Perhaps he had misunderstood Rowena. She might not have intended to target him at all. Besides, Helga was an honest and kind-hearted person. She would not scheme against him for no reason.
As Rhys analyzed the situation in his mind, he walked out of the bathroom.
Meanwhile, at the staff table, the corners of Rowena's lips curved upward slightly.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Helga noticed that her old friend seemed unusually pleased, and her curiosity immediately rose.
"A little snake in the middle of shedding its skin has taken the bait." Rowena narrowed her eyes slightly. "The easiest people in the world to deal with are clever people, because they are always overly confident and trust themselves too much."
As she spoke, she murmured in a voice only she could hear:
"Salazar, when exactly did you start believing the selection ceremony had already ended?"
Helga's brows furrowed slightly.
Her gaze swept across the young wizards below, and she discovered that Salazar had indeed disappeared. However, she showed no sign of panic, because according to Rowena, Salazar was already within her grasp.
She cast a Muffliato Charm, preventing those around them from hearing their conversation.
"Salazar's gone. He probably sensed something was wrong. That man has always been as cunning as a snake."
"It doesn't matter. No matter how cunning a snake is, it still cannot escape the eyes of a raven soaring through the skies."
Rowena told Helga everything she had done.
The moment she realized Salazar had left early, Rowena immediately became more vigilant. She knew Salazar's personality well. He would absolutely use magic to monitor the situation in the Great Hall, and that was where her opportunity lay.
Sure enough, she quickly discovered Salazar's little trick.
Just like in the past, he enjoyed creating a small "receiver" in some inconspicuous corner of a room, transmitting the sounds directly to his ears.
So she made a slight adjustment to the flow of time around the receiver, causing Salazar to hear sounds from the future instead.
That was far more sophisticated than merely forging voices. It was a trick that only Rowena Ravenclaw could pull off!
She disdained ordinary little schemes. If she was going to play, then she would play at the highest level.
Rowena knew that her good friend was skilled at creating puppets. In just a few minutes, she could produce a Salazar puppet realistic enough to pass for the real thing, then have it participate in and pass the selection.
But what would be the point of doing that?
If she could not see the astonishment on Salazar's face, then what meaning would any of this have? It would be far too unsatisfying.
Salazar, you'll be shocked, won't you? To see a situation you thought entirely under your control suddenly reversed…
"Rowena!" Helga's expression immediately darkened. "Do not toy with time! That was the agreement between you and us back then!"
"Mhm, mhm." Rowena nodded absentmindedly, insisting that she had not played with time at all. It was merely a very simple temporal displacement spell.
She said it casually, but in reality, the difficulty involved was almost unimaginable. Even among the Founders, only she possessed such an ability. And even this was already her limit. Rowena could not truly manipulate time.
Helga frowned. Rowena had made everything sound dazzling and impressive, yet she still felt that something about it was not quite right.
"Rowena…" Standing outside the Great Hall, Rhys could not suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"She must have left her brain in the dungeons, or perhaps possessing Aries infected her with stupidity. To actually come up with such a foolish plan." Rhys could not help muttering to himself.
To be fair, Rowena really had fooled him while he was in the bathroom. The voice had sounded unbelievably real. He had no idea how she managed it.
Wait… she did not use time magic, did she?
Rhys's expression twisted.
If Rowena was willing to use time magic over something this trivial, then he truly needed to reconsider whether he should send her back to the dungeons again.
She was far too uncontrollable.
She lacked any reverence for magic.
As for where Rowena's flaw lay, it was actually very simple. The moment Rhys stepped out of the bathroom, he discovered it immediately.
Since Headmaster Dumbledore had supposedly announced that everyone could return to their dormitories and sleep, then why was there not a single student visible in the corridors? Why could he not hear the heavy footsteps of students climbing the staircases?
Normally, when students poured out of the Great Hall, the noise they made could be heard even two floors away!
Because of this, Rhys instantly saw through Rowena's trick.
But even after understanding everything, Rhys still walked up to the entrance of the Great Hall and strode inside with his head held high.
"Hey, since you announced that everyone could leave, did you at least imitate the scene of the students walking out of the Great Hall?" Helga quickly found the source of the inconsistency and immediately threw the sharp question at Ravenclaw.
Rowena instantly fell silent.
"You didn't actually think this would fool Salazar, did you?!" Helga exclaimed in disbelief.
In her eyes, Rowena's carefully woven lie would fall apart the instant Salazar reached the area outside the Great Hall.
The muscles on Rowena's face began twitching continuously, making Helga unable to stop herself from worrying.
'Hopefully Rowena doesn't lose control,' Helga thought inwardly.
But at that exact moment, Helga saw Rhys, walk into the Great Hall through the entrance.
A far greater shock struck her.
If her earlier astonishment came from realizing her friend was fishing with a hook that had no bait, then her current shock was that this broken hook had somehow actually caught a fish!
The moment Rhys stepped into the Great Hall, he visibly froze for an instant, looking as though he were wondering, "Why are there still so many people here?"
However, when "Professor White" and "Professor Aries" at the staff table locked their gazes onto him, every trace of surprise on his face melted away like frost beneath sunlight, replaced by a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
He raised his head, his lips forming a silent word.
Helga did not recognize it at first, but Rowena understood immediately.
What Salazar had mouthed was:
"Good."
In an instant, Rowena crushed the golden goblet in her hand into a lump of twisted scrap metal.
At that moment, Rowena felt as though everything she had done had turned into nothing but bubbles.
Salazar had indeed returned, but he had completely seen through her scheme. Then, with the mindset of humoring a child, he had strode proudly into her "trap." It truly was…
Rhys knew that Rowena knew what he was thinking, and Rowena also knew that Salazar knew that she knew what he was thinking. It was as though the two of them were communicating with transparent minds.
But the more it was like this, the more intense the frustration and resentment inside Rowena became, to the point that her vision nearly darkened.
Helga had witnessed the entire "exchange of attacks and counters" between the two. At this point, only one thought remained in her mind:
How much money would she have to pay to watch such an entertaining performance every day? Was this really something she could watch for free?
Silently, she pulled a new golden goblet from her robes, filled it with strong liquor, and placed it beside Rowena.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI