HP/LOTM: Visionary - 378

Chapter 378: Arguments, A Rare Victory, A Breakup

Ron's hospitalization attracted widespread attention.

Aiden arrived first, followed by Ginny, Professor McGonagall, and Hagrid.

Professor Horace came in carrying half a glass of mead.

"Mead? I thought you only wanted one bottle," Aiden said, frowning at Horace.

"It was a precious thing. By the way, did you drink the bottle I gave you?" Horace suddenly remembered he'd also sent Aiden a bottle.

Aiden reached into his pocket and pulled out another bottle of mead. The seal on top was completely intact.

"Horace, who were you originally planning to give that mead to?" Professor McGonagall looked at him. "I assume you're not the type of professor who would poison students."

"What? Of course not. However, of the two bottles, one was given to Aiden, and the other was meant to be enjoyed with Dumbledore when he returned," Horace said, shuddering. He felt himself caught in some kind of conspiracy.

Snape walked in from the doorway, took the mead bottle from Horace, and sniffed it.

"Mixed poison," Snape said, handing the mead to Aiden.

Then he took it and drank a large portion directly.

Everyone's eyes went wide with shock. Aiden belched as if nothing had happened.

Snape immediately rushed forward to check Aiden, simultaneously pulling a bezoar from his pocket to shove down Aiden's throat.

Aiden pulled away from Snape's hand and opened his eyes wide to show him.

Snape, also a master of Potions, immediately understood what Aiden meant.

"The toxicity isn't strong, but it has a powerful paralytic effect. I estimate the poisoner intended to make their target appear to die from a sudden heart attack," Aiden analyzed the potion's toxicity, then exhaled and expelled the poison.

"So you think the culprit was trying to eliminate Dumbledore or Slughorn?" Professor McGonagall tilted her head, looking at Aiden.

"I'm not sure," Aiden shrugged.

Just then, Lavender burst through the door. "Ron, my Ron, what happened to you?"

Lavender pushed through the crowd, trying to throw herself on Ron, but then she saw Hermione.

"What are you doing here?" Lavender asked, somewhat agitated.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Hermione said, standing up, unable to hold back any longer.

Whether it was about friendship or love, she had been first. She didn't need to be shy about it.

"I'm his girlfriend!"

"I'm his friend!"

The two stood at odds. Then Lavender stepped closer.

"What are you talking about? You two haven't spoken in weeks. You just thought he was interesting and wanted to take the opportunity to reconcile, didn't you?"

"He was poisoned, you fool! What kind of mindset does someone have to find him interesting when he's like this?" Hermione erupted in anger.

"I think Hermione is better suited for him," Aiden whispered to Ginny.

"So do I. He needs someone to keep him in line," Ginny replied quietly.

While the siblings were talking, Ron, semiconscious, called out Hermione's name, successfully driving Lavender away.

The distance Hermione had maintained for weeks melted away.

"Well, being young is wonderful. At least you get to experience the pain of love," a certain dragon smiled, then led all the wizards out.

Before Harry left, he saw Ron and Hermione's hands clasped together and felt his heart soar.

Outside the room, Hagrid followed behind Harry, looking like he had something to say but was hesitating.

"What is it, Hagrid?" Harry knew this kindhearted giant wore his heart on his sleeve.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but last night I saw Aiden and Snape having a heated argument outside the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid said mysteriously.

"Why would the two of them be arguing?" Harry frowned.

However, he didn't have much mind to worry about it now, as the upcoming Quidditch match would give him plenty to worry about.

Due to Ron's absence, Harry had to let McLaggen, originally a substitute, take the field.

Once on the pitch, this man transformed into a coach, gesticulating wildly at every player.

When they were losing, he became a walking pressure cooker, viciously insulting his teammates.

Finally, in this match against Ravenclaw, Gryffindor suffered a narrow defeat.

"My goodness, Ravenclaw actually beat Gryffindor!" Edmund, standing on the spectator stand, looked stunned.

"This is bad. Ethan will probably brag about this all night when we get back," Aiden said calmly, turning a page in his book.

Interestingly, after McLaggen dropped multiple Quaffles, Harry criticized him.

Afterward, McLaggen snatched a Beater's bat from one of his teammates and, in one fumbled swing, sent Harry to the hospital wing.

When Aiden returned to Ravenclaw Tower from the hospital wing again, a peacock spreading its tail feathers was passing before his eyes.

"Are you Lockhart?" Aiden laughed.

"You don't understand. This is to commemorate our rare victory!" Ethan pointed to the crown on his head.

It read "King Ethan." Aiden chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Then you'd better remember from now on—don't look down or your crown will fall," Aiden teased, then returned to the dormitory.

Meanwhile, Harry had been struck on the head by McLaggen's bat so hard that his skull was fractured.

When he woke up in the hospital wing, he saw Ron grinning foolishly at him.

"You came to keep me company, mate."

However, Harry wasn't in the mood to be angry at McLaggen. He immediately pulled out the book Aiden had given him.

He began searching for traces of Draco, because lately Harry had been seeing Draco wandering around with different girls every day.

But Aiden's book could reveal many people's perspectives—except it couldn't track Draco's, which frustrated Harry greatly.

After a period of recuperation, Harry and Ron finally left the hospital wing.

The three friends' relationship was restored, and the broken family was made whole again, which greatly comforted Harry.

After Ron's discharge, he stopped being affectionate with Lavender. Harry often saw Lavender watching Ron from the corners of crowds.

Ron chose to handle everything coldly, and Hermione didn't comment, but Harry could see she was quite enjoying it.

Ron and Hermione reconciled, and now they were perfectly content together. Then a large hand reached from behind Ron and grabbed his neck.

"My dear Ronnie, if you don't like her anymore, you should break up with her properly. What does it mean to keep stringing her along like this?" Aiden gave him a "kind" smile.

"I'll go right now!" Ron ran off immediately.

Aiden sat down in his spot.

"Harry, I'm here to notify you that next Monday we'll still have your private lesson. Let's hold it in the Headmaster's office. I've found that reading the memories of others in dreams puts too much strain on you," Aiden said, pointing to his own temples and twirling his finger.

"All right," Harry nodded, acknowledging he understood.