154: Rhys' unexpected gain

"Rhys, the experiment for the Human Restoration Spell is happening tonight at the Quidditch pitch!" Daphne leaned on the desk, her eyes sparkling as she stared intently at Rhys.

"Mm, I saw it in the papers," Rhys replied absentmindedly, not even bothering to lift his head.

Seeing that Rhys wasn't responding, Daphne had no choice but to awkwardly reveal her true intentions: she wanted to attend the experiment.

It was bound to be a rare event, and missing it would be a real shame.

"Then go," Rhys finally raised his head, a little confused. If the kid wanted to join the excitement, why stop her?

"But there's a curfew! They'll definitely be stricter tonight. Some older girls said that the professors might even check the dorms..." Daphne looked at Rhys pitifully.

"You know the Disillusionment Charm, right? And are you really sure Professor Snape would check the girls' dorm?" Rhys was speechless.

Checking dorms? He hadn't even considered that might be a thing. How could a fellow Slytherin student think of such a tactic?

Daphne clammed up, but her little face visibly puffed up in frustration.

Seeing that Daphne was about to turn into a pufferfish, Rhys scratched his head.

He knew full well that Daphne wanted him to go with her to watch the experiment.

To Rhys, tonight's experiment was like a tasteless dish—neither worth eating nor worth discarding. He was indifferent about going or not, leaning towards not going because it seemed incredibly dull.

"Every wizard in the world will be there tonight. What if someone kidnaps me?" Daphne was quiet for a moment before finally coming up with what she thought was a reasonable excuse.

Rhys glanced at her: Who could even manage to kidnap you? Stop joking around.

But Daphne had a point. Tonight, Hogwarts was bound to be filled with all sorts of people, and maybe it wouldn't hurt for him to show up to keep things in check.

'Fine, I'll give her an out', he thought. But it depends on whether she can handle it—after all, staying up too late might stunt a kid's growth.

"Here's the deal: how's your practice with the Stasis Field spell? If you can maintain it for more than a minute, I'll take you to the Quidditch pitch to watch the experiment tonight. With me there, you won't have to worry about curfew or 'kidnappers' anymore."

Rhys had noticed that Daphne's Stasis Field spell could hold for about 55 seconds at most. If she could stretch it to a minute before sunset, he'd take her along.

Daphne's expression grew serious—this was a daunting challenge!

Silently, she pulled out a smoke box and pointed her wand at it.

"Stasis Field, activate!"

Seconds ticked by, and beads of sweat began to form on Daphne's forehead.

"Fifty-six, fifty-seven..." Rhys silently counted, astonished to see that she was actually about to hit the one-minute mark!

But judging by her expression, she was already at her limit.

"…59, 60!"

"Haah!"

As soon as she hit one minute, Daphne instantly dropped the spell. She had gone beyond her usual ability—if she tried again, she wasn't sure she could manage it.

Rhys covered his forehead in disbelief: How badly does she want to go?

She even pushed herself to the limit just to get to the Quidditch pitch.

True to his word, Rhys took Daphne to Hogwarts' Quidditch stadium. To avoid being spotted by the professors, Rhys personally cast a Disillusionment Charm on both himself and Daphne.

"Relax, not even Dumbledore would be able to spot us in a crowd," Rhys assured her, as they settled into a secluded corner of the stands.

The event hadn't started yet, and the visiting wizards hadn't arrived, so they had their choice of seats. To avoid drawing attention, Rhys deliberately picked a quiet spot in the corner.

"If you can't see or hear clearly, I have some spells that can help," he offered.

Daphne shook her head—she didn't need them.

Soon, it was time for the event. Wizards began arriving, transported to the school by Thestral-drawn carriages.

This was all part of Dumbledore's arrangements. He had mobilized the Thestrals from the Forbidden Forest, sending them to Hogsmeade to collect wizards who had traveled from all over the world.

From there, they were brought to Hogwarts by the enchanted creatures.

Wizards from all over the world gradually filled the Quidditch stadium at Hogwarts.

Even though Rhys and Daphne had chosen a corner in the stands, three wizards with rather peculiar appearances arrived and sat nearby.

The leading wizard wore a coarse linen robe, a style now extremely rare.

Behind him was an elderly man with curly hair, dressed in robes so outdated they looked like costumes from a theater troupe.

The last was a beautiful witch with a balanced figure, excellent posture, and the graceful demeanor of an ancient Greek statue.

After sitting down, the linen-robed wizard glanced around and said to his companions, "There's no one else here."

Rhys chuckled quietly to himself. Do they really think they can see through my Disillusionment Charm that easily?

However, what surprised him was that the man was speaking in Latin.

'These three are really strange,' Rhys thought.

He gently squeezed Daphne's hand, signaling her to stay silent as he continued to carefully observe the trio.

...

Meanwhile, Cornelius Fudge was startled by the sheer scale of the gathering upon his return to Hogwarts. He hadn't expected so many people to show up.

At this moment, the Hogwarts Quidditch stadium was packed, resembling the venue for a World Cup final, filled with wizards from all over the world.

As Cornelius Fudge scanned the crowd, he quickly recognized wizards from six or seven different countries.

"French, Americans, Irish, Danes, Swedes or Norwegians, and even various private organizations," Fudge muttered to himself, counting on his fingers, marveling at how this experiment had truly gained global attention.

However, one person was likely to gain infamy, Fudge thought with some schadenfreude.

Having served as Minister of Magic for years, Cornelius Fudge was not intimidated by the large turnout. He pushed through the crowd and walked up to the commentary platform. Taking out his wand, he pointed it at his throat and cast, "Sonorus!"

In the next instant, his voice echoed throughout the stadium: "Ladies and gentlemen…"

Clearly, the British Minister of Magic's long-winded opening speech failed to capture the interest of the gathered wizards. Many paid him no attention, continuing their conversations.

The peculiar trio in the corner were no exception.

"Have you heard? This spell was invented by Salazar himself. Hah, modern wizards can only rely on the relics of their ancestors, scraping by with what little they have. The decline of the magical world is visible to the naked eye.

Humans, whether Muggles or wizards, are like a flock of sheep lost without their shepherd since losing the favor of the gods," said the linen-robed wizard, a smile on his face.

But if one looked closely into his eyes, they would see a chilling lack of warmth or emotion.

Rhys' interest piqued immediately. 'Could there be an unexpected discovery today?'

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