"Huh?" Helga Hufflepuff could hardly believe her ears.
She had just come to explore some ruins—how on earth had that turned into jumping a thousand years into the future?
She shot Rhys a skeptical look, her expression practically spelling out the word "unbelievable."
"I'm not Rowena, you know!" Rhys huffed, clearly displeased at her lack of trust. "This isn't something I'd joke about—not with you."
Helga let out a long sigh.
"We'll know once I step outside." With those words, she turned and left the great hall without another word.
Rhys followed behind her. Midway through, a thought suddenly struck him—what about Helga's puppet? Was it still inside the hall?
Recalling his previous experience, Rhys's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
So that's it!
Everything finally clicked into place.
From Helga's perspective, she had simply gone on a journey and explored a ruin in Egypt—only to run into an old friend who'd been missing for years. Then, by accident, she had been transported a thousand years into the future.
Because her physical body had already traveled through time, from Ravenclaw's perspective a thousand years ago, it simply looked like Helga Hufflepuff had mysteriously vanished during her journey abroad.
But from Helga's own point of view, her timeline remained completely intact—not a single day missing.
While thinking this through, Rhys followed behind her, and the two of them walked out of the palace ruins together.
As soon as they stepped out of the passage, Rhys instinctively looked toward the sand dune opposite the palace. Sure enough, Daphne and Astoria were still standing on the dune not far away.
Helga, too, took note of the changes around her. She sighed again—after seeing the two unfamiliar young witches standing on the dune and taking in how much the surrounding environment differed from when she had first entered the ruins, she realized her old friend wasn't joking.
She had really arrived in the future—one thousand years later.
Staring at Rhys, who was walking just behind her, Helga clenched her fists. Salazar, you've really outdone yourself this time.
Rhys shivered and quietly took two steps to the side, trying to put some distance between them. But sometimes, you couldn't avoid trouble just by stepping away.
"Salazar Slytherin," Helga's voice floated softly to his ears, "magic really is a curious thing, isn't it?"
Rhys shuddered again. In most situations, being addressed by your full name was not a good sign.
But he didn't have much choice. Rhys could only nod and agree, "Yes, magic really is… quite miraculous."
Helga didn't say a word—she just stood there, quietly staring at him.
Rhys felt a chill crawl down his spine. For the sake of his personal safety, he figured he should probably say something to soothe his old friend's mood.
"Um…" Rhys opened his mouth, but quickly realized—there was no good way to explain this. He was like the butterfly in the butterfly effect, whose wings set off a storm of unintended consequences.
If not for him, Helga would never have been flung into the modern era, and Rowena wouldn't have been trapped alone for a thousand years in the dungeons beneath Hogwarts. All of it traced back to the moment Rhys took that potion of immortality a thousand years ago. And if you followed the thread even further back, if he hadn't fallen out with his friends in the first place, maybe the four founders would have stayed in the castle together.
The turning point in all four of their lives had started with him. Fate had played a rather cruel joke.
But Rhys, being a seasoned and experienced old wizard, had a mind as sharp as ever. After a brief moment of awkward silence, he suddenly thought of the perfect angle.
"Helga, isn't this… just another form of immortality?" he said calmly and confidently.
Helga: ???
Rhys's words made Helga's mind stall for a moment. She didn't quite understand what her traveling a thousand years into the future had to do with immortality.
"You and I are actually in the same situation," Rhys explained. "Even though I can technically claim to have lived for a thousand years, I was asleep the entire time—completely unaware of what was happening in the world—until I woke up two years ago. So really, how is that any different from someone who instantly travels forward a thousand years?"
Helga nodded slowly. What Salazar said… made sense.
But what did that have to do with her?
"To be able to experience life a thousand years in the future—isn't that its own form of immortality?" Rhys continued, voice calm. "Let's just pretend we lost our memories for a thousand years. That's all."
Those words struck Helga like a bolt of lightning.
She was stunned—how had she never realized just how good this old snake was at spinning nonsense?
Rhys, inwardly: Well, yeah. That's because you couldn't kill me before. Now? Not so sure…
Even though she could clearly tell that Salazar was trying to talk his way out of things, Helga still felt much better. After all, what else could she do?
Even if she gave him a thorough beating—which would definitely feel satisfying—it wouldn't change anything. She couldn't go back. Might as well go see what Hogwarts looked like a thousand years later.
The old snake and the old raven were both still around, so in the end, maybe it wasn't all that different from the past.
Looking down at Salazar's youthful face, Helga suddenly showed a mysterious smile: So you've grown young, old snake. That means I'll definitely be the first one to leave this world. That's… actually a relief.
There was nothing in this world that Helga truly feared—
Except for the pain of watching her friends leave her.
Just as Helga was about to head toward the sand dune across the way, Rhys called out to her.
"There's one more thing."
Hearing his voice, Helga turned her head and looked at him.
"I go by Rhys Lint now. Rowena goes by Spight. Please don't use our real names in front of others," Rhys reminded her, just in case she accidentally let something slip.
Helga raised an eyebrow: These two old snakes... Fine. She supposed she ought to think about what she should be called now, too.
She admitted that her two old friends had thought things through. If their real names popped up at Hogwarts, it would undoubtedly cause a stir. She wasn't the type to enjoy being the center of attention, so taking an alias was absolutely the right move.
A perfectly ordinary, forgettable name came to mind.
"Then I'll go by Smith White," said the White Smith herself.
"Alright, Miss White," Rhys replied, committing his old friend's new name to memory.
As Rhys and Helga chatted casually, the two girls on the distant dune were on the verge of exploding from curiosity—
Why the hell did Rhys bring someone out with him this time?!
What on earth was going on?
As the two figures walked toward them, both girls grew visibly tense.
And rightfully so—after all, this was someone who had just walked out of a ruin that was thousands of years old. If Rhys hadn't been standing beside her, they would've bolted long ago.
Silver hair… is she a descendant of the Greengrass family? Daphne and Astoria observed Helga closely, just as Helga was observing them.
"She's your—?"
"My student," Rhys replied seriously. "You could say… my successor."
Helga's expression shifted thoughtfully. Hearing her old friend say that…
She suddenly felt like she might want to find a successor of her own, too.
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