240- If I don't come up in three days, please open this package

Harry leaned weakly against the corridor wall, his heart a mess of emotions.

What should he do?

He didn't know.

Who could he turn to for help?

He didn't know that either. He couldn't even be sure if the incident was real. 

Logically speaking, a world-ending level disaster shouldn't have anything to do with a second-year student like him, but the reality was right there in front of him—this responsibility had crashed down on his shoulders like a meteor. Only he could hear the Snake's voice!

At that moment, footsteps echoed from the corridor behind him. He turned around and saw Daphne walking toward him, carrying a small shoulder bag. Behind her was a silver-haired little girl. Harry recognized her—it was Daphne's younger sister, Astoria. 

Harry: "!!" 

He rushed over to Daphne like a drowning man grabbing hold of a lifeline, blocking her path. 

"Is something wrong?" Daphne was startled by Harry suddenly springing out. She instinctively stepped back to put some distance between them before asking what he wanted. 

Harry immediately told the Greengrass sisters everything he'd heard from the snake. 

"Can I ask where you heard this rumor?" Daphne's first reaction, like any rational person's, was skepticism. 

After thinking it over carefully, Harry decided to tell Daphne that he could speak Parseltongue—because she was someone he trusted.

"You're a Parselmouth?!" 

Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue genuinely surprised Daphne. But she was able to regard this gift with a calm, rational mindset. Not to mention distant examples—her closest friends, Rhys and Astoria, could both talk to snakes too.

Maybe one of Harry's ancestors had married a Parselmouth, and that ability had been passed down to him?

Given that the message came from a snake, its credibility increased significantly.

Daphne decided to go talk to Rhys about it.

After all, when it came to snake-related intel, Rhys was always the best person to go to!

And if what the snake said really was true, then it made even more sense for Rhys to step in—after all, they were talking about a potential world-devouring disaster!

"All right, I'll wait for you both in the Great Hall!" 

Seeing that Daphne and her sister were willing to help, Harry's eyes lit up.

The Greengrass sisters were both impressively skilled, and adding Rhys into the mix—basically, all the reliable students in Slytherin were getting involved. Harry felt like things were finally taking a turn for the better.

And so, Harry and the Greengrass sisters parted ways briefly—one staying on standby, while the other two went to get reinforcements.

When they returned to the Slytherin common room, it was completely empty.

Daphne found that Rhys hadn't gone to bed yet—he was curled up alone by the fireplace, reading. Aside from the book, there was a crystal orb on the table, about the size of an egg.

What she didn't notice was that the hair on the back of Rhys's head was subtly changing color, and the skin on his hands was gradually becoming smoother.

"Rhys, thank goodness! Something's come up…"

Daphne quickly told him about the monster that had supposedly appeared in the Forbidden Forest.

"There's something like that? Come to think of it, the snakes around the castle have been more restless lately…" After listening to Daphne, Rhys tossed his book aside, narrowing his eyes as if weighing the situation. In the end, he made a decision.

"Hmm, no time to waste. I'll go with you—we need to get to the bottom of what's going on in the spider nest."

"Yes!"

Once they had Rhys's agreement, both Daphne and Astoria lit up with excitement. In their eyes, with Rhys on the case, no evil creature could possibly pose a threat.

Suddenly, the crystal orb on the table flashed red. Rhys's expression instantly turned serious.

He tapped the orb, and Lady Ravenclaw's voice emerged from within:

"Rhys Lint, I need your help. There are signs the seal has been tampered with. Come to the dungeons immediately. I'm waiting here."

Daphne's face instantly changed.

She knew that beneath the school's dungeons, an enormous number of extremely dangerous dark creatures were sealed away. If the seal had really been disturbed, the consequences could be catastrophic.

After hearing Ravenclaw's message, Rhys didn't say anything further.

He straightened his wizard robes and pulled out a handkerchief to carefully wipe down his wand.

Once finished, he turned to Daphne and spoke in an incredibly gentle tone: 

"Sorry, something's come up on my end. I'm afraid I won't be able to go to the Forbidden Forest with you."

Daphne immediately tensed up, and Astoria also began to feel that something wasn't quite right.

"Rhys, you—" Daphne started to say something, but Rhys interrupted her.

"Listen closely, we're short on time, so I won't say much. Take this." Rhys unfastened the pouch he always carried at his waist and handed it to Daphne.

Daphne: "?!!"

"If I haven't come out of the dungeons in three days, you and Astoria must leave Hogwarts. Leave Britain. Head east. Of course, if you want to cross the sea to America, that's fine too. What's in the pouch should be enough for you—"

At this point, Rhys seemed to remember something and let out a bitter smile. 

"Ah, right. I forgot you're daughters of the Greengrass family. Well, do as you see fit—but you must leave Britain as soon as possible. The things in the pouch are fairly valuable. Consider them a gift from me."

It felt to Daphne as if something had struck her head—hard.

"This isn't… I…" Daphne stood frozen, completely at a loss.

Astoria stepped forward, nudging her sister aside, and grabbed Rhys's sleeve with her hand.

"Take us with you. We can help too." Her gaze was firm—no matter how many hardships lay ahead, she would stand by Rhys's side and fight alongside him to the very end.

"Yes, take us with you. We're strong!" Daphne snapped out of her daze and immediately grabbed Rhys's other sleeve, telling him that even if he only brought them along to act as human shields against curses, it would be worth it.

Damn.. my students in this life are so good! Not like that punk!

A hint of helplessness crossed Rhys's face. He shook his head and firmly pulled his sleeves free from their grasp.

Seeing that they couldn't be of help, Daphne's eyes filled with disappointment. She deeply regretted not working harder on her spellwork—if she were just a bit stronger, maybe she could be of use to Rhys now.

Astoria pressed her lips together tightly, her expression filled with frustration and unwillingness.

Rhys didn't respond to them. He turned and walked toward the exit of the common room.

Just as the door opened, he seemed to remember something and turned his head to speak to them: 

"By the way, that creature in the Forbidden Forest is highly suspicious. I suspect it's connected to the disturbance in the seal—maybe it even escaped from it. The two of you go investigate for me. If you can deal with it, that would be a huge help."

Daphne, Astoria: "!!!"

_______

Read 12 Chapters ahead:

Patreon: HornyFBI