Keep Your Distance from Malfoy, an Unremarkable Lunch Gathering

The Hogwarts Express slowly started moving and traveled forward along the tracks.

After attending the Prefect meeting, Aaron stayed in the Prefect box, and all the unpleasant things that happened Summer Holiday seemed to rush by like the scenery outside the window.

Once most of the other passengers had left the carriage, Hermione tentatively asked, "What's going on between you and Phoebe?"

"It's all because of my damn, irresistible charm," Aaron said dejectedly. "Thanks to you guys, I've been kicked out of the Gaius Family."

I spent most of the holiday staying in Diagon Alley. Phoebe works at Ollivanders Wand Shop and comes over to drop by every now and then—my great-uncle tacitly allows it, and I have to give him face!

"Let's get to the point," Ron asked with interest. "What's your relationship with her now?"

"It's none of your business."

"Oh... can't I even show some concern?"

"Nonsense, it won't work."

"She likes you, doesn't she?" Hermione asked, biting her lip.

"It's very obvious." Aaron shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what's going on with this holiday. My father, grandfather, and great-uncle are all very concerned about my life's important matters, as if they were discussing it together."

Personally, I am very resistant to this, after all, I am under a lot of pressure, and dating is too much of a waste of time, so I can only put it off for now.

But Reality Stone taught me a lesson: some things you just can't escape.

"Who do you think you are?" Ron asked, filled with envy and jealousy. "You know how beautiful she is! If I were you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ron's left foot was stomped on hard.

It hurt a lot, but he didn't dare to make a sound, because at that moment he felt the same aura as his furious mother.

"Tell me! If it were you, what would you do?"

"I..." Ron was on the verge of tears, and said insincerely, "I'm still a student, so it's definitely for studying."

"That's what I thought too," Aaron nodded in agreement. "So I politely declined a pretty girl's offer."

"She's a cousin?"

Hermione was surprised and a sense of frustration welled up inside her.

No wonder Phoebe acted so confidently in front of her; she had nothing to say when someone else beat her to things she dared not do.

"You... refused?"

Ron's lips twitched slightly, and he began to doubt Aaron's sexual orientation.

She's a stunning beauty! Anyone else would be overjoyed, but he certainly wouldn't refuse.

"But they seem to be more patient than I thought, and they haven't given up for over a month." Aaron chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Luckily, Hogwarts started, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer."

Hermione paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and took out the blue crystal bracelet. "She made this with her own hair and asked me to give it to you."

Aaron stared at the bracelet for a moment, a bitter smile creeping onto his lips. "This is really difficult. Ollivander must have been the one who suggested this. I wouldn't have accepted it if she had delivered it herself."

But I can't refuse her now; I have to keep her until the end of this semester before returning her.

"You met your true love at ten," Ron joked. "That's enough for you to brag about for a lifetime."

"Envious?" Aaron responded with a playful look. "I know this is a bit of a blow to someone as single as you."

Click!

A heartbreaking sound suddenly rang out.

Ron's eyes were lifeless, and his face twitched uncontrollably.

In other words, if you can't beat them, you have to have a life-or-death duel regardless of who is better.

Hermione rolled her eyes speechlessly, then suddenly remembered something, "Harry said you stayed at home for another two weeks, right!"

"That's true." Aaron didn't deny it. "I wasn't supposed to be able to go home, but someone came to visit."

Out of consideration for my guest, my grandfather allowed me to stay at his home for an extra half month.

"What guest?" Hermione pressed.

"This... I can't tell you," Aaron said apologetically.

One case of Phoebe is already enough of a headache; if another one comes along, no one would believe it if they said it was a botched deal. If this gets out, his reputation is doomed.

"Never mind then." Hermione exhaled slowly. "There's something I need to tell you: it's best to keep your distance from Draco Malfoy."

"What?" Aaron was slightly taken aback. "What happened to him?"

"There's a problem, and a big problem," Ron said seriously. "When we were buying textbooks in Diagon Alley, we saw him sneaking into Knockturn Alley and spending a long time at Borgin Burke's shop, which specializes in selling all sorts of dangerous and ominous things."

"Is that so?" Aaron pondered for a moment. "I understand now."

"This is no joke," Hermione said anxiously. "His father is Death Eater, after all, and we even heard him give Borgin Burke a stern warning."

"That wasn't a warning, that was intimidation," Ron corrected. "He threatened Borgin Burke not to let anyone else know about it, or he'd let Fenrir Greyback come after him."

That's the most ferocious Werewolf in the Warlock world, a truly ruthless character.

Hearing this, Aaron couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Draco has gone a bit too far, purchasing dangerous Dark Magic items and raising the possibility of collaborating with Death Eater.

"I understand, but he definitely won't lay a hand on me."

Ron and Hermione were about to try to persuade him further when the door to the private room suddenly opened.

A low-ranking Slytherin wizard entered and cautiously handed Aaron a roll of parchment tied with a purple ribbon. "Senior, this is from the new professor who asked me to give it to you."

"Professor Horace Slughorn Horace Slughorn?"

"Yes, that's him." The low-level Warlock nodded and then left the private room.

"What is it?" Hermione asked curiously.

"An invitation," Aaron said, unfolding the parchment.

Aaron Gaius

I would be very pleased if you could have lunch with me in Box C.

Your faithful

Professor Horace Slughorn Horace Slughorn

"Why would he invite you?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"How would I know?" Aaron frowned. "I have absolutely no connection with this professor. I only learned his name the night Harry came to my house."

However, I should still give the professor face, and besides, I was a bit hungry anyway.

Aaron picked up Abei and carried him through the bustling corridor to the door of VIP Box C. Once there, he discovered that Slughorn had invited more than just him.

There are Slytherin's Braith Sabini, Gryffindor's Cormac McCragan, and Ravenclaw's Marcos Belby. In addition to these three, there are three of his acquaintances: Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley.

Upon seeing these people from different houses who, apart from Harry, his two companions, and others, didn't seem to know each other much, Aaron immediately regretted coming over.

He had thought Horace wanted to talk to him about something, after all, he was the Potions Class professor personally invited by that old fox Dumbledore, but now it seemed like it was just a dinner party.

He didn't know what the purpose was, but he was certain it wouldn't be of much use; he might as well just sleep in the private room!

Before he could back away, Slughorn enthusiastically pulled him inside, "The last one has finally arrived, Aaron Gaius, I've been wanting to see you."

"Good afternoon, everyone." Aaron gave a brief greeting and was then seated by Slughorn.

The eight people sat down around the dining table. The food on the table was carefully prepared and much more exquisite than what they had on the train. This was the only place that made Aaron feel that the trip was worthwhile.

"Before lunch begins, let's introduce ourselves." Slughorn first looked at the tall black boy, "Blaise Zabini, he's in the same grade as you, you must know him."

Zabini nodded slightly to Aaron, but ignored everyone else.

"This is Cormac Mack, you may have met him before."

The burly man with thick, coarse hair raised his hand, and Harry and Neville, both Gryffindor, politely returned a smile, even though they weren't very familiar with each other.

"This is Marcos Belby."

The slender Ravenclaw looked nervous and forced an unnatural smile.

"This charming lady, Ginny Weasley."

When I saw her just now, she cast a truly magnificent Bat-Bogey Hex; her technique was impeccable.

Ginny smiled sheepishly. Everyone else had come with invitations, but she had been invited here without really knowing why.

"Harry Potter, the famous the Chosen One Neville Longbottom, his parents are both renowned Auror, and so is Aaron Gaius. I really didn't expect him to come to Hogwarts; his family is far more prestigious than Pure-blood..."

"Ahem!" Aaron hurriedly interrupted Slughorn, "Professor, you don't need to introduce him. I think they all know me."

"Okay, okay." Slughorn knew he couldn't go too far, so he quickly changed the subject. "Everyone take a napkin, we can eat now."

"I brought this myself. The food on the train is always too strong in Liquorice Wands; a poor man in his twenties like me can't handle it."

While eating, Slughorn chatted familiarly with the students, "Tell me, Cormac, have you seen your Uncle Belus lately?"

"Some professors, in fact I should go hunting with him and the Minister for Magic this holiday."

"Don't forget to give my regards to my parents." Slughorn smiled broadly.

"Where is your uncle, Belby?"

In case anyone hasn't heard of it, let me introduce it: Marcos's uncle invented the Wolfsbane Potion.

What new promotions has he been up to lately?

"I don't know." Belby continued eating his meal. "He doesn't get along with my dad, probably because my dad said Potions are all garbage."

He said the only effective Potions was a few sips of strong liquor he drank when he got home.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Slughorn's face before he turned his attention to the others.

He seemed to have done his research beforehand. Apart from Ginny, who was invited at the last minute and whom he didn't know much about, he knew the family backgrounds of everyone else very well. Even Zabini's the Mother had been married seven times, and each of her husbands died mysteriously, leaving her a huge inheritance. Neville's parents were tortured into madness by the Death Eater and were receiving treatment at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. These were all secrets he knew.

Harry Potter was naturally the most talked-about topic. Slughorn first reminisced about his parents, using their deaths and Voldemort's death to solidify his identity as the Chosen One. He then took the opportunity to mention the rumors about the summer, including news published in the Daily Prophet such as the Prophecy Orb and the battle of the Department of Mysteries.

The barrage of questions left Harry bewildered; he had no idea how to respond and could only nod silently.

"This is the price of fame!" Aaron thought to himself.

No one knows Harry Potter's true worth better than him. He is indeed a genius among his peers, which is far from the newspapers' claim that he could fight Voldemort head-on.

Slughorn seemed to have endless topics to discuss, readily recounting anecdotes about various outstanding Warlock. It wasn't until the train entered the twilight of the afternoon that he reluctantly stopped.

"I didn't even notice it was already dark." Slughorn turned on the lights in the carriage. "You'd better hurry back and change into your school uniforms."

Cormac, you can come to me to borrow that book about the Giant-Tailed Beast when you have time. Blaise, Harry, Ginny, you can come to me anytime you have time.

Gaius, your pet seems rather unusual. If you'd like, I can introduce you to a Magizoologist.

Aaron, the last to leave the private room, paused for a moment, then looked at Slughorn with feigned confusion. "Professor, I don't understand what you're talking about. Abei is just an ordinary cat."

"I can't hide that from you," Slughorn said smugly. "I know a lot of Magizoologist, and I knew from the first moment I saw it that it wasn't a cat."

And I just discovered, while cleaning up the dishes, that it had eaten five of my lunches.

Aaron's lips twitched slightly, and he glared at Abei speechlessly.

I've been living a more relaxed life lately, and my vigilance has dropped considerably. Before I knew it, someone had seen through my disguise.

He can get away with eating one or two portions, but how can he possibly justify eating four or five?

"Can you tell me what it is?" Slughorn asked with great interest. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

Aaron hesitated for a few seconds and gave Abei a wink.

After all, the other party has been so blunt, it wouldn't make sense for him not to reveal something, as long as it's not too shocking.

Abei immediately understood and spread the white wings beneath his clothes.

"My goodness!" Slughorn swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "No wonder you wanted to put a coat on it. This is truly a unique creature in the Magic World; even Qilin might not be as precious as it."

If you report its situation to the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, I guarantee you can get a Order of Merlin of at least Second Class.

"I wouldn't do that, Professor. I've been watching over it since it was an egg. It's been with me for five years now, since I started school. It's very meaningful to me and my family."

"Uh... alright," Slughorn said reluctantly, "I still suggest you think about it. It's a huge honor!"

"Professor, do you think the Gaius family is lacking in that kind of honor?"

Slughorn:...

Never mind what I said.