[Note: Read up to Chapter - 135 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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"Hermione, Cho?" Aris smiled. "What are you two doing here? Has the game finished?"
"What do you reckon?" Hermione and Cho shot him a speechless look.
Aris suddenly caught on and pulled the Golden Snitch from his robe pocket.
"Looks like they haven't agreed on a time for the rematch yet, right?"
"That's not the important bit!" Hermione's tone sharpened as she glanced at Aris. "Didn't Professor McGonagall punish you? You weren't expelled, were you?"
"Course not! What're you on about?" Aris blinked, then gave the little witch a gentle tap on the forehead.
"We thought Professor McGonagall was going to have a go at you..." Cho said, clearly relieved.
Hermione touched her own forehead, her cheeks flushing a little, but she muttered, "You're always the one who gets special treatment around here!"
"I'll bet if Harry and Ron had done what you did, McGonagall would've docked Gryffindor house points till kingdom come, even if she didn't chuck them out!"
"Hermione, we heard that!" Two voices suddenly called from behind.
Hermione turned to see Harry and Ron glaring at her, looking like sworn enemies.
"Fufu~" Cho stifled a laugh behind her hand.
Aris watched the four of them with amusement, interest flickering in his eyes.
"What was wrong with what I said?" Hermione wasn't the least bit fazed. She lifted her chin and faced Harry and the others.
"So, have the two of you forgotten the points that Gryffindor has lost because of the two of you since the start of the term? I'm starting to reckon that if the professors keep a close eye on you lot, Gryffindor's going to lose every last house point!"
"Uh, well..." Harry and Ron appeared embarrassed, clearly not keen to keep the argument going.
"If I recall correctly, the tradition and spirit of the Gryffindor House is courage, bravery, chivalry, and the spirit of adventure," Aris said, murmuring in a low voice for Harry to hear when Hermione wasn't looking, throwing some more fuel on the fire.
"Exactly! Aris is spot on!" Harry's eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly.
Ron puffed out his chest proudly. "The great Gryffindor spirit means never fearing a challenge. Since we're part of Gryffindor, of course we've got to have that spirit!"
"Aris..." Hermione gave him a sharp look.
"Ahem, getting to the point!" Aris's expression turned serious.
"Like being tricked by Malfoy into the trophy room for a duel, then getting caught by the professor — that's not exactly brave... That's just plain daft."
Harry and Ron's faces instantly turned as red as a monkey's arse cheeks.
The two boys who'd been so full of pride just moments ago now looked properly deflated.
"It's obvious that it's Malfoy who is untrustworthy, who didn't follow through with his own challenge," Harry muttered.
"We didn't really do anything wrong..." Ron added, nodding in agreement.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You two have caused enough trouble already!"
"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll be off!"
Although Aris found the whole bickering of the golden trio quite entertaining to watch, however, it suddenly struck Aris that Dumbledore might have something else to ask him.
Back in Professor McGonagall's office, the old fox hadn't said a word about it.
Because of that, Aris only realised the full situation after leaving the office.
Since it hadn't been said in front of her, it wasn't really proper to have others around.
So, Aris decided he'd better head to the Headmaster's office and check things out properly.
"Aris!" Harry's voice called out suddenly.
"Hmm?" Aris turned around.
"Is that the end of it?" Harry frowned, clearly not satisfied. "One of Snape or Quirrell is clearly trying to mur… murder you and me. Shouldn't we keep digging into this?"
"How do you know I haven't told Professor McGonagall about it?" Aris smiled.
"If you had, it'd be a right fuss by now!" Harry shrugged.
"This is serious business for Hogwarts. It might even attract folks from the Ministry of Magic. Professor McGonagall wouldn't just let you stroll off like this, would she?" added Ron from the side.
"True enough," Aris nodded.
"So... what's your plan then?" Harry frowned again, clearly worried.
I don't know where all that worry comes from at such a young age.
I suppose a protagonist's life is always bound to be a bit too restless!
'Good thing, I'm not the protagonist.'
"Don't worry about it for now. I'll sort things out..." After a moment's thought, Aris explained, "I haven't told Professor McGonagall yet, but I might have a word with Headmaster Dumbledore later."
"Don't fret — no one who dares cause trouble at Hogwarts can slip past Dumbledore's watchful eye."
Hearing this, Harry and Ron both cracked smiles.
"Knew Aris had a plan up his sleeve!"
Even Hermione and Cho let out a sigh of relief.
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Headmaster's Office.
By now, Dumbledore had returned.
There was someone else there as well.
"This is highly unusual. It's clear someone's been using advanced Dark Magic to meddle with that broom for quite some time."
Snape's low voice echoed in the office, tinged with both anger and anxiety.
"Severus, I understand how serious this is, but now's not the right moment..."
"We must ensure everything goes smoothly. If he catches wind of the danger and bolts early, things could get even messier!"
Dumbledore rubbed his forehead lightly, looking weary.
Come to think of it, what Snape said was exactly what he'd been worrying about.
Besides, the situation was tricky, and even he hadn't come up with a proper solution yet.
"Sorry, Professor — I didn't realise anyone else was here..."
Just then, a little boy suddenly appeared nearby.
Aris glanced at the two in the Headmaster's office with an awkward expression.
This was a bit embarrassing.
He'd just accidentally walked in on Dumbledore and Snape having a "plotting" session.
Well, probably… though from what it looked like, they were likely just having a proper headache over the whole Quirrell mess.
After all, without solid proof, there wasn't much they could do.
Maybe Dumbledore's worry was the same as Aris's — keeping the enemy on alert.
Better to hold fire until they were absolutely certain.
"Oh, Mr. Shafiq, I was just waiting for you!"
Dumbledore shot Snape a look.
Snape immediately snapped to attention, gave Aris a fierce glare, and stormed out of the office.
"You have to understand him. Anyone would be vexed if their new robes got scorched like that..."
Dumbledore said to Aris, sounding a bit sorry about Snape's anger.
"Maybe I should buy him a new set of robes..."
Aris shrugged, then cut straight to the chase with Dumbledore.
"Professor, you're aware of what happened on the Quidditch pitch, right?"
"Hmm, that's about right," Dumbledore replied with a knowing smile.
"To catch the Golden Snitch so easily while riding a broomstick messed with by Dark Magic..."
He slowly stood, walked over to Aris, looked at him meaningfully, and said with a twinkle in his eye, "Very impressive, wouldn't you say?"
"Of course!" Aris said, lifting his chin without a hint of modesty.
The old fox liked to speak in riddles, so Aris used to tread carefully around him.
But now, having laid all his cards on the table, why hold back? Might as well charge straight in!
"You called me here on purpose. What's on your mind?"
"How did you know I wanted you here?" Dumbledore smiled again.
Seeing Aris drop his guard, the old wizard felt genuinely pleased — it meant the boy was starting to trust him, at least a little.
"If you didn't want me here, you'd have said everything back in McGonagall's office!" Aris spread his hands.
"Very observant and clever of you to figure that out so easily, my boy — you keep surprising me more and more!" Dumbledore's smile grew even warmer.
"But," his tone shifted as he turned and flicked his wand, setting the teapot to brew tea on its own,
"Today's game was still a tad bit too dangerous. You need to watch your back a bit more from now on."
"There's plenty more that will need you in the days to come, so don't carelessly venture into dangers."
"You did say I should know my limits, and I believe I didn't cross mine!" Aris shrugged, but deep down, he appreciated Dumbledore's concern.
Most of what went down on the Quidditch pitch today was pretty much what he expected.
The reason he saved Harry was simple — he was confident he could keep himself safe.
When it comes to self-preservation, he values his own skin far more than those little witches and wizards!
Even if I did fall from the sky, I've got Iris — nothing's going to truly happen to me.
"I'm glad you understand that," Dumbledore nodded.
"There's actually another reason I called you here..."
With that, Professor Dumbledore waved his wand, and a cup of freshly brewed black tea floated gently in front of Aris.
He remembered that Aris fancied a good cup of black tea.
"Today, I caught up with some old friends at the Ministry of Magic and picked up a few things."
"Just as I suspected," Aris muttered.
When Dumbledore vanished from the Quidditch pitch, Aris guessed he'd been called away by the Ministry of Magic.
"What?" Dumbledore looked up as if he hadn't quite caught the boy's words.
"Nothing..." Aris shook his head. "What did you hear from the Ministry?"
"It's not a huge deal, but it might cause you a bit of hassle," Dumbledore said, frowning slightly.
"The news that you've inherited the Shafiq family's assets has spread all over the wizarding world. Most people's lives carry on as usual — eating, drinking, the lot. But, as always, there are some greedy ones who don't want to work for their keep..."
"Lately, quite a few have been making moves, trying to get their hands on your inheritance!"
"So that's what's going on!" Aris smiled knowingly.
He'd already learned about all this from the letter Henry had sent.
And he'd made some arrangements to deal with it.
For now, there shouldn't be any major issues with the Shafiq assets.
But it's a matter that needs sorting quickly. It's been dragging on so long that plenty of people are fed up.
Aris had told Henry from the start that he'd be back to handle these matters over Christmas.
And that time was nearly here.
"Have you already taken precautions?" Dumbledore murmured a bit surprised upon noticing his knowing smile
He'd always thought that, despite Aris's talent, he was still young — bound to show some immaturity when handling certain things...
But, it seemed he'd underestimated the boy in front of him.
"It's not a perfect plan, but nothing should go wrong before I get back," Aris explained.
"Planning to return during the Christmas holidays, then?" Dumbledore guessed quickly.
"Yeah," Aris nodded.
"If you need any help, I'm always here at the castle," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, making a clear promise.
Meaning Aris could reach out anytime — school business or not.
"Thanks, Professor!" A genuine smile spread across Aris's face.
Hearing a promise from Dumbledore personally wasn't something that happened every day.
"But I reckon I can handle it. You don't need to worry about me!"
"I hope so," Dumbledore nodded.
Just then, Aris seemed to remember something, and a smile returned to his face.
"Professor Dumbledore, can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?" The silver-haired teacher sounded surprised.
"I thought you said you didn't need any help from your professors this term!"
"Well, this isn't about schoolwork," Aris said, a little sheepishly.
"Hmm?" Dumbledore's expression darkened, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.
Thinking about how Professor McGonagall and Flitwick had been at the library every day, Dumbledore instinctively wanted to dodge Aris's question.
But no — he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts after all.
If he didn't even have the guts to answer a first-year's question, the whole wizarding world would have a right laugh at him.
"Professor?" Aris's voice came again.
"It's alright, go ahead and ask," Dumbledore said, sitting up a bit straighter, his tone turning serious.
"Don't be nervous, Professor. Actually, this question should be pretty straightforward for you..." Aris smiled.
"I heard you've got a proud achievement in the wizarding world — the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood?"
"That's true, though I don't see it as much of an achievement!" Dumbledore nodded, a smile playing on his lips.
"You want to know all the details of those twelve uses?"
"No, Professor!" Aris shook his head seriously. "I've already learnt all that from the books."
"What I want to know is..."
Aris paused for a moment before continuing, "Besides the twelve uses of Dragon Blood, is there a thirteenth use?"
Dumbledore's expression shifted slightly at the question.
The look he gave Aris turned a bit strange.
"I've always heard from Minerva and Filius that most of your questions are rather tricky and don't follow the usual logic. Seems they were right!"
"Alright then, little mate, are you trying to stump me with that question?"
"Not at all, Professor!" Aris shook his head seriously.
"I just want to learn more, that's all..."
"Honestly, I'm just curious about this one!"
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Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 135 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]