Chapter 96: 96- Rhys's Action
Daphne tightly gripped the empty bottle, biting her lower lip hard. She never expected to be stopped for such a ridiculous reason!
The person who arrived first had drunk the potion, leaving those who came later unable to proceed even after solving the puzzle.
It was absurd!
Staring at the flames blocking their path, she had a bold and crazy idea: why not brew a fire-resistant potion and take a chance?
She knew how to brew potions but lacked the materials and tools.
Her fingers clenched the small bottle tightly. At that moment, she felt something raised on the surface of the bottle.
She picked up the bottle and found an inscription on its body: "No way above, a door below."
Daphne narrowed her eyes, placed the bottle back on the table, and carefully examined the floor. She noticed that a tile under the table seemed slightly uneven.
Pressing down on one corner of the tile and giving it a firm lift, she revealed what lay beneath: a complete set of cauldrons and a package of potion ingredients.
Daphne retrieved them and, upon opening the package, knew immediately what they were: all the ingredients needed to brew a fire-resistant potion.
'OK!'
She immediately set to work.
The amount of potion ingredients in the package was limited, enough for only one mistake at most. Even worse, she had no recipe or guidelines this time. All she could rely on were her brain and hands, but this did not affect her confidence in the slightest. She even felt that there were more than enough ingredients.
While Daphne was brewing the potion, a treatment was underway in the castle's infirmary.
"Mr. Lint's condition has stabilized," Snape said as he straightened up after administering a newly developed potion to Rhys, delivering the good news to Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, who stood nearby.
"So when will he regain consciousness?" Madam Pomfrey observed Rhys's improved complexion, finally feeling relieved. Now, her primary concern was how long the boy would stay in her ward.
A fleeting look of embarrassment crossed Snape's face.
According to his design, Rhys should have regained consciousness by now, but he remained comatose. It seemed his potion needed further refinement.
Fortunately, the ashen color had faded from Rhys's face, and his rigid muscles had relaxed.
His condition was improving.
Currently, Rhys appeared no different from someone merely asleep. Snape didn't attempt to wake him, opting for caution instead.
"Antidotes are not cure-alls; the reasons for poisoning among the young witches and wizards at school are varied,"—this statement resonated with Madam Pomfrey—"I believe all we need to do now is wait. Rhys could wake up at any moment, possibly this afternoon or in a few days, no later than a week. However, be prepared for him to miss his final exams."
"We'll decide how many points to deduct then," Professor McGonagall said with a slight smile.
Smiles being conserved, Professor McGonagall smiled while Snape did not.
Snort~
With a swish of his robes, Snape turned and strode out of the infirmary, planning to catch some Gryffindor students breaking school rules and deduct a substantial number of points from them.
After Snape left, Professor McGonagall gave Madam Pomfrey a couple of instructions, asking her to notify her immediately once Rhys woke up.
She then departed as well. Madam Pomfrey lingered in the ward for a few more minutes before attending to a new wave of arriving students—this time, it was fifth-year students suffering from hysteria due to the stress of preparing for their O.W.L. exams.
When the infirmary was finally empty, Rhys, lying on the bed, slowly opened his eyes. He turned over and sat up, stretching his muscles, which were sore from lying down for too long.
To be honest, concocting a potion that could make him exhibit symptoms of poisoning without actually being fatal was much harder than making a regular potion. The latter only required following a potion recipe, whereas the former demanded extensive knowledge for an original creation.
Rhys had two reasons for doing this.
First, to ensure that the three 'exam' candidates would not have any external aid, Dumbledore had wisely chosen to use a "letter" tactic, while Rhys had no better excuse and had to resort to a "potion" tactic.
Secondly, since he was the one who had switched the Philosopher's Stone, he needed an alibi. Being hospitalized served as an excellent alibi, with two professors and Madam Pomfrey to vouch for him.
However, having an alibi didn't mean he had to stay out of the scene.
Although the protective measures set up by Dumbledore were quite "puzzle-like," the final villain was still somewhat dangerous.
Rhys believed that with Daphne's strength and the tools he had left for her, she could handle Quirrell easily. But dealing with the one behind Quirrell would be a bit more challenging.
He needed to follow and make sure nothing went wrong.
Rhys was confident that Dumbledore would be watching over Potter from the shadows, so he had to make some additional preparations.
Rhys first opened the cabinet by the wall of the infirmary, took out a set of clean bedding, and rolled it up on his bed.
Then he pointed his wand at the rolled-up bedding, and it transformed into his likeness. This wasn't a simple transformation; the Rhys made from the bedding could even breathe and take medicine, enough to fool Madam Pomfrey and the school professors.
After this, Rhys took out a small bottle from his pocket, filled with a thick, muddy liquid—he had also prepared Polyjuice Potion beforehand, which was now coming in handy.
To avoid revealing his identity, besides physical disguises like wearing a hood, Rhys would also use the Polyjuice Potion to ensure foolproof concealment.
Rhys rummaged through his small leather pouch for a while and found a small leather bag containing several bunches of hair, each tied with a ribbon labeled with Roman numerals.
Rhys selected a bunch marked "XXV," carefully took out a single strand, and placed it into the Polyjuice Potion.
The potion turned into a silver-green color.
After drinking it in one gulp, Rhys transformed into a young man with a head of black hair.
'Quite impressive, dashing indeed. Keeping some of my hair from back then was a brilliant decision,' Rhys thought, showing a satisfied expression as he looked at himself in the mirror—he had used hair from when he was twenty-five years old.
Transforming into his twenty-five-year-old self made many things much more convenient.
After casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself, Rhys walked straight out of the infirmary and headed for the third floor of the castle.
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Chapter 97: 97- Dumbledore, here I come, where are you?!
Rhys opened the door in the fourth-floor corridor and found the three-headed dog Fluffy sleeping soundly.
"Not bad," Rhys nodded. Although they used the sleeping potion he droped behind, at least it proved that Daphne could identify the type of potion and use it correctly.
Continuing deeper, Rhys noticed something unusual about the Devil's Snare. Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but chuckle: Daphne had apparently had a bit of trouble here.
When he saw the dilapidated door behind the swarm of flying keys, Rhys's facial muscles twitched.
He felt he needed to be concerned about Daphne's mental state. For some reason, some of her actions seemed very Gryffindor-like, which worried Rhys. A carefully tended field sprouting a weed named Godric was unacceptable.
'Could it be from spending too much time with that Potter and Weasley?' Rhys's thoughts began to wander.
While absentmindedly thinking, he conjured a rope to capture the key, which had lost half its wing and could barely fly. He could forcefully open the door, but such behavior was too Gryffindor. Rhys chose to pass the test the correct way.
Along the way, besides observing the traces left by the three young wizards and deducing their methods, Rhys also carefully searched for signs of Dumbledore.
He believed Professor Dumbledore should be secretly watching over the young wizards during their adventure.
But the more he searched, the more puzzled he became: there were no traces of Dumbledore here at all. He couldn't sense Dumbledore's magic. The few mechanisms Rhys had set upon entering hadn't been triggered, indicating no one had entered after him.
This was extremely strange. With his insight, almost no one could escape his notice, not even his three companions. Had someone invented some advanced invisibility spell in the past millennium, making it impossible for him to detect them?
'Dumbledore, I'm here, but where are you?!'
A crazy thought flashed in Rhys's mind: Could it be that Dumbledore didn't come at all? This idea shocked Rhys when it crossed his mind.
When arranging a trial for young wizards of Harry and Daphne's age, two key points must be grasped: first, the participating young wizards must believe they are truly undergoing the trial alone; second, they must never actually be left to face the trial alone.
If they were truly left alone, even if wizarding families maintained the Weasley family's birth rate, it wouldn't be enough.
Rhys sincerely admired Dumbledore's courage. Perhaps Dumbledore already knew it was Daphne who repelled Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, which wasn't hard to guess: it wasn't Harry, Hagrid wasn't there, and the centaurs arrived late. Using the process of elimination, one could deduce it.
But how did he know Harry would definitely bring Daphne along? What if Daphne refused? Also, wasn't he placing too much trust in Daphne's combat ability?
Of course, there's another possibility: Dumbledore knew Rhys would come, so he simply didn't show up. But that possibility was lower than the chance of Harry Potter tearing off his mask to reveal Godric Gryffindor's face.
Wait a minute...
It had nothing to do with what kind of teammates Harry brought along!
Pushing aside the absurd image of Harry tearing off his face to reveal Godric Gryffindor, Rhys suddenly felt a flash of understanding: with Dumbledore's design, there would never be anyone other than Harry entering the final chamber!
The final chamber could only be accessed by drinking a small dose of the fire protection potion, just enough for one person.
This was undoubtedly Dumbledore's design, intended to limit other young wizards and only allow Harry to enter the final chamber—given Harry's character and pitiful persuasion skills, that single dose of potion would inevitably end up in his mouth.
As for Quirrell, Rhys believed he wouldn't bother solving the logic puzzle; the fire door could simply be bypassed with a fireproofing charm. Quirrell wouldn't waste time on it.
Rhys's unnecessary actions had inadvertently disrupted Dumbledore's meticulous arrangements: he had emptied that small dose of the fire protection potion and hidden a set of potion-making tools along with ingredients for two doses of the fire protection potion in that small room—now even Daphne could enter the final chamber as well.
Through Dumbledore's design, Rhys drew a new conclusion: Dumbledore was confident that even if Harry faced Quirrell alone, he would not be harmed.
Was it because of that ancient magic on Harry?
That must be it!
Previously, when Rhys had the chance to observe Harry closely, he noticed something unusual about him: Harry's magical aura had a strange quality.
Unfortunately, lacking evidence and being unable to conduct in-depth research due to his unfamiliarity with Harry, Rhys couldn't reach a definitive conclusion.
He could only generally surmise that Harry was under a rare, almost forgotten spell—a spell that had a defensive nature but also felt like a curse, which puzzled Rhys greatly.
Rhys finally understood why Dumbledore truly dared to let a first-year student like Harry face a dangerous foe coveting the Philosopher's Stone—the spell on Harry would protect him.
This revelation opened Rhys's eyes and sparked his curiosity about the spell: what kind of spell could have such an effect?
He quickened his pace.
When Rhys arrived at the room with the chessboard, he saw the black and white pieces had returned to their original positions, ready to play, with Ron lying in the middle of the board, fast asleep.
"Young people do sleep well, falling asleep at the drop of a hat." Rhys chuckled as he moved Ron off the board, then took out his wand.
"If I had more time, I wouldn't mind playing a game with you, but unfortunately, I'm in a hurry," Rhys smiled at the chess pieces. "Besides, I'm not confident I can win against you. You're not like Daphne, willing to let me have a few pieces."
Looking at these chess pieces, memories of playing wizard's chess with Daphne came to his mind...
"Wait a minute, I just moved to the wrong spot!"
"You remembered wrong; this knight was black from the start!"
"Cheating?! What do you take me for?"
"Three pieces handicap?! Daphne, you're too much. Letting me have a knight and a bishop is enough... Add a pawn this time..."
Rhys couldn't help but laugh. After a moment of reminiscing, he had a clear understanding of his chess skills, so he chose to use an out-of-board trick to win, saving time.
A thin, long stream of water emerged from the tip of Rhys's wand.
He hadn't used water element magic for a long time. Now that he was using it, he felt really nostalgic.
"I guess not many people know now, but what I am best at is actually water element spells..." Rhys muttered to himself, then shook his wand, and an inconspicuous water line lightly crossed the entire chessboard.
The next second, all the chess pieces on the board, whether black or white, the king or the bishop, were cut into pieces by the waterline.
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry. I'll use the water magic that I'm best at as compensation to you." Rhys shook off the water droplets on the tip of his wand and strode towards the room opposite.
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