First-Year Missions

After dinner, Slytherin's prefect led the new students down to the Dungeon. Pointing at a stone door set into a damp Stone Wall, he said, "This is the entrance to the common room. The password changes every two weeks.

"This week's password is: Glory."

The stone door opened, and everyone filed into the common room.

It was a semi-transparent common room located beneath the lake. There was a fireplace inside, with sofas and tea tables arranged in the center and along the walls, as well as several bookshelves.

The surrounding walls were built of black marble, while the ceiling was a transparent crystal-carved dome. Looking up, they could see the shimmering water overhead, and through the windows, enormous squid and strange creatures drifting past. It was practically an underwater museum.

"The boys' dormitories are on the left, and the girls' are on the right. Your trunks have already been delivered to your respective dormitories.

"If you have any problems, you can come to me or Headmaster Snape. We won't refuse any help we can provide.

"That's all. Get some rest early! You have classes first thing tomorrow morning!"

The beds in the dormitory had already been made, which eased everyone's minds considerably. After traveling all day, they were indeed exhausted both physically and mentally.

Under such circumstances, nothing was more appealing than collapsing into bed.

Aaron opened his trunk and took out a soft little bed. He carefully placed Abei inside, then covered it with a towel.

Then he changed into his pajamas and lay down on the bed.

The moment he closed his eyes, boundless drowsiness washed over him. But then he suddenly remembered that he had not signed in today, and hurriedly opened his eyes.

"System, sign in," Aaron silently said in his heart.

Congratulations to the Host for signing in at Hogwarts. You have received 10 Magic Points.

"How many?" Aaron was no longer sleepy at all. To be honest, he had expected the sign-in reward at Hogwarts to be rather generous, but he had only anticipated five Magic Points. Who would have thought it would be doubled at once, raising the efficiency to five times its usual rate? It was truly a delightful surprise.

The Host did not mishear. It is ten Magic Points—two digits.

Additionally, Hogwarts holds special significance in this world. The first sign-in can unlock the System Mission function.

Completing missions can grant Magic Points and various magical items. Does the Host wish to activate it?

"Activate it. It has to be activated." Aaron shouted excitedly in his heart. Three years—after three whole years, he had finally found a path that could save him years of struggle. There was no way he could give that up!

Very well. The Host's three System Missions for the first school year will now be issued.

Help Slytherin win the House Cup;

Mission reward upon completion: 500 Magic Points. No penalty for mission failure. Does the Host accept?

"Accept!" Aaron did not hesitate in the slightest. This mission was nothing to him. At Hogwarts, Slytherin was synonymous with excellence and had already won the House Cup for six consecutive years. Perhaps he would not even need to lift a finger for the seventh—he could just lie back and collect the reward.

Earn the recognition of at least three professors;

Mission reward upon completion: 500 Magic Points. No penalty for mission failure. Does the Host accept?

"Accept!"

Aaron still did not hesitate. Hogwarts had no shortage of professors, and with his talent, earning the recognition of three of them would not be difficult.

Destroy Voldemort's remnant soul;

Mission reward upon completion: 1000 Magic Points. 500 Magic Points will be deducted upon mission failure. Does the Host accept?

"Uh..." This time, Aaron hesitated. Voldemort was indeed very weak right now, but he was certainly not something an Intermediate Mage like him could handle. Even reaching the level of a High-level Mage might not make him a match for Voldemort, so the chances of failure were high.

"System, can I ask someone for help with this mission?"

Yes, but the Host must participate and contribute more than fifty percent of the effort. Otherwise, the mission will be judged a failure.

"Fine. I accept." Aaron said firmly. As the saying went, fortune favors the bold. At worst, he could bring along two professors when the time came. There was no way they could not handle one remnant soul.

Come to think of it, who was Voldemort's remnant soul attached to now? He remembered it was some professor.

This was troublesome. He would have to make sure there were no traitors among the teammates he chose.

The next morning.

Aaron opened his eyes. He had slept exceptionally well the night before.

Perhaps the new sign-in location had given him too great a surprise, or perhaps it was because there was no Alarm Clock and no knocking from Jeans. He had slept until he woke naturally.

After putting on his wizard robes, Aaron looked at the Young Dragon sleeping in its basket. After some thought, he picked it up.

Although bringing pets to class was discouraged, this little fellow was a dragon, after all!

No matter how harmless Abei looked, Aaron could not leave it alone in the dormitory. What if it ran off and got lost?

"Aaron, you're awake?" Draco walked over with two bleary-eyed followers.

"I woke up not long ago." Aaron nodded, then looked surprised. "Do you usually get up this early too?"

"More or less!" Draco said smugly, then shot an irritated look at the two chubby boys behind him. "Those two are lazier. It took forever to wake them up.

"But Aaron, didn't your parents arrange followers for you?"

Aaron froze for a moment, recalling the endlessly chattering Butler and the several groups of mages secretly following him. A bitter smile appeared on his lips. "Maybe they did, but I don't want them interfering with my school life."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid I can't explain that. In short, the followers of our family may be somewhat different from what you understand."

Draco nodded as if he understood, though he was curious. Still, he wisely did not ask further.

The four of them left the dormitory together, went to the Great Hall for breakfast, and then headed to the Transfiguration classroom with their textbooks.

Class Time had not yet arrived, or perhaps they had come early. Other than a cat on the teacher's desk, there were not many students in the classroom.

Besides two Gryffindors, the only Slytherins there were the four of them.

Aaron and Draco sat at the same desk, while Crabbe and Goyle naturally took the seats behind them.

"Aaron." Hermione pointed at Abei, whom Aaron had placed on the desk. Though delighted, she was also somewhat worried. "Why did you bring it to class too?"

"I couldn't help it. This little guy is pretty mischievous, and I wouldn't feel at ease leaving it in the dormitory," Aaron said. "Besides, I don't think the school has any rule forbidding students from bringing pets to class, right?"

"Well... all right. But it still feels a little impolite."

"Thank you for your concern. If necessary, I'll explain it to Professor McGonagall later.

"Abei is different. It's my family, and it holds an extremely important meaning to me—even to our Gaius Family."

Seeing how serious Aaron was, Hermione could not say anything more and simply began reading her textbook.

After hesitating for a moment, Draco lowered his voice and said to Aaron, "I specifically had someone look into it yesterday. Granger's parents are both Muggles."

"Yeah, so what?"

Draco's eyes widened at once, his expression full of astonishment. "You know that? Then why are you still friends with a Mudblood like her?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down." Aaron hurriedly covered Draco's mouth, but it seemed he was still too late. Several people in the classroom had heard him, including Hermione Granger.

The little girl looked as though she had suffered a tremendous grievance. Her breathing hitched, her eyes reddened, yet she stubbornly held back her tears.

Crabbe and Goyle merely watched coldly. Even the only two Gryffindors in the classroom did not know how to comfort her.

"Um... Hermione, don't be angry.

"I..." Aaron was at a loss. It was the first time in his life he had faced a girl's tears, and for a moment, he did not know how to explain himself. Finally, he sighed. "Leave it to me. I'll put Abei in your custody for now."

Aaron directly placed Abei on Hermione's desk. Sure enough, with an adorable "cat" in front of her, Hermione's mood improved slightly.

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Draco, who looked utterly unconcerned, and said flatly, "Apologize."

"Why should I? Was I wrong? She really isn't worthy of being your friend." Draco said indignantly, seemingly dissatisfied that Aaron was defending this Mudblood.

"Draco, noble blood is not a reason for you to look down on others.

"Besides, who I make friends with and what kind of friends I make have nothing to do with you." Aaron said patiently.

"But she..." Draco also realized that he was in the wrong. He truly had no right to interfere in Aaron's affairs, but asking him to apologize to a Mudblood was something neither his pride nor his father would ever permit.

"I will never apologize to a Mudblood."

"I knew you would say that." Aaron shook his head helplessly and said, "How about this? Let's make a small bet.

"If your Grades this semester are better than Hermione's, you won't have to apologize. And on behalf of the Gaius Family, I'll owe the Malfoy Family a favor.

"But if your Grades are worse than Hermione's, you'll apologize to her, and from then on, you will never mention the word 'Mudblood' again.

"What do you say?"