"Rhys, you—" After parting with Ron, Daphne couldn't wait to ask Rhys what he was thinking.
She wanted to know why Rhys insisted on paying to buy Ron's rat.
If it had been her, the moment she found out Ron's pet was an old rat, her first thought wouldn't have been to buy it. Instead, she would've tried hard to recall whether Ron had ever touched any of her belongings—and silently remind herself never to accept food from his hands again.
Astoria was also curious. She stood quietly to the side, observing the rat.
She looked and looked but didn't notice anything unusual. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck her. She decided to use the method Rhys had taught her—observing from the perspective of magical energy flow—and she immediately sensed something off.
The mana fluctuations coming from this rat were far too strong!
Astoria instantly understood why Rhys wanted to buy it. It truly was something out of the ordinary.
Seeing the curiosity in Daphne's eyes, Rhys sighed and cut her off.
"Daphne, when you encounter something, think more. When you see something, observe more. Apply what you've learned to everyday life."
Rhys's words left Daphne puzzled. It took her a moment to react. After following the same steps as her sister, she too discovered the unusual magical energy coming from Scabbers.
Daphne: "!!"
Scabbers heard every word the three of them said, but he didn't understand a single one.
He lifted his head and used those beady black eyes to size the three of them up, trying to glean something from their expressions.
Then he met Rhys's eyes—those dark pupils reminded him of someone from long ago, bringing with them a wave of familiarity that he absolutely loathed.
He shuddered involuntarily and quickly looked away.
Seeing Scabbers glance up at him, Rhys's lips curled slightly. "Alright, let's put our new pet into a cage and keep it at your place for now. Is that alright, Daphne?"
"Of course—suits me perfectly," Daphne agreed without hesitation.
Scabbers was thrilled—he was going to infiltrate the Greengrass family!
The unease he'd felt just moments before was instantly thrown out of his mind. Though his body was still at King's Cross Station, his heart was already soaring toward the Greengrass Manor.
Just as he was basking in his fantasy, he suddenly felt a powerful force grip his tail. The next moment, his body was lifted into the air.
After the initial panic, Scabbers quickly calmed down—as a rat, he was all too familiar with situations like this. That young wizard named Rhys had grabbed him by the tail and lifted him up.
He gave a token struggle or two, and was then stuffed into a cage Rhys had conjured on the spot.
Once inside, Scabbers immediately sensed something was wrong: wasn't this cage a bit too small?
He couldn't even turn around!
But by then, it was too late for regrets. After shoving him in, Rhys locked the cage door to ensure he couldn't escape. He even covered the entire cage with a black cloth, wrapping it so tightly that not even a sliver of light could get through.
And just like that, Scabbers was sent to Greengrass Manor. But upon arrival, he didn't receive the freedom he had imagined—instead, he was locked in a small, windowless room under strict supervision.
Forget access to outside intelligence—even a glimpse of sunlight was impossible.
Feeling utterly deceived, Scabbers cursed endlessly in his heart, but it did nothing to change his situation. He began to miss Ron. At least with that boy, he had the freedom to move around.
After confining Scabbers, Rhys settled down at Greengrass Manor.
When Daphne tried to convince Mr. Jamison Henry Greengrass, she met with some resistance—he still had concerns about letting the children go unsupervised.
"Your sister's body is weak—I'm not entirely comfortable letting her just go off like that. And as for Rhys, he's really just..."At this point, Mr. Henry found himself at a loss for words.
He didn't know how to describe this "child."
Unlike the young Daphne and Astoria, Mr. Henry had long since noticed that there was something off about Rhys.
He was just too unusual—whether it was the countless magical artifacts he carried, the astonishing talent he showed in Potions, or those legacies of ancient wizards—none of it fit with the identity of a typical student.
Mr. Henry would bet everything he owned that Rhys Lint was no ordinary child. He was hiding something—something big.
He had even hired someone to investigate Rhys Lint, and was shocked to discover that the boy seemed to have appeared out of thin air. The so-called "distant cousin" Lupet he spoke of couldn't possibly be related to him in any way—not even worth half a Galleon. That woman was just a destitute werewolf, and there was no one named Lint in her family tree.
These things left Mr. Henry feeling uneasy—though only slightly. Because Rhys Lint had consistently shown his family great kindness—so much so that Mr. Henry himself was puzzled by it.
Did his ancestors accumulate some great virtue? Why was Rhys Lint so willing to help them?
At first, it had only been selling potion ingredients. Later, he even took over Astoria's treatment and was said to have taught his daughter many ancient spells. Eventually, he had even entrusted them with a treasure like the Slytherin Testament.
It was completely unreasonable. In other words, he had been too good to them.
Most of Mr. Henry's unease came from the fear of owing too many favors and not knowing how to repay them. At times, it even kept him up at night.
Daphne hadn't noticed the emotions her father was hiding. Seeing that he was still using her sister's health as an excuse, she directly dropped a bombshell: "Dad, Astoria's illness is already cured!"
Jamison Henry: ‼️‼️‼️
"What?" For a moment, Mr. Henry thought there was something wrong with his ears—until his eldest daughter repeated it again.
He spun around abruptly and stared straight at his younger daughter's face.
Indeed, she did look a little rosier than he remembered, but he had just assumed it was thanks to the effectiveness of Rhys's potion. He had never dared to dream the illness could be completely cured!
Mr. Henry's first reaction was: Could it be a lie?
Just like that scammer Damocles? But he immediately dismissed that unreasonable thought.
While he couldn't treat his daughter's illness himself, he did have ways to tell whether she had recovered. Rhys would never resort to such cheap tricks to deceive them.
Which meant—his younger daughter had truly made a full recovery?!
At that thought, a wave of uncontrollable joy surged through his mind, and his eyes welled with tears.
Ever since discovering his daughter's condition, he had endured hardships unlike any he had experienced in his entire life. The bitterness of it all was something words could never fully express.
"I need to go see Rhys," Mr. Henry made up his mind.
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