218- Gemma and Rhys

After a brief chat with Daphne, Rhys returned to his dormitory to rest.

What a luxury it was to take an undisturbed afternoon nap on a soft bed under the warm sunlight!

Daphne, meanwhile, stayed in the common room, opening the booklet that Ravenclaw had given her and beginning to study its contents.

As usual, she picked up her quill and wrote on the pages of the booklet.

[Hello, Rowena. I'm Daphne.]

The booklet responded as always: [Hello, Daphne. I hope you have already grasped the knowledge I previously gifted you.]

[Of course. I've finished reading A Detailed Explanation of Spatial Magic (Part III) and have mastered its contents. I can now cast the Undetectable Extension Charm.]

[Very good. However, spatial magic is an exceptionally profound and complex field. The three documents you've received merely scratch the surface, so please remain diligent and humble.

There is still new wisdom awaiting you, but as always, you must correctly answer one question before you can obtain it.]

Daphne nodded, already accustomed to the booklet's style. As the last line of text faded away, a lengthy passage emerged on the pages.

[In the wilderness, there stands a ten-story wizard tower, with a sapphire on each floor. The sapphires vary in size. The tower's magical array will teleport you sequentially from the first floor to the tenth, and then out of the tower. You can only enter each floor once, and you may only take one sapphire. How can you ensure that you take the largest sapphire?]

Daphne picked up her quill and copied the question from the booklet onto a piece of parchment. Her Latin had improved significantly recently, making it much easier to comprehend the problem.

She quickly came up with an answer.

[Pick up the sapphire on the first floor, then, on each subsequent floor, compare the sapphire in your hand with the one on that floor. If the new sapphire is larger, swap the one in your hand for it.]

[Congratulations, you answered correctly. As your reward, here is How to Create a Miniature World Inside a Crystal Ball (Part I).

Since you already have a foundation in spatial magic, you can now try crafting more complex magical artifacts. Using spatial magic merely for lunchboxes and tents would be a waste.]

Staring at the words appearing on the pages, Daphne was completely stunned. She suddenly remembered—hadn't she accidentally broken a crystal ball left behind by Ravenclaw before?

Did this mean she could recreate one using the information in this document?

Hell Yes!! (★‿★)!!

Her eyes lit up with excitement.

Without hesitation, she procured a crystal ball from an older student and immediately began experimenting with it as her base.

She even went out of her way to keep it a secret from Rhys, planning to surprise him.

Rhys hadn't noticed Daphne's little secret project. Right now, he was on his way to find Gemma Farley to ask about the origins of that vial of dust. 

Gemma wasn't hard to find. Lately, she had been frequenting the library, as she was determined to achieve all "Outstanding" grades in her N.E.W.T. exams. While preparing for her exams, she was also sending out résumés to major companies in the wizarding world, hoping to secure a pre-employment agreement. 

For a Hogwarts prefect with straight "Outstanding" O.W.L. scores, finding a job was as easy as reaching out her hand. Gemma had already received multiple offers—regardless of how her N.E.W.T. scores turned out, companies were eager to hire her. Among her offers was one from the Ministry of Magic itself; Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, wanted her as a personal secretary, provided her N.E.W.T. scores matched her O.W.L.s. 

However, Gemma wasn't interested in an office job. She wanted a more adventurous career, and becoming a Gringotts curse-breaker seemed like a promising choice. 

She recalled that an older Gryffindor student had taken that path. When Rhys found her, she was in the middle of writing a letter to him. 

"Good afternoon, Lint," Gemma greeted when she saw who had approached her. Though a bit surprised, the prefect still pulled out a chair and invited Rhys to sit beside her. 

Rhys tended to keep a low profile. Aside from his consistently excellent exam scores, his exceptional talent in Potions, and his close ties with the two Greengrass sisters, he usually didn't attract much attention.

He hadn't made dazzling plays in Quidditch like Harry Potter or Cedric Diggory, nor had he caused a school-wide commotion at the end of the year like Daphne Greengrass or Ron Weasley.

Even in regular classes, his presence wasn't as striking as Ravenclaw's Miss Granger.

He hadn't even participated in the Dueling Tournament! 

Gemma figured that if Rhys had entered the competition, he might have achieved results just as impressive as Daphne's. After all, someone as tough as herself had been knocked out by Daphne. 

He reminded her of the Sandburrow Snake she had encountered in the Sahara Desert—low-key and inconspicuous. 

But she didn't see Rhys as just an ordinary second-year wizard. As a seventh-year student on the verge of graduation, she viewed things differently from most of her schoolmates. Her perspective was closer to that of an adult wizard.

Even if Rhys were truly unremarkable, his close relationship with the Greengrass sisters alone made it worthwhile to build a positive connection with him. 

Those were the two direct heiresses of the Greengrass family, destined to inherit a considerable fortune. Given the family's status, if the Greengrass patriarch ever decided to enter politics, he could easily reach a department head position in the Ministry of Magic. 

Under their protection, Rhys's future was undoubtedly bright. And considering the Greengrass family's habit of staying behind the scenes, it was entirely possible that Rhys would be the one taking that department head position instead. 

"Good afternoon. Am I interrupting you?"

"Of course you are," but Gemma didn't mind. 

She set her quill aside and told Rhys that she was writing to Bill Weasley of Gryffindor. He had once been the Gryffindor prefect and later became the Head Boy of the school. Now, he worked as a curse-breaker for Gringotts. Back when Gemma had first entered Hogwarts, Bill had already been one of the most well-known figures in the school. 

"You're interested in becoming a curse-breaker?" Rhys immediately understood her intentions after hearing Gemma's introduction of Bill. 

"Why not? It's an interesting job," Gemma admitted. 

"It's a dangerous one. A few curse-breakers died in Scotland not too long ago," Rhys reminded her kindly. 

He had always been somewhat wary of curse-breakers. Exploring ancient ruins was an incredibly dangerous task. Even back in his own time, when he and his old friends ventured into the remnants left by ancient wizards, they had to maintain absolute vigilance.

After all, a single misstep could lead to disaster. 

As for these modern curse-breakers?

Umm.. Well..

Rhys found it difficult to form a fair opinion of them.

__________

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