Bab 178: 178- The way to prove that I am me is very simple
Seeing that the Baron couldn't recognize him, Rhys clicked his tongue in mild frustration. Still, he didn't blame the poor lad. After all, when Rhys had taken him on as a student, Rhys had already been an old man.
If even Ravenclaw, who had known him longer and better, couldn't recognize him at first, it was perfectly reasonable for the Baron to fail to recognize his much younger self.
Fortunately, Rhys had come prepared. He reached into his robes and pulled out a silver cross pendant. Unlike the crosses typically associated with Muggles, this one was entwined with a serpent, giving it a bizarre and slightly sinister appearance.
The Bloody Baron narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of the pendant. The unusual design stirred memories deep within him.
This was a gift he had once given his teacher.
Though it wasn't particularly valuable, it held significant sentimental meaning. The cross itself had been confiscated from a bishop—a keepsake of considerable significance.
The fact that this young wizard now held the pendant meant he might be a descendant of his teacher or at least someone with a connection to him. This was reason enough for the Baron to show a little more patience toward the boy.
"Let's talk somewhere else. There are too many... 'people' here," Rhys suggested.
The Baron nodded in agreement.
He didn't like the prying gazes of the surrounding ghosts and had no desire for them to eavesdrop on his conversation with Rhys.
He was well aware of his poor reputation among the ghostly crowd, but he didn't care, nor did he have any intention of improving his relationships. In life, the Baron had been quite skilled at socializing, but ever since becoming a ghost, he had truly let himself go.
The surrounding ghosts began whispering among themselves, but none dared to follow. The Baron's infamy was too great for anyone to risk crossing him—especially not to eavesdrop. Even Peeves, the castle's notorious poltergeist, wouldn't dare.
Indeed, Peeves had made an appearance at the event. However, the moment he spotted the Bloody Baron from afar, he immediately hid under a table.
Rhys and the Baron left through the back door of the underground classroom, finding a secluded spot just outside.
Once they stopped, Rhys took a moment to carefully and thoroughly study his former student.
Compared to how he had looked when Rhys left the school, the Baron was thinner, his appearance haggard and disheveled. His features hadn't changed much, but the large bloodstains on his robes stood out starkly, making for a striking sight.
"The last time I saw you was a thousand years ago," Rhys said softly. "I thought that was our farewell. I never expected to have the chance to see you again in this life."
The Bloody Baron: "???"
"What are you talking about? Why do you have the necklace I gave to my teacher? What's your connection to Professor Slytherin?"
"I am Slytherin."
The Bloody Baron: "…"
In the near millennium since he had become a ghost, the Baron had never felt such absurdity. The young wizard before him had just claimed to be his teacher, Salazar Slytherin!
Did he even realize what he was saying? Slytherin had lived a thousand years ago!
And yet…
The Baron hesitated.
After all, if someone like himself could persist in this world for so long, wasn't it possible that someone as extraordinary as his teacher could have survived for a millennium as well?
Rhys felt a bit troubled—it was difficult to prove that he was who he claimed to be. However, he did know certain secrets about the Baron, things no one else could possibly know. Though the story might embarrass the "child," it would surely convince him of Rhys's identity.
"Once upon a time, there was a young wizard named Barrow who wanted to give a unique birthday gift to a witch he admired," Rhys began. "But the little witch's mother was a very powerful witch, and she lacked for nothing. So, he came up with the idea of capturing a unicorn foal from the Forbidden Forest—an idea suggested to him by a senior student whose head wasn't exactly screwed on straight."
Rhys had barely finished half the story when the Bloody Baron's expression began to change.
His pale, translucent ghostly form seemed to grow less transparent, as though some sediment were stirring within his spectral body.
What Rhys had just recounted was a memory from the Baron's youth!
Back then, he had been a young man experiencing the first stirrings of love. He had fallen hopelessly for a senior student two years his elder—the daughter of the great Rowena Ravenclaw herself, a shining star of Ravenclaw House and the pride of Hogwarts.
She had drawn him in, like a moth to a flame, with a fatal attraction.
As for the unicorn foal incident... better left unsaid!
He had overestimated his abilities and underestimated the unicorns.
His backside had been skewered like a pincushion by several adult unicorns, leaving him unable to sit or lie down for months.
If not for the unicorns' generally peaceful nature, he might have been buried in the Forbidden Forest long ago.
The Baron had assumed that everyone who knew about this humiliation had long since turned to dust. Yet here it was, dragged into the light of day a thousand years later by a child.
No—if this boy knew about that incident, combined with the fact that he possessed the necklace the Baron had given his teacher... two clues intersected and pointed to one conclusion:
This boy standing before him truly was his teacher, Salazar Slytherin.
The Bloody Baron's expression shifted rapidly before finally settling into one of reverence. He straightened his posture, bowed formally to Rhys, and said respectfully, "Teacher, it has been a long time."
Seeing that the Baron finally believed him, Rhys let out a sigh of relief.
If the Baron hadn't accepted the truth, Rhys would have had to divulge even more shocking revelations.
"Fate is indeed strange," Rhys said, filled with emotion as he faced his once-prized student.
A thousand years ago, he could never have imagined that he and Barrow would one day be able to converse like this again, a millennium later.
"You've lost weight," Rhys remarked.
At these words, a bitter look came over the Baron's face.
"After you left the school…" The Baron's lips trembled as though he had much to say, but in the end, all of it condensed into a single sentence: "A lot happened."
Rhys fell silent.
After he had fallen out with the other three founders and stormed out of Hogwarts in a rage, he could only imagine how difficult the days must have been for the students he had left behind.
Rhys believed that someone as magnanimous as Rowena Ravenclaw would have directed any anger at him, rather than targeting the students. However, the mutual hostility and divisions between ordinary students were not something even the other founders could have easily erased.
"My methods back then were indeed a bit extreme," Rhys said with a sigh. "Though they were necessary, I admit they brought unintended trouble to you all."
The Baron quickly shook his head and waved his hands dismissively. "The students in the house supported you, Professor. The ones who were wrong were Professor Gryffindor and the others. After the Smith Uprising, the school really shouldn't have continued admitting Muggle-born students...
"That lot had mediocre talent and no gratitude. Not only did they fail to live up to the professors' teachings, but they also squandered Professor Hufflepuff's efforts. All you did was take precautions against future troubles."
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