After glancing once more at Helga's expression, Rhys understood her emotions—she was feeling guilty.
When Salazar had suggested going down to the dungeons to see Rowena, Helga had been genuinely happy at first. But that joy had quickly given way to a different emotion. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be guilt.
Upon thinking it through, Helga realized something she had been actively or passively ignoring all this time: was Rowena's tragic fate caused by her—Helga Hufflepuff—leaving?
When she left Hogwarts to travel the outside world, she hadn't considered that her departure would leave only one Founder remaining at the school. If something unexpected occurred, Rowena would be forced to shoulder everything alone. Perhaps those few not-yet-mature students could help lighten her burden a little, but the one who would have to face all the hardship directly would still be Rowena.
What was more painful was that, when Helga truly examined her own heart, she discovered a terrifying truth: had she really not considered any of this? Or was it that…
Rowena had said more than once that she wanted to leave the school once it was properly established to pursue "freedom." But after Godric and Salazar both left Hogwarts in anger, what was the situation they faced?
The students were still immature, and only two Founders remained.
Under those circumstances, if one left first, the other would almost certainly be bound to the castle—unless she was willing to abandon the shared dream they had built together. And yet, it was Helga who left first, ahead of Rowena, leaving Ravenclaw alone at the school.
Had she been avoiding her responsibilities? Had she been afraid that Rowena might leave first, causing her to be trapped in the school forever? To put it harshly—had she betrayed her best friend?
Helga didn't know what her answer was—because after only a few months of travel, her dear friend Salazar had whisked her a thousand years into the future, and she never got the chance to prove that she had only wanted to go out and explore for a little while.
She could easily pin all the blame on Salazar, take the moral high ground, and tell the world that she, too, had been a victim. But whenever Helga recalled the smile on Rowena's face when they said goodbye, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Sensing the shift in Helga's mood, Rhys took the initiative to help untangle the knot in her heart.
"This isn't your fault—it's fate playing tricks on us."
"But I betrayed my friend," Helga's emotions suddenly surged. "I shouldn't have chosen to leave the school at that time…"
"You're being too harsh on yourself," Rhys said gently, comforting her. "You didn't betray anyone."
"But…" Helga poured out everything she had been thinking, word for word, to Rhys.
"Judge the deed, not the intention. The fact is, you ran into an accident while traveling—if Rowena had gone, she would've been in the same situation," Rhys said, believing that Helga's entire line of thought was flawed from the start.
"Besides, when you left the school, the situation wasn't as dire as it was in Rowena's later years. We had already raised a group of reliable students. Things only went wrong afterward."
Who could've foreseen that all the heirs the four Founders had poured their hearts into would leave—or fall—in such a short span of time?
In Rhys's view, Helga was simply being overly results-oriented—exaggerating the circumstances of the past and backing herself into a corner.
"Look on the bright side—we're still able to gather together, and this is a thousand years later! More importantly, don't you think the magical world needs us now more than it ever did a millennium ago?" Taking advantage of Helga's silence, Rhys pressed the momentum and continued to untangle her emotional knots.
As soon as he finished speaking, even Rhys himself felt his words made perfect sense.
After bringing about the twilight of the gods, their original mission had already been fulfilled—wizards no longer faced the threat of being enslaved by deities. Once Hogwarts was founded, they had basically aced even the extra credit.
Now, however, the magical world was clearly entering a period of unprecedented upheaval—something not seen in a thousand years. The fact that they were still alive was truly a blessing for the modern magical world. Otherwise, the future of wizardkind looked grim.
"But Godric's not here." Helga thought of Godric. With no news of him, she had no idea how he was doing.
"That's fantastic! My student Adrian was completely ruined by him. The farther that guy stays away, the better—he'd better not come back and lead my new students astray again!" Rhys replied with absolute certainty.
Rhys: Godric? Who's that? Never heard of him! Hmph!
"Why not take the time to go see Rowena now, while you still can—so you don't end up regretting it later."
That line from Rhys struck a chord with Helga immediately.
She quickly changed her mind and decided to go down to the dungeons to see Rowena.
"Excellent." Seeing that Helga had come around, Rhys immediately led her toward the dungeons.
On the way, they passed by Hermione, who was walking briskly.
Helga naturally noticed the girl—she sensed an unusual aura about her.
"That's Hermione Granger, a third-year student in Ravenclaw House."
Helga looked thoughtful.
"Yes, she's someone Rowena took a liking to—don't let it slip, though. She goes by 'Miss Specter' now."
"You people really aren't very honest."
"Then you'd better tell your students your real identity someday."
"Let's not go that far. The time isn't right," Helga said, clearly not planning on doing so. Watching Hermione's retreating figure, she asked, "She must be a very diligent and intelligent student, right?"
"That's right," Rhys nodded.
"Rowena is really lucky. Granger family... never heard of them. She's Muggle-born?"
When Rhys confirmed it, Helga felt even more regretful—what a wonderful child it would be to have as her own student.
"Don't dream about it. Someone like her would almost certainly be sorted into Ravenclaw. Maybe there's still a slight chance with Gryffindor, but for the two of us, it's absolutely impossible."
A bitter smile crept across Helga's face. She was used to this kind of thing. All the promising new students were snatched up by the other three houses, leaving her with average, ordinary ones.
"I also think the Sorting Hat's method of sorting might be a bit flawed..." Rhys shared his frustration with Helga, hoping to get her support in making changes to the Sorting Hat.
Helga began seriously considering it.
Just like that, the two arrived at the dungeons and broke the seal to enter its depths.
The moment the seal was lifted, a powerful gust of wind swept through them.
Rhys and Helga braced themselves to keep their footing, and then saw Rowena Ravenclaw standing alone before an open space, amusing herself.
Looking closely, Rhys realized… she was playing with mud.
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