dumbledore about the voice! At least that would be safer."

"No," Hermione frowned. "The three of us are already half suspects. If they find out you can hear strange sounds, it'll be hard for us not to be wrongly accused."

Arriving at the dormitory, Aaron lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, slightly lost in thought.

"System, you can open the task panel now."

[Found the legendary Secret Chamber:]

The reward for completing the task is 800 Magic Points. There is no penalty for failure. Do you accept this offer?

When Aaron saw the reward amount, he immediately thought of the Thought Form Magic he had been longing for. According to the normal Sign-in calculation, he would need to work hard for more than a hundred days to learn this skill.

But if the task is completed, it would be equivalent to saving eighty days of hard work, which is too tempting.

Aaron gritted his teeth and chose to accept the challenge.

The reward for this task is not low, but it is not easy to complete.

First of all, the legend of the Secret Chamber dates back to at least the time of Lucius, and the further back in time it is, the harder it is to find.

Secondly, the blood-written words on the wall and the stone-carved Mrs. Norris both signified danger, and he knew he couldn't withstand that level of stone-carving curse.

But he had no reason not to accept this task, as it concerned the safety of Hogwarts, the place where he could develop peacefully, and he couldn't afford any accidents.

Most importantly, there is no punishment for failure; if things become unmanageable, he can easily withdraw.

"System, if I may ask, are your task assignments random?"

"Yes."

"But weren't there three tasks assigned last school year?" Aaron asked, somewhat puzzled. "Why is there only one this year?"

"The tasks issued by this system are based on the actual situation. Considering the current situation of the host, this is the only task that can be assigned."

"That really makes sense..." Aaron said speechlessly. "Wait, if I cause trouble everywhere, will I trigger more System Mission?"

"I advise the host not to do that; causing trouble will only lead to a quick death."

"Hey! Don't make it sound so scary, I'm not that kind of person."

I was just asking casually.

You're overthinking it.

With the host's current permission, there will only be three tasks per year, no more and no less.

Furthermore, the tasks assigned by this system are entirely within the host's capabilities; they will not be too simple, nor too difficult. Moreover, the host has ample autonomy to choose and can abandon tasks with higher risks, which is already quite humane.

So... don't even think about taking advantage of the system.