Aaron leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
The Divine Majesty Barrier didn’t require much energy to maintain.
It only released an extremely thin wave of divinity within a half-meter radius of the compartment, causing anyone without a specific purpose to automatically overlook this space when passing by.
The effect was similar to a Muggle-Repelling Charm, but it worked on everyone, including wizards.
Furthermore, it required no wand, no incantation, and left no trace of magic.
Quiet at last.
The noise from outside the carriage was sealed away.
The clatter of the train wheels settled into a rhythmic, dull thrum.
Outside the window, the grey London suburbs receded rapidly, the rain-washed fields and low shrubs merging into a blur of green.
Aaron’s consciousness sank into his Divine Kingdom.
The fifteen-hundred-meter space unfurled before him.
A glazed, azure sky hung high above.
The white jade altar stood right in the center, its golden flames burning quietly.
To the north of the altar was a lush, thriving grassland where insect believers went about their activities in an orderly fashion within their respective nests.
To the east lay the territory of the Horned Snake, Naga; several narrow streams merged into a shallow pond, the rocks around it covered in thick moss.
To the south was the volcanic lava zone of the Fire Salamanders, where dark red light flickered within the basalt barriers.
The Demiguise was curled up on the second step of the altar, its silvery-white fur shimmering under the glow of the golden flames.
Sensing Aaron’s consciousness entering, it lifted its head and let out a soft purr.
Naga was coiled atop a large rock by the pond.
She reared her upper body, turning her golden, vertical pupils toward Aaron.
“Lord,” the Horned Snake spoke in concise, crisp Parseltongue.
“Is everyone well?” Aaron asked.
“The Fire Salamanders are too noisy,” Naga flicked her tongue, “but they have not crossed the boundary.”
Aaron’s gaze swept over the southern end of the Divine Kingdom.
Two Fire Salamanders were rolling and playing in the lava, their orange-red scales glowing cheerfully in the molten rock.
Having been healed, they were bursting with vitality.
Under the nourishment of the spiritual energy in the Divine Kingdom, their sizes had grown a circle larger than three days ago.
Everything was normal.
Aaron withdrew from his Divine Kingdom.
The scenery outside the train window had shifted from the London suburbs to open rolling countryside.
In the distance were low hills covered in golden wheat fields.
The sky remained grey, but the rain had stopped.
The train whistle let out a long, loud blast.
The train sped up.
Aaron kept his eyes closed, planning in his mind.
The resources for believers at Hogwarts could be divided into three tiers.
The first tier: the interior of the castle.
The owls in the Owlery, the pets brought by students from various houses, and the medium-sized magical beasts that might exist near Hagrid’s cabin.
These were the easiest to access, but they also possessed the lowest faith value.
The faith of ordinary animals was only slightly stronger than that of insects; recruiting a hundred owls might not match the yield of a single Fire Salamander.
The second tier: the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake.
This was where the real prizes lay.
The Forbidden Forest housed the Acromantula colony; they were massive in number, and while individual faith wasn’t high, they made up for it in sheer volume. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
The Centaur tribes possessed high intelligence, and their density of faith far exceeded ordinary beasts.
Unicorns were symbols of pure magic, possessing extremely high faith value.
Then there were the Merpeople, the Giant Squid, and the water spirits in the Black Lake.
Every single one was a top-tier candidate for believers.
The third tier: the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.
A thousand-year-old Basilisk.
The ultimate weapon personally bred by Salazar Slytherin.
If he could recruit the Basilisk…
Aaron didn’t even dare to imagine the numbers that would yield.
But that was for later.
For now, he needed to settle in, understand the school’s schedule, find the entrances to the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake, and then proceed step by step.
There was no rush.
He had plenty of time.
The train continued its northward journey.
The compartment was so quiet that only the clatter of the tracks remained.
The light outside grew dimmer as the fields turned into rolling hills, and the hills gave way to dense, sprawling forests.
After an unknown amount of time.
Aaron’s Sensory Network suddenly captured a signal.
Three humanoids were rapidly approaching the rear of the train along the corridor.
Their footsteps were heavy, carrying an air of deliberate arrogance.
The pace of the person in front was different from the two behind.
The two in the back were lackeys, while the one in front was the leader.
They had a strong sense of purpose.
They weren’t just passing through; they were searching.
Searching for what?
Searching for isolated freshmen.
Aaron opened his eyes.
Their intent was too focused.
The effect of his Divine Shielding would be compromised against people like this.
Sure enough, the footsteps outside the compartment door stopped.
A hand gripped the handle.
With a rough yank, the door was pulled open.
Three boys stood at the doorway.
The boy in front was not very tall.
He had platinum-blond hair slicked back immaculately, a pointed chin, and grey eyes that carried an innate sense of superiority.
He had already changed into his school robes, and on his chest pinned a brand-new, blank badge that didn’t yet show his house colors.
A freshman.
But his mannerisms didn’t look like those of a freshman at all.
Behind him stood two boys built like sturdy calves, one on his left and one on his right, looking like bodyguards.
One was short and stout, the other tall and heavy, both wearing expressions that were a mixture of dullness and hostility.
Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle.
Not because he had seen them before, but because the Malfoy family’s signature platinum-blond hair and their deep-seated pureblood arrogance were simply too easy to identify.
Malfoy stood at the door, scanning the interior of the compartment.
His expression underwent a rapid series of changes when he saw Aaron: first, he didn’t register him (due to the residual effects of Divine Shielding), then he saw him but deemed him unimportant, and finally, because his search had been so purposeful, the shielding broke completely, and he fully recognized that someone was sitting there.
“Well, well,” Malfoy tilted his head, his lips curling into a textbook pureblood sneer.
“Sitting all by yourself?”
Aaron didn’t say a word.
“This carriage is where the upper-year Slytherins sit,” Malfoy took a step forward, Crabbe and Goyle crowding in after him.
“First-years shouldn’t be back here.”
He looked Aaron up and down.
A worn suitcase, plain grey clothes, a small frame.
No family crest, no expensive pet cage, absolutely nothing to indicate a reputable background.
Malfoy’s sneer deepened.
“What’s your name?”
Aaron kept his expression neutral, his voice flat.
“Klein.”
“Klein?” Malfoy repeated the surname, his eyebrows arching.
He quickly searched through the names of the Sacred Twenty-Eight in his head, but found no match.
He reviewed the known branches of pureblood families, but came up empty again.
“Never heard of it,” Malfoy’s tone grew cold, laced with obvious disdain.
“Which family? Or are you… Muggle-born?”
He deliberately spat the words “Muggle-born” with heavy emphasis, as if pronouncing a filthy word.
Aaron remained calm.
“Half-blood.”
“A half-blood,” Malfoy sneered.
“Another one.”
He glanced back at Crabbe and Goyle.
The two large boys let out low, rumbling chuckles in perfect synchronization, like crude machines programmed to laugh.
“Listen here, Klein,” Malfoy raised his voice, projecting the arrogance drilled into him since childhood.
“The seats on this train aren’t for just anyone to sit on. You’d better pack up your pathetic little box right now and get out. Go to the front and squeeze in with the Mudbloods and blood traitors.”
“Goyle,” he gestured with his chin toward the tall, heavy boy behind him, “help him pack his things.”
Goyle grinned, understanding the instruction.
He extended a thick, meaty hand toward the old leather suitcase resting beside Aaron’s seat.
Inside the suitcase were his textbooks and wand.
But that wasn’t what Aaron cared about.
What he cared about was that someone was invading his domain.
Goyle’s hand was less than ten centimeters from the suitcase.
Aaron opened his eyes fully.
His grey-blue eyes calmly fixed on the three boys at the door.
There was no magic fluctuation.
There was no threatening gesture.
He simply looked at them.
But the moment his gaze fell upon the three of them, the very air inside the compartment shifted.