Back in her office, Helga found Salazar holding a book, completely absorbed in reading it.
Watching her old friend frown at times and sigh at others, Helga could not help but feel an overwhelming surge of curiosity. This was the first time she had ever seen such complex expressions on her old friend's face.
"What are you reading so intently?" Helga sat down across from her old friend.
"An encyclopedia. A student of Rowena's gave it to me," Rhys said, handing the book over.
"I suggest you take a good look at it. It helps with understanding the Muggle world—far better than our Muggle Studies textbooks."
Helga took the book and discovered that Salazar was studying something called an "artificial satellite."
"Artificial… satellite? Muggles can actually make something like this, and even have the ability to send it into the stars? That's incredible." Helga gained an entirely new understanding of Muggle development.
It was hard for humans to suppress their desire to explore the stars.
That had never changed from a thousand years ago to the present.
Helga herself had once gazed up at the night sky, wondering what the depths of the universe that brought magic into the world might look like. Yet Muggles had taken the first step into exploring the cosmos before her. How could that not shock her?
"More than that…" Rhys looked as though he wanted to say something but stopped himself. At this moment, he was rather worried, because his understanding of satellites went deeper than Helga's.
These things were far more than simple tools for exploring space. Helga was thinking of Muggles as a bit too selfless.
The book said that satellites could see structures on the Earth's surface, and even included a photograph of buildings taken from a satellite's perspective.
This gave Rhys a small shock from the Muggle world.
After learning this new piece of knowledge, Rhys immediately felt uneasy, as if there truly were an eye, hundreds of miles away in space, coldly scanning the land, the sky, and the oceans.
Modern Muggles made him somewhat uneasy. They might not yet have discovered the magical world, but with the aid of satellites, it was only a matter of time.
No one knew what fate would await wizards once they were exposed.
Rhys suppressed the complex emotions in his heart and instead asked Helga whether she had learned anything from Dumbledore.
After sharing Dumbledore's account and speculations with her old friend, Helga looked at Rhys, wanting to hear his thoughts.
"Dumbledore is knowledgeable, and I also lean toward the idea that magic interferes with Muggle electronic devices," Rhys expressed his support for Dumbledore.
"But he also lacks insight. He's completely ignored Muggle development and allowed the magical world to remain stagnant," Rhys added his dissatisfaction after voicing agreement.
"He is old, after all. He's also never lived a life like yours," Helga unusually spoke up in Dumbledore's defense. "To Dumbledore, the most important thing is actually that Dark wizard—Voldemort."
Hearing that name, Rhys let out a heavy snort.
That fellow was like a cockroach—repulsive to look at, yet impossible to eradicate completely.
"And since magic can interfere with electronic devices, that's ultimately good news. At least for now, we don't need to worry about Hogwarts being discovered by Muggles."
Even now, Helga believed that the magical world could not be exposed to Muggles. Their attitude toward wizards was unknown, and in terms of sheer numbers and industrial power, they held overwhelming superiority. Any interaction had to be approached with extreme caution.
Like a lone wolf trespassing into a lion's territory, every single move had to be made carefully.
Helga thought her words would ease Salazar's mood a little, but to her surprise, he shook his head instead.
"Only electronic devices are interfered with, right?" He casually picked up a quill from Helga's desk and transformed it, along with its casing, into a spear-thrower.
Then he swung his arm hard, and a spear shot out through the window, grazing past the body of a raven in the sky.
Ignoring the raven's cawing from outside, Rhys stared at Helga and said slowly and deliberately, "Purely mechanical devices are not affected."
And purely mechanical things should never be underestimated. Bows and crossbows were mechanical. Firearms and cannons were mechanical as well.
"But there are Muggle-Repelling Charms—"
"What's the range of that charm, then?" Rhys directly cut Helga off. "What if someone observes from outside the spell's range using mechanical devices? Muggle technology should be capable of that, shouldn't it?"
Helga frowned.
A thousand years ago, these questions wouldn't have been questions at all. Anyone capable of detecting Hogwarts from dozens of miles away could not possibly have been a Muggle. But in the modern era, they very much were problems.
"And those satellites—they can take photographs from the sky. If you don't believe me, turn the page in that book."
Helga did as he said. When she flipped to the next page, her expression changed instantly. The book contained a satellite photograph of Constantinople.
"Satellites are electronic devices too…" Helga said stiffly, her mouth feeling dry.
Muggle technology was exceeding her expectations.
Taking photographs of the ground from hundreds of miles above the surface—who, exactly, was the wizard here? Could wizards even accomplish something like that?
Helga felt that once she unfolded her domain, she could indeed perceive the terrain over an extremely vast area, but aside from herself, the old serpent, and the old raven, which other wizard could do the same?
"It uses optical equipment. The book says it employs things like cameras and spectrometers and all sorts of other devices to measure visible light and infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, providing high-resolution surface imagery and spectral information."
Helga felt as though she could understand every single word, yet when they were put together, it became utterly bewildering.
The more Rhys spoke, the more agitated he became. He slapped the desk lightly and told his old friend that she really ought to do some catching up.
"This is light, not electricity. I don't think our magical interference works on it at all. It's entirely possible that photographs of Hogwarts are already sitting in some institution's archive, and they just haven't noticed anything unusual yet."
Helga: !!!
Her old friend's words left her mind completely blank.
Fragmented pieces of knowledge drifted through Rhys's mind, finally linking together into a single line. He felt that he had found a solution to the problem.
"There just happens to be a meteor shower in January. Meteorites are made of rock and ice crystals. This is perfect." The corner of Rhys's mouth lifted slightly.
"Helga, our domains are sufficient to interfere with meteorites above the Earth and guide their trajectories. We can use this opportunity to destroy all of the Muggles' satellites in one fell swoop. That way, Hogwarts won't face any risk of exposure. Strike first and eliminate the means by which Muggles might observe Hogwarts. This is a race against time."
Helga stared wide-eyed, utterly shocked by her old friend's line of thought.
"What do you think? If it's feasible, we can act together—" Rhys felt that he would need his old friend's help.
"Salazar, wait a moment!" Helga called out, forcing him to calm down.
"Your way of doing things is far too Gryffindor."
That single, simple sentence immediately pulled Rhys's attention away from the satellites.
_____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI