116- Old Friends

    Hearing Rowena Ravenclaw''s words, Rhys was completely stunned.

    Helena had stolen Rowena''s diadem, and after Rowena fell gravely ill, she sent Barrow to find Helena, only for Barrow and Helena to end up in a fatal conflict?

    ''What the..''

    This news hit Rhys hard, leaving him momentarily unable to react.

    But soon, he noticed something was off. The whole situation seemed strange and full of unanswered questions.

    ''Most importantly, where did the diadem go?''

    "Even if you put a seal on it, you shouldn''t have let Helena carry it around, Rowena. You should understand the dangers of the items we created—I''m not even willing to carry my wand for extended periods," Rhys said.

    "My spell is flawless," Rowena''s tone was firm. She glanced at Rhys and added, "If you had followed my advice back then, you could use your wand freely now."

    "..."

    Rhys was momentarily at a loss for words.

    Of course, someone as proud and confident as Rowena would never admit that her spell had flaws. To her, the diadem was foolproof—if Helena had the ability to break the seal on the diadem, then her magical skills had inherited a significant portion of her adoptive mother''s talents, and she would naturally be able to handle the diadem''s influence.

    He took a deep breath, hoping that everything was indeed just as Rowena had described—a series of unfortunate coincidences: an enraged Barrow accidentally killing Helena and then taking his own life out of shame.

    Rowena Ravenclaw didn''t want to dwell on the topic any longer. Instead, she continued telling Rhys about the changes at Hogwarts after Barrow''s death.

    After the four founders established Hogwarts, they each recruited students according to their own preferences. Their plan was to pass the responsibility of managing the school to these students once they had matured and could handle the duties on their own, allowing the founders to retire in peace.

    As the students grew, their ambitions, character, and talents gradually became evident to the founders. Through a process of elimination, the most talented and virtuous young individuals caught the founders'' attention and were given special training.

    Except for Hufflepuff House, the other three houses had some exceptionally talented individuals emerge. For example, Helena from Ravenclaw House, Barrow and Adrian Dragonhart Greengrass from Slytherin House, and Mary de la Motte, the Crimson Witch, from Gryffindor House.

    However, she quickly changed the subject, stating that she couldn''t go above ground.

    "I placed a spell on this body of mine that prevents it from leaving the sealed area of the dungeon—I''m well aware of the contamination here. I feared that if I lost control, I might unknowingly wander into the castle."

    "Can''t it be undone?"

    "No, it''s the safest measure to prevent any accidents."

    Ravenclaw glanced at Rhys. "How could I have foreseen that someone who swore never to return would come back to help cleanse the pollution in my soul?"

    Rhys immediately explained, "I go by Rhys Chassla Lint now; Salazar Slytherin hasn''t returned."

    "Heh." Ravenclaw let out a cold laugh.

    Rhys quickly switched the topic.

    "But it seems the contamination within you hasn''t been fully removed," he said, pointing to the lingering stains on Ravenclaw''s spirit.

    "Perhaps this thing''s absorption capacity has reached its limit," Ravenclaw replied, casting a disdainful glance at the distorted form of Voldemort on her shoulder. "Couldn''t you have thought of a different solution? Did you really have to attach this thing to me?"

    Rhys glared at Ravenclaw fiercely. "Rowena, why don''t you take a guess at what you did to me before? There was no better option than this!"

    "No choice, cleaning up trash is just in my nature. You should reflect on why you were deemed something that needed to be cleaned up."

    Rhys: ''I regret waking you up. Such a great witch, too bad she has a mouth.''

    The two old friends chatted for a long time before Ravenclaw finally brought up the topic of Daphne, who was playing chess with herself outside the corridor.

    "So, who''s that young girl outside? Don''t tell me she''s..."

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