"It's nothing expensive—just a little something I made myself."
Even though Rhys said that, the pride in his voice was impossible to hide.
Helga became even more curious.
"What exactly is inside?"
Rhys didn't bother keeping her in suspense. He straightforwardly explained that he had made an automatic cauldron and an automatic ingredient cutter. The former could precisely control temperature and stir on its own, while the latter could pre-process potion ingredients according to the user's specifications. Both were extremely practical tools. With them, the difficulty of brewing potions was reduced by at least fifty percent.
"Incredible! That's exactly what I would expect from someone so skilled in potion-making!"
Even Helga had to admit Salazar had created something truly useful this time.
It didn't have the world-shattering power of the water-drop brooch, but in potion-making, it would massively reduce the workload of potion masters and brewers, effectively improving their efficiency and success rate.
With this set of tools, potion brewing success would rise dramatically.
"Send it to Diggory directly. I'll tell him it came from Slytherin's heir." Helga made the decision for Rhys.
Rhys nodded, then praised Helga's collection of potion ingredients.
Among the materials she had given him, some of the plants were so rare they bordered on mythical. For example—Compass Grass, believed to have gone extinct in the ancient Roman era.
Yet Helga had somehow produced a complete dried specimen.
It was absurd—Compass Grass had supposedly vanished seven centuries before the Founders were even alive. Merlin only knew where Helga had gotten it.
While the two of them were busy complimenting each other, the sound of heels tapping against stone suddenly echoed from the dormitory entrance.
Rhys turned his head—and saw two beautifully dressed little witches stepping out.
Daphne and Astoria had chosen to wear the formal gowns and heels Professor White had gifted them.
Both robes were silver-and-green off-shoulder designs—one dominated by silver, the other by green.
Rhys noticed that both girls had white feather-shaped wings decorating their waists, and paired with their heels, they appeared taller and more elegant than usual.
"How's that? My fashion sense is still pretty good, isn't it?" Helga said proudly from within the flames.
"Unbelievable… the thousand-year-old fossil actually kept up with modern fashion—"
Whoosh!
A burst of glowing sparks shot directly into Rhys's face, covering the front of his jumper in soot.
As he frantically patted off the ashes, Daphne and Astoria walked up behind him.
"Ta-da! Merry Christmas!" Daphne said brightly.
Astoria stood beside her, smiling.
"Do you want to go to the Great Hall for some desserts? You can't have Christmas without Christmas pudding and Christmas cake."
Although he already knew that the modern version of Christmas pudding was nothing like the nightmare from the Middle Ages, Rhys still shivered involuntarily—he had zero fondness for anything called "Christmas pudding."
In his era, Christmas pudding was a horrific mixture of hard bread, mutton fat, dried fruit, monastery dark beer, and all kinds of bizarre spices—perfectly demonstrating the concept of one plus one is less than zero.
The ingredients were tolerable individually.
Together? Utterly revolting.
Imagine the gamy smell of mutton fat mixed with the sweetness of dried fruit, and every now and then your teeth hit a pebble hidden inside the rock-hard bread…
The psychological trauma Christmas pudding left him with hadn't faded even after a thousand years.
The modern version still clung stubbornly to much of the old "essence," but at least they replaced the mutton fat with butter. The bread no longer contained pebbles or wood chips, and they added sugar, rum, eggs, flour, and lemon afterward.
"Forget it. If you want to go, go yourselves. And don't you two feel cold? If you're going outside, I suggest changing clothes first."
Rhys's eyes swept over the sisters' exposed shoulders and upper arms, not with any particular thought—just a practical realization that they would freeze.
"Do you want some sausages and tea? And there'll be baked potatoes in a bit."
Seeing that his breakfast was nearly ready, Rhys enthusiastically invited Daphne and Astoria to join him in the common room.
Only then did Daphne finally notice the human face floating inside the fire.
"Professor White?!"
"Good morning, Miss Greengrass. It seems that outfit fits you quite well."
Daphne recovered from her initial panic almost instantly, then gave Professor White a sincere thank-you. After her sister finished, Astoria also stepped forward to express her own gratitude.
The two girls then stepped aside, staring curiously at the firelit face composed entirely of glowing embers. They had heard that the Floo Network could be used this way, but it was still their first time seeing it in person.
After exchanging a few casual words with Rhys, Helga finally brought out the question she had long prepared: "Would you like to come sit in my office for a bit?"
Rhys instinctively wanted to refuse. But then he looked at Daphne and Astoria's new clothing, and remembered the rare potion ingredients in his gift box… and found himself unable to turn her down.
"You two eat first. Save some for me—don't forget there are potatoes in the ashes. When they're fully cooked, cut them open and spread butter inside. They'll smell amazing."
After giving his hurried instructions, Rhys tossed a small handful of Floo powder into the flames and stepped into the fireplace.
A moment later, he vanished along with Helga's ember-formed face.
Left alone in the common room, Daphne and Astoria exchanged a determined look.
They had made up their minds—they were absolutely going to sneak over to Professor White's office and join the fun!
After stepping out of the fireplace in Hufflepuff's office, Rhys turned to Helga beside him and reminded her to make sure the beginning and end of this little incident were handled cleanly.
If anyone discovered that someone had privately set up a Floo connection inside the school, it would definitely cause another uproar.
"No problem," Helga replied crisply. She waved her wand, severing the link between the two fireplaces in an instant, then guided Rhys over to her desk.
Seeing the spread of components and tools laid across the table, Rhys couldn't help sighing. If he wanted to, he could work twenty-four hours a day—but why would he go to such lengths?
"We have to leave something for the modern wizarding world, don't we?" Helga said casually.
"Back then, we left Hogwarts. Now, I want to leave behind these automatic dolls—while also earning Hogwarts a long-term source of income."
As Rhys listened, something clicked in his mind.
A spark of insight flashed through him.. He felt as though he had just grasped an important point.
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