I'm quoting from a novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
'Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry, the next one might not be for ages -'
I understand that in that context, "ages" means a very long time, so I'm sure I can substitue the sentence like this:
The next one might not be for a long time.
But, why it sounds like a negation? I have another copy of the novel in my native language, and the translation translated it without a negation. That means, Harry's opportunity to go might come for a long time. So, can you tell me why no is there?