What exactly were "tangible" things?
In this era, wizards were often poor. They were ostracized by the Muggle world, living on the fringes as fugitives. So, truly valuable gifts were hard to come by.
However, that didn't apply to the four founders of Hogwarts. They were the powerhouses of the magical world; "fugitive" was not a word that applied to them. If they had the resources to build a castle like Hogwarts, their personal wealth must be substantial.
Salazar Slytherin gave Rey a vial of high-quality Felix Felicis. Liquid Luck. And since it was brewed by Slytherin himself, the potency was likely far superior to the vial Harry Potter would later win.
This was a lifesaver. Drinking it in a crisis could effectively mean a second chance at life.
Helga Hufflepuff gave Rey a cookbook.
This wasn't an ordinary cookbook. It was filled with recipes for magical dishes using magical plants and creatures. Different ingredients yielded different effects: some cured poisons, others permanently increased magical capacity—provided you could gather the rare ingredients.
Rowena Ravenclaw, knowing Rey was a future member of her house, wasn't stingy. She gifted him an exquisite small cloth pouch.
It was a product of advanced spatial magic. The pouch didn't just contain one large space; it had multiple compartments that the owner could customize and designate for specific items.
Retrieving items was as simple as a thought. Just think of what you need, and it flies out of the pouch into your hand. Even large objects shrunk automatically to fit inside and returned to their original size when pulled out.
Holding the pouch, Rey marveled at its intuitive design. It was far superior to the beaded bag Hermione Granger used in the movies.
Crucially, the pouch had a concealment charm. When worn, it was invisible and undetectable to everyone except its owner.
Such a magical bag deserved a legendary name. Rey immediately dubbed it the "Universe Pouch."
It could hold anything, living or non-living—though very large living creatures might be a stretch.
"And what about you? Our great duelist?"
Everyone had offered an apology gift except the red-haired Godric Gryffindor, who stood there awkwardly, looking at the others.
He was arguably the poorest of the group. Aside from the clothes on his back, the slashed leather hat on his head, and the sword at his hip, he didn't seem to own anything else.
The other founders looked at him with mild disdain, while Rey stared at him with wide, expectant eyes, making the situation even more awkward.
Godric patted his pockets frantically. Finally, he fished something out from his belt pouch: a bead about the size of a thumb.
It looked like glass, with a faint purple-black mist swirling inside. Godric tossed it up gently and caught it. The moment it touched his palm, it expanded to the size of a fist.
"I don't know what it is exactly, but it can shrink and grow. That was its smallest state; this is its largest. It's... fun. Here, it's yours."
A glass ball that changed size. Magical, sure.
But essentially, it was a toy—a magical fidget spinner for wizard kids. After all that rummaging, no one expected Godric to pull out a toy.
Disdain. Pure disdain. Except for Rey, whose expression remained eager, everyone else—including Salazar Slytherin—looked at Godric as if he were an embarrassment to the profession.
"Uh, well. If you want... I could also teach you how to duel."
Teach a child how to duel? Was he serious? The expressions of the other founders shifted from embarrassment to outright scorn.
To break the awkward silence, Rey took the glass ball from Godric's hand and smiled sincerely. "I really like this transparent ball that changes size. Thank you!"
---
Rey's sincerity wasn't fake. While he didn't "love" the toy itself, he was genuinely interested in it.
When Godric pulled out the glass ball, the image of the dark golden eyes in Rey's mind flashed briefly, revealing a distinct hunger for the object.
Rey knew very little about the face in the sky with the dark golden eyes. If that entity craved this ball, Rey had to have it. Regardless of its appearance, this simple toy might be more than meets the eye. It could even be the most precious gift of the lot.
With treasures from all four founders in hand, Rey felt that traveling back a thousand years was absolutely worth it.
However, disappointment followed.
Rey tactfully asked Rowena Ravenclaw about the bite on his neck. The answer was grim: they could only maintain the status quo.
Vampirism was a product of the darkest, most taboo magic—a curse exchanged for power and immortality. To remove such a dark curse, the wizard attempting the cure would need to be vastly more powerful than the original caster.
Vampires had existed for thousands of years without being eradicated, which proved the potency of the curse. It wasn't something a single wizard could simply wave away.
Even with all four founders working together, they could only seal the dark energy in the bite, not remove it.
Fortunately, the dark power in Rey's neck was already sealed quite well, so their intervention wasn't necessary.
When asked who had performed the seal, Rey could only shake his head. He genuinely didn't know. It was only then that he realized the Founders hadn't seen the events of his dream during their Legilimency sessions.
If he told them about the giant face in the sky, they probably wouldn't believe him. To avoid trouble, he kept his mouth shut. Since Rey didn't offer an explanation, the four founders didn't press him. They eventually concluded that the black unicorn must have been responsible for sealing the dark magic.
Unicorns possess unique abilities, and a mysterious black unicorn was a plausible enough explanation for them to accept.
---
Rey sat beside the four founders, listening to their discussion.
The gathering of the four founders of Hogwarts here wasn't a coincidence. They were planning something big.
Wizards were a special group, but in the Middle Ages, they were hated and feared.
If anyone showed signs of magic—whether they were a child, a noble, or even royalty—their fate was usually the same: execution.
Of course, some open-minded powerful families might hide their magical children. As long as they suppressed their magic, they could survive.
But families with the power to protect their children were the minority. Most magical children came from lower or middle-class families and had no such protection.
Tomorrow, in the city of London, there would be a mass execution of all captured wizards and magical children. The number of people to be executed was unprecedented—nearly a hundred. The four founders had gathered here to stop it.
Saving a hundred people was one thing; evacuating them was a massive logistical challenge. After deliberation, the founders decided to establish a long-distance magical teleportation array here at Stonehenge to facilitate the escape.
"This is Stonehenge?"
Hearing the details, Rey was stunned again.
Stonehenge. He hadn't seen it in person in his past life, but everyone knew about it. It was a famous ancient monument and tourist attraction.
There were countless theories about it in documentaries, the most popular being that aliens built it.
But now, it seemed likely that wizards built it. A simple Levitation Charm solved all the construction difficulties that baffled modern scientists.
Stonehenge had existed for ages. According to Rowena Ravenclaw's research, it was an ancient, abandoned magical teleportation array.
An abandoned array was perfect for their needs. The four founders had first built a medium-sized receiving array in a remote location, and then repaired Stonehenge to connect with it.
Once activated, this magical transport network could remain open for a period of time, ensuring everyone rescued could be sent to safety.
When the portal opened earlier, and the three founders walked out (except for Gryffindor, who was already there), they were testing the stability of the connection.
---
It was a surprise! This place was actually Stonehenge, on the outskirts of London.
Even more surprising was witnessing such a heroic rescue mission in magical history. Rey wasn't sure if he had missed this chapter in A History of Magic or if it was never recorded.
The thought of saving people alongside the four greatest wizards in history was thrilling.
If he ever made it back to the future, Rey wondered if Agnes would believe him when he told her about this adventure.
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