Return of Salazar Slytherin

After settling into the manor, Rhys did not disturb the Greengrass family much. He simply asked the house-elf to prepare a late-night snack for him, then went straight into the guest room’s bathroom for a bath.

Early the next morning, when Rhys appeared at the breakfast table, Daphne and Astoria both widened their eyes in surprise.

“Eh? Rhys, you—” Daphne’s mouth opened slightly. Overwhelmed by the sudden delight, she did not even know what to say.

“I came out of the Gaunt house quite late yesterday, so I just came over to your place!” Rhys said while placing soft-yolk sunny-side-up eggs, lightly toasted white bread, crispy bacon, and sizzling sausages onto his plate, explaining to Daphne why he was there.

Even though the explanation did not stand up to scrutiny at all, Daphne and Astoria were still very happy.

“Nice! Do you have any plans?” After spreading a thin layer of jam on her bread, Astoria tentatively asked Rhys about his upcoming arrangements.

“Of course, heh~ enjoying the holiday,” Rhys replied without the slightest hesitation.

Helga had worked him mercilessly this semester. He needed a proper break.

However, before relaxing and enjoying himself, he planned to visit Helga first.

Rhys intended to share his recent discoveries with her.

But at that moment, Rhys suddenly realized something with surprise: he seemed to have grown somewhat distant from his old friend Helga—he actually had no idea where she planned to stay during the holidays.

After calming down and thinking for two seconds, Rhys came up with three possible places where Helga might have gone.

First was Diagon Alley. She might rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron and stay there for the entire summer. That kind of life would be the most comfortable and relaxing, and she could stroll around Diagon Alley every day.

Helga might also rent a place in Hogsmeade. As far as Rhys knew, Professor McGonagall owned a house in Hogsmeade village, so it was not impossible that she had gone there to become McGonagall’s roommate.

The final possibility was that she had remained at Hogwarts, continuing to work on her orders. Helga’s business had been thriving recently, with more orders than she could possibly complete. It was entirely possible that she had decided to go nowhere during the holidays and simply stay in her office working nonstop.

Rhys felt that the last possibility was quite likely. In the past, the four of them had often lived in the castle for long periods…

Thinking about this, Rhys suddenly did not feel as eager to go see Helga anymore. He still wanted to enjoy his summer vacation properly.

After thinking it over carefully, Rhys decided to communicate with Helga by letter and also discuss plans for the next term with her.

In any case, he absolutely would not set foot in Hogwarts during the holidays. He was a student now. What kind of student went back to school during vacation?!

Having made up his mind, Rhys immediately began writing a letter to Helga. He even planned to send the Resurrection Stone ring along with it.

What Rhys did not know was that his good friend Helga Hufflepuff was currently caught in a bit of trouble.

…

Bang!

“Damn it, cough, cough…”

A loud explosion sounded from Helga’s office, followed by a cloud of thick smoke drifting out of the window.

Helga, who was currently using the alias Smith White, pushed open the door, letting the suffocating smoke inside the office disperse more quickly.

“Haah.. Wait, I must have lost my mind…” Only after fresh air from outside poured in and formed a draft with the open door did the soot-covered Helga suddenly realize that she could have simply used a spell to disperse the smoke.

“Have I really become senile?” A trace of suspicion appeared on Helga’s face.

She could not understand why, as a veteran witch with so many years of experience, she had not thought to solve the problem with magic this time. It could have been handled with a simple spell…

Helga hurriedly drew her wand. Just as she was about to disperse the smoke, she suddenly remembered a special feature built into Hogwarts Castle.

“Don’t—” A flash of despair crossed Helga’s face.

Before she could react, the thick smoke triggered the castle’s built-in fire-prevention enchantment. The ceiling above the corridor instantly turned into a sky just like the one in the Great Hall, and a torrential downpour began to pour down.

Helga: “…”

And it was not just the corridor that was raining.

The fire-prevention enchantment they had created was quite intelligent. It traced the source of the smoke and extended the rain clouds into her office as well.

And so her office ended up looking as if a hundred Salazars had rampaged through it.

This fire-prevention enchantment had been set up by the four of them back then to guard against fires inside the castle. To prevent malicious interference, they had also reinforced it.

Once the enchantment was triggered, ordinary Finite spells were useless. Only someone like the headmaster, who possessed extremely high authority over the castle, could terminate its operation.

Of course, they had also considered the possibility of accidental activation, so the spell’s sensitivity was quite low and difficult to trigger.

There was a little wizard in Gryffindor who seemed to have a natural talent for adding explosive effects to various spells, yet even after studying at Hogwarts for three years, he had never once triggered the castle’s fire-prevention enchantment.

In fact, those capable of activating the spell were so rare that nowadays almost no one even knew the castle possessed such a remarkable feature.

Helga naturally had the authority to stop the weather spell in front of her, but after looking at the scene before her, she simply gave up resisting and did not feel like doing anything at all.

Let it all be destroyed already.

Helga felt that something had been off with her recently. Whatever she did seemed unlucky. Sometimes she would even choke on a sip of water.

The same thing had just happened. While she had been crafting parts for a puppet, she had no idea which spell or component had gone wrong, but the moment the puppet was assembled, it erupted in a violent explosion.

If Helga had not been so powerful, that explosion could have taken her life. Now she was merely covered in soot, but anyone else would likely have died on the spot.

“Something’s wrong. Very wrong,” Helga muttered to herself.

If it had only happened once or twice, she might have accepted it as simple bad luck. But these mishaps had been occurring far too frequently—it had reached an abnormal level.

Suddenly, Helga remembered a ridiculous rumor her old friend Salazar had once told her.

The curse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts position!

Anyone who held that position could only last one year. If they tried to renew their contract after that, they would have to pay a terrible price.

To this day, no one had managed to make it into a second year, and some professors had even lost their lives because of it. For example, a professor a few years ago had actually been killed by a wild boar charging into him, which was truly hard to believe.

____

Helga counted on her fingers and realized that she had indeed worked for exactly one year.

Could it be that the legendary curse had taken effect on her as well? But she had not sensed any curse placed on herself!

Helga fell into confusion.

Whether she had been cursed or not was something she could certainly distinguish. Besides, what kind of curse could possibly affect a wizard of her level and still produce such effects?

“Professor White, are you alright?” Dumbledore’s voice came from not far away.

Helga turned her head and saw Dumbledore standing nearby, staring at the ceiling where the rain was pouring down.

“Hogwarts Castle always manages to surprise me. I’ve worked and lived here for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve discovered that the ceiling here can actually produce rain.”

“Hogwarts Castle is our greatest treasure.” Hearing Dumbledore’s words improved Helga’s mood a little.

She explained that after a thousand years of accumulation, no one fully understood all the enchantments embedded within the castle anymore.

That was the truth.

Even as one of Hogwarts’ founders, Helga found the castle somewhat unfamiliar now. Over the course of a thousand years, too many brilliant wizards had left their marks here, and it had changed greatly from what it had been in their time.

Of course, the most fundamental, original things had not changed, such as Rowena’s moving staircases and the girls’ dormitory stairs Godric had devised.

“I think the teachers and students of Hogwarts are our greatest treasure,” Dumbledore replied with a smile, gently countering Professor White.

Helga paused for a moment, then admitted that Dumbledore had a point.

“This is a question without a fixed answer. Everyone has their own view. Are you not planning to stop the rain?” Dumbledore pointed at the ceiling that was still pouring down rain.

By now, a layer of water had already accumulated in the corridor, and Helga’s office had been thoroughly flooded.

Helga nodded, directly used her authority to forcibly shut down the weather spell, and waved her wand to sweep away all the water on the floor.

“Do you need help?” A small flame appeared at Dumbledore’s fingertip.

He thought he could use the power of his domain to help Professor White tidy up her office.

“Thank you.” Helga was perfectly capable of cleaning the office herself, but considering her astonishingly bad luck recently, she decided it might be safer to let Dumbledore help.

Dumbledore did not waste time. He immediately began manipulating the power of his domain, trying to restore the flooded office to normal.

However, the power of the domain interacted strangely with the energy stored within the puppet parts scattered around the office. Before Dumbledore could react, a new explosion erupted.

Boom!

Helga skillfully conjured a wall, blocking the shockwave from the explosion.

Dumbledore fell silent. The scene before him brought back many memories.

Those previous Defence Against the Dark Arts professors had seemed to experience similar incidents as well, though Professor White’s situation was particularly explosive.

“Professor White, do you plan to continue teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts next term? There are actually quite a few other positions available at the school,” Dumbledore said, recalling the original purpose of his visit today.

He felt that for Professor White’s mental and physical well-being, it might be better to offer her a different job.

“Of course I’ll continue! Why wouldn’t I!” Helga was stirred up by the suggestion.

She truly intended to keep teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. She wanted to see for herself what this so-called curse could possibly do to her.

Dumbledore: …

Looking at the office that had already been reduced to ruins, he suddenly felt that Professor White was exceptionally stubborn.

“Then… very well.” Dumbledore decided to respect Professor White’s choice. However, he would make preparations on two fronts and begin searching for a backup candidate for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, just in case.

“This is the contract. If you change your mind, let me know at any time.” With a complicated expression, Dumbledore took out a scroll of parchment and handed it to Helga.

Helga signed her name on it without even looking.

“Good luck,” Dumbledore said before leaving.

Helga then began cleaning up her office.

She first disposed of the items that had been completely destroyed, then packed the things that could still be used into a bundle.

Looking at the scattered fragments of parts on the floor, Helga felt a pang of heartache. Several days of hard work had all gone to waste.

She had already completed most of the parts for the order and only needed to finish assembling them before shipping, but the two explosions had turned all her efforts into nothing.

“Sigh…” Helga let out a long breath.

Knock, knock!

Just then, an owl carrying a letter flew in through the open window.

Seeing the office in complete disarray, a hint of confusion flashed in its large eyes.

But as an owl, the recipient’s surroundings were not its concern. Its only job was to deliver the letter.

It landed directly on Helga’s shoulder and extended the claw that held the letter toward her.

“Thank you.” Helga thanked the diligent little owl and casually took a strip of dried meat from her pocket to feed it.

While the owl enjoyed the treat, she took the letter and opened it.

The letter was from her old friend Salazar, and attached to it was a ring.

Helga’s expression gradually changed as she read the contents of the letter. When Salazar mentioned whether she intended to continue teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, a wry smile appeared on her face. She was certainly going to continue—at least until she resolved the so-called curse.

If even she backed down, then who else could solve the problem?

When she reached the part about the Resurrection Stone ring, her expression immediately became serious. A stone that could bring the dead back? One of the Deathly Hallows? That was truly interesting.

Helga slipped the Resurrection Stone ring into her pocket, planning to study it later.

After finishing Salazar’s letter, Helga fell into thought.

If Salazar came here, things would probably be much easier for her. At the very least, she would not have to craft the parts alone anymore.

Once the thought appeared, it immediately took root in Helga’s mind.

Without hesitation, she began writing a reply to Salazar and tied the letter to the owl’s leg.

During this time, the owl obediently stood on her shoulder, enjoying the dried meat she had given it.

“Off you go.” She gently patted the owl’s wing, signaling that it could leave.

The owl flapped its wings and flew off, leaving a pile of droppings on Helga’s shoulder.

Helga: “…”

Expressionless, she cleaned the mess off her shoulder and then walked straight toward her dungeon without looking back.

After going through a bit of trouble, she finally arrived there. This was her personal classroom, a relatively safe place.

In the dungeon, the troublesome streak of bad luck finally stopped. Helga could now calmly wait for Salazar’s arrival.