Dumbledore's Wordplay

Justin's stomach growled at an inopportune moment. He gave an awkward laugh and then turned his gaze to the plate next to Aaron.

There are four steaming hot chicken drumsticks on this plate, and there are enough for the five victims, including one Ghost who can't eat.

Are these prepared for us?

As soon as he finished speaking, Abei jumped in front of the plate and glared fiercely at Justin.

How dare you snatch food from the dragon's mouth? Do you have a death wish?

"Um... it seems they didn't prepare this for us."

"Obviously," Aaron shrugged. "Of course, if you want to steal food from me, you cat..."

Abei opened his mouth, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

Upon seeing this, Justin couldn't help but shudder; he actually felt a pressure emanating from Abei that was no weaker than that of the giant serpent...

It's an illusion, it must be an illusion.

This cat looks completely harmless. Even when it bares its teeth to guard its food, it's still adorably silly. Even Senior Penelope's attention was drawn to it. How could it possibly be associated with a terrifying monster?

"Breakfast time is over," Professor McGonagall said with a smile. "But there's a feast waiting for you tonight. Dumbledore wants you all to relax, so you can celebrate until tomorrow morning."

"Before that, you will need to be hospitalized and undergo examinations," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. "An hour or two will be enough. We need to make sure that the Mandrake Potion has completely removed your negative effects."

Aaron gave the group a sympathetic look, then got out of bed. "Madam Pomfrey, may I leave now?"

"Of course, Gaius is available anytime."

Aaron gave Abei a look, and it nodded excitedly, wiped its drool, and quickly started munching on its breakfast.

In less than a minute, the four chicken legs were reduced to bones, and Abei patted his belly contentedly.

"This..." Colin's eyes widened. "It can eat way too much!"

"That's not important." Penelope looked at Aaron and said hesitantly, "Can I hug it?"

"Let's do it next time, senior."

It just finished eating; I need to take it to digest.

Aaron picked up the heavy pet and walked out of the School Hospital.

"Professor McGonagall, can you tell us what's happened these past few days?" Colin asked. "How did Harry Potter find the Secret Chamber of Secrets, defeat the Basilisk, and capture the mastermind behind it all?"

"This..." Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout exchanged a glance. "Crevy, you can go ask Harry Potter yourself."

We'll be leaving now. Everyone will be so happy to know you've recovered.

Slytherin's common room.

Aaron attracted many Slytherin gazes as soon as he walked in, filled with admiration.

Especially the first-year students, their faces were filled with barely suppressed admiration.

This is the one who found the Secret Chamber of Secrets, and even subtly suppressed the light of the three Gryffindor; they are the face of Slytherin.

Why are you all looking at me?

Final exams are coming up soon, don't you guys need to study?

Aaron still held considerable prestige in Slytherin, even surpassing the Prefect. With a single sentence from him, many students couldn't help but look away.

A little girl mustered her courage, blushed, and walked up to Aaron. "Senior, my name is Xilin. Can you give me your autograph?"

Aaron was stunned for a moment, feeling helpless.

He's certainly experienced the troubles of being a celebrity, but he's still luckier than Harry. At least his fans are much more rational than Colin's, and she's a rather cute little girl.

Aaron noticed the girl's admiring gaze and couldn't help but chuckle. "I've never signed an autograph before, and I don't think my autograph has any value."

However, you're the first person to make this request of me, so it wouldn't be appropriate to refuse.

"So you agree, senior?" Xilin excitedly took out a pen and paper and handed them to Aaron expectantly.

"You've come prepared!" Aaron looked at her with some admiration. "But not now. Come back to me after you've passed all your final exams!"

Although it was a pity, Xilin nodded.

"Not bad!" Niall walked over and said with a meaningful smile, "You've even learned to make empty promises to your juniors."

"I take my first autograph really seriously, but I've been acting rather quiet lately. When did I become so popular?"

"After dinner last night."

Dumbledore said that Harry Potter and the others were able to find the Secret Chamber thanks to you providing some clues, and that the Basilisk was also something you found out about the library quite easily.

Most importantly, you played a significant role in the battle. The principal didn't elaborate, but he emphasized that you were the only one of the four who was injured.

Upon hearing this, Aaron stood frozen in place, his mind reeling.

That's so mean! Dumbledore's heart is absolutely filthy.

He acted as if he hadn't said anything, fulfilling Aaron's request to keep a low profile, but at the same time, he seemed to have said everything. People who didn't know the truth would start to speculate about him being the only injured person, and might even unconsciously identify him as a hero.

"Aaron, Aaron..." Niall waved his hand in front of Aaron's eyes, "What's wrong with you?"

"No, I am not."

"Really?" Niall asked skeptically. "But why did I hear a grinding sound?"

"Um... I've had a bit of a toothache lately." Aaron stopped biting his back molars, and the clenching sound disappeared instantly.

"Alright!" Niall sat on the sofa. "Logically, you've just been discharged from the hospital, so I shouldn't bother you. But as a Prefect, I feel it's necessary for me to find out what exactly happened last night."

"Is this important?" Aaron said speechlessly.

"It's very important." Niall nodded solemnly. "There are quite a few Slytherin like Xilin who are confident in their bloodline, but are terrified of the Basilisk."

I need to tell them about your battle with the Basilisk and the mastermind in the Secret Chamber, the more detailed the better. This story will definitely give them a boost.

Aaron's eye twitched slightly. Are you serious about this "I'm just bored" attitude?

"Heh! Prefect, actually I didn't do much, it was Harry..."

"Don't be modest, Gaius," Niall teased. "Percy asked Harry Potter and the others last night, but they were vague and didn't give any useful information."

Then there's only one truth left: you are the one who is powerless, aren't you?

Smack! Smack! Smack!

As Aaron clapped, tears welled up in his eyes. He wanted to ask Dumbledore: Is this really fun?

He didn't know what the younger students were thinking, but older students like Niall could guess what it was, though they had no evidence.

"I guessed right?"

"No, you're wrong," Aaron said expressionlessly. "I clapped simply because I thought you had a good imagination and Lockhart's writing talent."

Niall's expression froze, and he gave an awkward laugh. "So what exactly happened in the Secret Chamber?"

"I can't remember." Aaron rubbed his head. "I think I've been hit by a Oblivion Charm. My head hurts, I need to rest."

Aaron walked toward the dormitory, getting faster and faster, not giving Niall a chance to ask any questions.

Gilderoy Lockhart was somewhat useful; although he didn't teach Aaron even the slightest bit of useful magic, he was definitely the best teacher when it came to playing dumb.

Aaron let out a long sigh of relief as he closed the dormitory door.

"I can tell you're not in a good mood," Thought Form said with a light laugh.

"Don't even mention it. Let me tell you a joke: the heart of the greatest magician of this era is even darker than that of the Dark Lord."

"I agree with that. I also heard some rumors when I came back last night."

That old geezer certainly didn't know what he was doing, but I have to admire his wisdom.

He fulfilled our request, Silencio distributing the labor among the four of us, but he also achieved his goal: a few smart people would turn their attention to us.

However, it's not a big deal, at least not for now.

"That's the only way to think about it," Aaron said helplessly, then turned his gaze to a stack of sketches on the desk covered with various Magic Array designs, a satisfied smile appearing on his lips.

"You've been working on this since last night?"

"About two hundred pages!" the Thought Form said.

Aaron thought that the clone technique was reliable, and he was already working hard on it on the very first day.

But after carefully examining the Thought Form's work, his expression became somewhat strange. "This, this, this..."

"That's normal," the Thought Form replied.

"Normal?" Aaron slammed his hand on the table in anger. "These two hundred-plus pages contain very few high-level Magic Array; most are mid-level, and even low-level Magic Array make up a significant portion."

Brother, we are both Warlock capable of drawing ultimate Magic Array, which would be considered elite even a thousand years ago, yet you try to fool me with these.

Even if you spent a whole night inscribing a single ultimate Magic Array, it would be more meaningful than these things!

"I'd like to, but I can't."

"Can't it be done?"

The Thought Form nodded slightly. "You forgot, my current Magic Power is only at the high-level of High-level Mage, not even Magus. It's already quite an achievement that I've done this much. You can't really expect me to just draw pictures!"

"Well..." Aaron chuckled awkwardly, "Then there's no need to practice basic Magic Array! Isn't that just a complete waste of time?"

"You know yourself; you need to relax when you're tired from work!"

Aaron's eyes widened. It made perfect sense; he couldn't find a single reason to refute it.

"Okay! You've convinced me."

"Could you please not talk to me in that tone in the future?"

We have exactly the same personality; in other words, if you were me, you would do the same.

"And..." The Thought Form paused slightly, then added playfully, "You can't beat me now."

"This joke isn't funny."

Aaron rolled his eyes. It was only because he had absolute control over his Thought Form that anyone who didn't know better would think his clone was about to devour him!

But then he remembered the ring on his left hand that sealed Magical Energy, and he opened his mouth in astonishment, "Wortefa..."

"I thought you should have thought of this last night," the Thought Form teased, somewhat surprised. "Original body, I have to say something to you."

Don't let your guard down just because you have me as a cheat code; your brain will become sluggish.

"This joke is even less funny than the last one," Aaron said somewhat dejectedly. Because he had separated his Thought Form, his Magic Power had dropped from 5,000 to 2,500. In addition, the ring on his hand would seal half of his Magical Energy, so his Magic Power was once again halved, becoming half and half again.

Although this aligns with his desire to keep a low profile, the drop in strength from a beginner-level Archmage to a beginner-level High-level Mage is too great, and he needs time to recover.

"Try to think positively. A thirteen-year-old beginner-level High-level Mage is considered a genius, stronger than most students in school," the Thought Form comforted her. "If you can't accept it, you can give me the ring."

"We can switch places; it's only natural that the clone is weaker than the original!"

"Don't even think about it." Aaron immediately grasped the ring, then took a deep breath. "This is not bad either; at least it will help me stay calm."

To be honest, after advancing to the Archmage and defeating the sixteen-year-old Voldemort, I did get a little cocky.