"Helga, do you even know what you're saying?" Rhys glared at Helga in dissatisfaction, expressing strong displeasure at her words.
"I do." Even though it was obvious that she had ignited her old friend's anger in an instant, Helga's expression did not change in the slightest, as if what she had just said were a natural truth like "the sun rises in the east and sets in the west."
"Oh? Then tell me, how exactly am I being Gryffindor?" Helga's attitude only fueled Rhys's anger further, but once that anger reached a certain point, he instead calmed down.
He stated directly that since Helga claimed he was acting like a Gryffindor, then she had better convince him. If she couldn't, then she shouldn't blame him for losing his temper.
"Because you chose the most Gryffindor solution possible." Helga was even calmer than Rhys. She directly began analyzing the consequences and impact of his actions.
"We can analyze this problem using dichotomy. First, we divide it into two scenarios: Muggles' satellites have already discovered the magical world, or Muggle satellites have not yet discovered the magical world.
If it's the former, then the fact that Hogwarts hasn't been razed to the ground yet means that Muggles believe wizards are harmless or even beneficial. Their attitude is already clear: Muggles want to coexist peacefully with wizards. If you were to destroy all the satellites now, you would only damage that relationship and bring catastrophic disaster upon the magical world."
Helga's measured explanation eased the anger in Rhys's heart somewhat, and he decided to continue listening to her analysis.
"If Muggles have not yet discovered the magical world, then there are two more possibilities. First, their satellites simply cannot detect us, in which case you don't need to consider destroying satellites at all. Second, their satellites do have the capability to detect us, but the Muggles have not yet realized it."
"I'm talking about that last scenario—" As soon as Helga mentioned the second possibility, Rhys cut in, stating that even if Muggles could not discover Hogwarts with their current technology, as technology continued to develop, there would inevitably come a day when they could.
"And that's exactly where you resemble Godric. I'd bet that he would also want to destroy those satellites in the sky at the first opportunity."
"He couldn't destroy them," Rhys said with complete confidence.
"Godric's domain was Fire, which would be of no use in this matter."
Helga: "…"
She forcibly suppressed the urge to cast a Silencing Charm on Salazar and continued her analysis.
"So what if you can destroy them? Wouldn't doing so startle the Muggles and alert them? After all, so many artificial satellites being destroyed simultaneously above the Earth…"
"That's why we'd use a meteor shower as cover. Otherwise, we could already send a pile of rocks up there with our domains right now."
"But even if you destroy all the satellites and Muggles believe it was an accident caused by a meteor shower, couldn't they just launch new satellites into space? This book says satellites are involved in many fields. Muggles won't give them up.
And of course, if you're saying that once they launch new satellites, you'll just use another 'meteor shower' to blow them up again, then I think you're treating Muggles like idiots."
Rhys: "…"
"As long as there are enough fragments from various satellites, they'll form a belt of debris in low Earth orbit, making it impossible for Muggles to launch new satellites," Rhys gave his answer. This was also a concept he had read about in books.
Muggles themselves believed that as space debris in low Earth orbit increased, future satellite launches would become progressively more difficult. He would merely be accelerating that process.
Helga: "???"
"How many satellite remnants would that take? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Would it really have an impact?" Helga was skeptical.
Rhys was left momentarily speechless.
After thinking it through carefully, he realized that this really didn't seem very reliable.
The Earth's circumference was forty thousand kilometers, and low Earth orbit could be considered a circle with an even larger radius, meaning an even greater circumference. More importantly, that orbit wasn't a line, but a surface. How much space debris would it take to fill that entire region?
Rhys felt that this might happen someday in the distant future, but definitely not now.
Humans had only been launching spacecraft into space for a few decades. How many were there in total? Even if he and Helga went all out and shattered every single one, how much space could they really occupy?
Still, Helga had given him a new line of thought: destroy one as soon as it's launched. That idea… might actually be worth trying.
Muggles didn't even know of the magical world's existence. When the time came, they wouldn't suspect wizards at all. Instead, this could even be used to sow discord between different Muggle nations…
After hearing Salazar's new idea, Helga was left rather speechless.
"If you're willing to worry about that, then go ahead. I'm not going to accompany you in this madness. And haven't you realized it yet? Think carefully about the conversation you just had with me. Acting on an idea the moment it occurs to you, regardless of the consequences, then coming up with another equally unreliable idea after being talked down. Don't you find that kind of person a little familiar?"
Rhys fell completely silent.
With Helga pointing it out like that, he finally realized that his behavior really did resemble the Gryffindor way of doing things.
"Admit it, Salazar. Godric has had a huge influence on you. That influence didn't disappear even after you left Hogwarts and slept for a thousand years. In fact, it's become even more obvious now that your body has returned to a youthful state." A simple, honest smile appeared at the corner of Helga's mouth as she said something Salazar would normally never accept.
She had noticed it long ago. After regaining his youth, Salazar's personality seemed to have changed quite a bit. She had initially thought it was due to his rejuvenated body, but after today's events, she finally realized that after decades of living alongside Godric, Salazar's personality had long since been "infected" by Godric.
Previously, his original old body had kept things suppressed, so it hadn't been very obvious. But after a thousand years of slumber, the traces of the lion buried deep within him had been completely exposed.
That was perfectly normal. Godric was that kind of man. He exerted a subtle influence on everyone around him, like the sun shining down on all things.
Fortunately, she was there to restrain him. Otherwise, who knew what terrifying things someone with a hint of Godric's shadow in his personality, yet still Salazar at his core, might do?
To protect the things he cherished, Salazar's actions could become extremely extreme.
If not for her, the magical world, the non-magical world, and even the entire world would be finished. Because only she could keep Salazar, this exceedingly dangerous wizard, under control.
Rhys: …
After pondering carefully for a moment.
Rhys: !!!
"Helga, what nonsense are you talking about! It's just—just changes in hormone secretion in my body, that's all. That really can change a person's personality. If you don't believe me, look it up, it's in the books! This is just a drawback of my method of immortality, hahaha…"
Rhys protested while rummaging through his small pouch in search of the remaining volumes of the encyclopedia.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI