Fragments Found in the Restricted Section

The day after Christmas.

The Alarm Clock rang, and Aaron groggily opened his eyes.

After washing up, he went to the Great Hall for breakfast as usual, then paid a visit to the library.

After showing Professor Snape's permission slip to Madam Pince, he headed straight into the Restricted Section.

That wasn't to say the books in the regular section were useless. On the contrary, they were far more useful to students; almost ninety-nine percent of questions could be answered there.

But perhaps because of that, he found it somewhat dull.

The Restricted Section, on the other hand, seemed to have been prepared for that so-called one percent. It contained material never covered in class, secrets of the Magic World, the habits of dark creatures, deeply buried history, and even scattered notes on the study of souls.

In later terms, one was something you could look up freely online, while the other was for VIP viewing only. Of course the VIP content was more valuable!

Passing row after row of bookshelves, Aaron stopped before a gray book. It detailed the history of the Elf Tribe, including their wars with other races, the wondrous treasures within their tribe, and so on.

Though the records were incomplete, they were still enough to broaden one's horizons.

After all, in History of Magic class, professors only ever gave a few passing remarks about the secrets of other races.

If you really pressed them for details, things would get awkward, because the professors might not know either.

Just as Aaron was reading with great interest, the angle of sunlight streaming through the window slowly shifted, and the reflection on the floor stung his eyes.

"What's this?" Aaron closed the book and stepped closer. It was several shards of glass, with some grayish-white lamp oil still clinging to them.

After thinking for a few seconds, a hint of amusement appeared on Aaron's face. He picked up the glass fragments, returned the book to the shelf, and walked out of the Restricted Section.

"Hello, Gryffindor Prefect." Aaron stopped Percy in the corridor. "There's something I may need to trouble you with."

"You're... Aaron?" Percy looked at the Slytherin emblem on Aaron's robe and frowned instinctively, unable to understand why a Slytherin was looking for him.

"That's right. Aaron Gaius."

"Oh! Fred and George have mentioned you to me. They spoke highly of you.

"Do you need something?"

"I have something important to discuss with Harry Potter, but he should be resting in the dormitory right now.

"If a Slytherin who doesn't know the password goes over there, the Fat Lady certainly won't let me in.

"I don't want to trouble Professor McGonagall over such a minor matter, so I can only ask you, as a prefect, for help."

Percy pondered for two seconds before saying sternly, "I can help you, but I need to know why you want to see him.

"After all, you're a Slytherin, and Slytherin and Gryffindor have always been at odds.

"If you don't have a sufficiently good reason, I won't take you to the Common Room. I hope you understand."

"Uh..." Aaron did not know whether to laugh or cry. "It's not as serious as you make it sound. I don't need to go in; you only need to call Harry out for me."

Percy looked directly into Aaron's eyes, slightly hesitant.

Who knew whether this Slytherin might lead Gryffindor students astray? If something went wrong, he, as prefect, would not be able to escape responsibility.

Since he had run into this, he had to find a way to deal with it.

"Let's just go straight to the Common Room! Going back and forth would be troublesome."

"Didn't you say I needed a sufficiently good reason?"

Percy paused, then said with a straight face, "During the holidays, there's no need to be so particular."

One after the other, the two arrived at the end of a corridor on the seventh floor of Hogwarts Castle. The Fat Lady stood guard in a painting at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Dragon dung!"

Percy spoke the password, and the Fat Lady opened the door, revealing a round entrance.

"Come in! You should be the first Slytherin to visit this place."

"Then I'm rather honored."

The moment they entered, warmth drove the chill from their bodies.

A fire burned in the fireplace, the Phoenix pattern above it appearing and disappearing in the flickering light. The lounge, built of volcanic stone, felt especially warm.

Percy led Aaron to a sofa. "Wait here. Don't move around. I'll go get Harry."

"Thank you for the trouble."

"It's no trouble. This is what I should do as a prefect." Percy headed toward a staircase as he spoke.

A few minutes later, Harry and Ron came downstairs in their pajamas. Percy, meanwhile, sat at a table behind them with a book, reading with perfect ease.

"Ah!" Harry yawned. "Aaron, what did you want with me?"

"Uh... this may be rather important. The three of us should talk privately; there's no need for anyone else to know." Aaron gave them a look and silently mouthed, "Percy." The meaning was obvious.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, bitterness welling up in their hearts.

When Percy had woken them up earlier, he had specifically told them that he would definitely be listening in.

"It's fine. We're all friends here. Just say it," Ron said.

Aaron was so exasperated he laughed. Turning to Percy, he said, "Well, I appreciate you bringing me here.

"But could you step aside for a moment? This really isn't suitable for Gryffindor's prefect to know."

"Is that so? Did you break school rules?" Percy asked with interest.

"No!" Aaron nodded very seriously.

"Then what is there that I can't know?" Percy countered. "You should know that Gryffindor and Slytherin have never gotten along. Letting you in was already an exception.

"I only want to listen in now to make sure you first-years don't cause trouble for me during the holidays. After all, I brought you in. If something happens, I'll have to take responsibility."

Aaron's mouth twitched slightly. No wonder this guy was a prefect!

Just to listen in, he was even using little tricks like this. Listen to how flawlessly he dressed it up.

He could have simply left, but he truly felt rather frustrated. "Out of courtesy, I'll call you senior first.

"Senior, trust me. This is more suitable for the few of us to discuss privately.

"Once you know about it, the nature of the matter will change."

Percy nodded. "I still hold my original opinion."

"Fine." Aaron turned helplessly to Harry and Ron. "What do you two think?

"Here's a hint: sometimes, you need to know how to resist.

"You can come outside with me. I'll explain it in a few words, and that'll be that."

"Well..." Harry had just begun to speak when Percy coughed twice.

"I think we should talk here. We don't have anything to hide."

"Well said. But I hope you won't regret it later." Aaron took a piece of cloth from his pocket and placed it on the table.

As he unfolded the cloth, several glass fragments came into view.

Ron and Percy had no idea what they meant, but Harry seemed to realize something, and his expression changed slightly.

"I went to the Restricted Section this morning..."

"Wait, you said the Restricted Section?" Percy stared at Aaron in astonishment. "Is that somewhere a first-year like you can go?"

"I have a professor's permission slip. Otherwise, Madam Pince wouldn't have let me in," Aaron explained. He always felt as though Percy was hoping he had made a mistake.

"I still don't think that's appropriate."

"Haha! That's funny. You're Gryffindor's prefect, and I'm a Slytherin.

"Whether it's appropriate isn't for you to decide." Aaron teased, then picked up one of the fragments. "While I was reading, I found these shards in front of one of the bookshelves.

"When I left the library yesterday, they weren't there. But this morning, they were.

"No one cleaned them up, which means someone snuck into the Restricted Section last night without a professor's permission slip.

"And among the people I know, only you two, Harry and Ron, wanted to look up information in the Restricted Section but had no way of getting in."

"You suspect the two of them." Percy's expression darkened. "You can't pin this on Gryffindor just because of a few glass fragments and some speculation. That's absurd."

"Senior, you're absolutely right. That's what I thought too.

"But my pet has quite a good sense of smell. It told me that the scent on these fragments resembles that of one of my friends." As Aaron spoke, he placed Abei on the table. It put on a show of sniffing the fragments, then put on a show of glancing at Harry and Ron.

The look in the 'cat's' eyes made one of them break out in a cold sweat, while the other was completely baffled.

"You see? That's why I came over on a whim to ask whether it was the two of them.

"Rather than blow this matter up. It wouldn't look good for Madam Pince either. After all, someone secretly slipping into the Restricted Section would be negligence on the part of a librarian like her, and the student's House would probably lose points as well!

"But now that you, Gryffindor's prefect, know about it, things are different.

"This is a violation of school rules. I wonder how you intend to handle it?"