At the same time, Helga was writing letters.
A copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them lay beside her, clearly having given her plenty of inspiration.
She felt that several magical creatures either had excellent compatibility with her or possessed great strength, and she planned to try them one by one.
However, blood from those magical creatures was not easy to obtain, so she was now using her connections to search for it.
When it came to connections, Helga, who sold automated combat puppets all over the world, naturally had one of the strongest networks around. Even Rhys was slightly inferior in that regard.
For her to purchase some magical creature blood was not actually all that difficult.
After writing dozens of letters in succession and sending all of them out, Helga finally relaxed.
Now, all she had to do was wait for replies.
...
Rhys walked through the castle corridors, enjoying the thick Christmas atmosphere that filled Hogwarts.
The past few days had exhausted him.
Repeated time reversals combined with intense research had kept all three of them in a constant state of tension.
Now that things had finally come to a temporary conclusion, they could do as Professor McGonagall had described and "let their hair down and relax properly."
However, after only a few steps, Rhys suddenly remembered something.
That puppet was still moving around under his identity.
He needed to shut it down as soon as possible.
Following Rhys's new instructions, the puppet began heading towards a rarely visited corner of the castle.
Inside an abandoned classroom, Rhys finally met up with it.
However, somewhat unexpectedly, the puppet had two little tails following behind it.
"Rhys, you finally showed up!"
When Daphne and Astoria saw the real Rhys, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Then they immediately became nervous again.
Both girls understood that the "final moment" had arrived.
"I had some things to take care of and got held up outside for quite a while. I finally have some free time now."
Faced with the sudden appearance of the Greengrass sisters, Rhys began searching his mind for a reasonable excuse to explain why he had disappeared for more than half a month.
After thinking about it, he realised he could simply tell them the truth.
Whether it was the antidotes or the transformation fruits, both were things the sisters could know about.
However, to Rhys's surprise, Daphne and Astoria showed no interest whatsoever in where he had been.
Instead, they asked the same question in unison.
"Rhys, can I be your partner for the Yule Ball?"
After asking, the two sisters looked at each other.
The air between them practically filled with gunpowder.
Rhys blinked.
They still hadn't found partners?
Surely not...
He could not help clicking his tongue.
"I already have a partner. I'm really sorry," Rhys said apologetically.
Hearing that answer, both Daphne and Astoria looked somewhat disappointed.
At the same time, both of them also seemed relieved.
"Can I know who your partner is?" Daphne asked unwillingly.
"Professor Aries."
Daphne and Astoria: Huh?!
The answer left them completely baffled.
Why her?
Were students even allowed to invite professors to the ball?!
Faced with their confusion, Rhys patiently answered their questions.
"Of course you can invite a professor. If the rules don't forbid it, then it's allowed. As for why I invited her..."
Rhys narrowed his eyes.
"It has nothing to do with anything else. I simply wanted revenge."
With that, Rhys explained the whole story behind the Yule Ball and said that he could not possibly allow the person who came up with the terrible idea to stand safely on the shore and watch the rest of them flounder in the water.
Naturally, he had to drag her in with them.
Daphne could not help glancing at her younger sister.
She really wanted to ask how the Yule Ball was a bad idea.
She thought it was a rather good one.
"Have the two of you really been waiting for my answer all this time? I'm honestly very sorry. I've already settled on my partner."
Realising that he might have delayed his two students from finding dance partners, Rhys felt somewhat embarrassed.
But unfortunately for them, dealing with their Aunt Ravenclaw was the most urgent matter, the highest priority.
Even if time were turned back and Rhys were given another chance to choose, he would still make exactly the same decision. The only difference was that this time, he would inform his two good students in advance.
However, Daphne and Astoria did not show much disappointment. If anything, they looked more relieved.
"It's fine. There wasn't anyone else I liked anyway," Daphne replied.
Astoria nodded lightly beside her.
"You two..." Rhys sighed, helpless against these two stubborn girls.
He extended an index finger and tapped each of them once on the forehead, then put away the puppet and walked out of the abandoned classroom, leaving the two sisters behind.
"Sister, do you have anyone you want as your partner?" Astoria asked softly after Rhys disappeared from sight.
"Not anymore. What about you?"
"I don't either."
The two raised their heads, their gazes meeting in mid-air.
"Then would you be my partner?" they asked in unison.
A moment later, both girls smiled and reached an agreement.
Rhys hurried along, descending the stairs to the entrance hall on the ground floor.
Students from the various schools were crowded together there, turning the normally spacious hall into an extremely congested place.
Rhys forced his way through the crowd in front of him.
At that moment, someone called his name.
He turned and discovered that it was Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons contestant he had encountered earlier in the alchemical world.
"What is it?"
Rhys had barely stopped when he suddenly sensed a spell flying towards him.
Since the area was packed with people, he did not use a Shield Charm to deflect it. Instead, he wrapped the relatively weak spell in his own magic and brought it to a halt in mid-air.
After analysing it rapidly, Rhys discovered that the spell had indeed come from Fleur nearby.
"Rhys, have you found a partner yet?" Fleur asked.
She had not realised at all that her spell had already been intercepted. She even seemed to think that her sneak attack had succeeded.
The moment she asked the question, Rhys understood what sort of spell it was.
It was either a Confundus Charm or an Imperius Curse, or perhaps some innate Veela magic.
However, considering that the spell did not feel particularly powerful, Rhys ruled out the Imperius Curse.
With a casual motion, he redirected the spell onto Malfoy, who happened to be passing by.
Just as Fleur prepared to press her advantage and secure Rhys Lint, the mysterious and powerful contestant, in one go, Rhys blinked at her and gave her a strange smile.
"It looks like someone wants to talk to you. I won't disturb the two of you. Goodbye!"
Rhys pushed open a gap in the crowd, slipped through it like a snake, and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
Fleur froze for a moment.
Then she realised that something had gone wrong.
Draco Malfoy of Slytherin House appeared in front of her and loudly asked whether she would attend the Yule Ball with him.
Fleur was completely dumbfounded.
She stared at Malfoy as though she were looking at a sea cucumber, unable to utter a single word.
The people around them also stopped walking, their gazes constantly shifting between Malfoy and Fleur.
Pansy Parkinson, standing beside Malfoy, bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
A few seconds later, Malfoy broke free from Fleur's enchantment.
The moment he realised what had happened, he felt as though the sky had collapsed.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI