That blessing completely left Cedric at a loss for words.
The whole exchange was truly bizarre: a Hufflepuff saying that two Slytherins had inherited the spirit of Slytherin, and those two Slytherins then wishing the Hufflepuff Quidditch team victory over Slytherin in a match.
Everything about it was strange in every possible way.
"Why? Aren't you students of Slytherin House?" Cedric was completely baffled.
In his view, the three standing opposite him were heirs of Slytherin—shouldn't they be the most loyal supporters of Slytherin? How could they be backing another House in a Quidditch match?
"Precisely because we're Slytherin's heirs that we oppose that lot," Daphne fired back with a rapid complaint about the bizarre students of Slytherin House, stating clearly that a true Slytherin would never waste time and energy on a skill like flying on a broom.
Rhys had originally wanted to stop her from airing their dirty laundry, but considering that Malfoy and his crowd had already exposed the state of the House pretty thoroughly, he didn't bother to intervene.
Anyone who had spent five years at Hogwarts—could they really not know what Slytherin House was like these days?!
Helga barely needed to see Rhys's expression to struggle to hold it together. She knew the old viper's state of mind all too well.
With that bunch squatting in his House and ruining its reputation, he probably needed potion-assisted sleep just to get any rest.
Cedric fell silent.
After a while, he managed to squeeze out a dry "Alright," then buried his head and went back to making components.
At noon, they would put aside their work, eat a hearty lunch, rest for a short while, then resume crafting the puppet components until the sun set and dinnertime arrived.
In the evenings, after returning to the common room, Rhys would still set aside some time to read the encyclopedia.
With three and a half fully committed helpers, Helga's progress advanced by leaps and bounds, and over the course of a single holiday, she completed nearly a third of her outstanding orders.
By the night before term started, although there were still many unfinished orders piled up, it was no longer a matter of urgent crisis.
However, immersed in the world of puppets, the four of them had forgotten something extremely important.
"I'll go send out the finished puppets. Hopefully they'll arrive before term starts." After assembling one of the puppets, Helga took it and left the office.
She needed to send the puppet out while there was still daylight.
After Hufflepuff left, Rhys frowned. What Helga had just said stirred his memories, making him vaguely recall something he hadn't finished.
"Hey, Daphne, have you done your homework?" Rhys's question struck like a thunderbolt, freezing all three people in the room in place.
Daphne: !!!
Astoria: !!!
Cedric: !!!
"Oh no—we forgot!" the three of them shouted in unison.
The past few days had been so full and busy that they had completely forgotten they still had holiday homework to do.
A dangerous glint flashed through Rhys's eyes. "Since there isn't enough time anyway, why don't we…"
"It looks like we're pulling an all-nighter tonight," Cedric said solemnly. Unlike the three younger students, he was a fifth-year preparing for his O.W.L.s. His academic pressure was on an entirely different level, and the amount of homework the professors had assigned was no joke either.
Daphne looked at Rhys pitifully. With time tight and tasks heavy, there really was no time for her to help Rhys with his share of the homework now.
With so little time, trying to finish two sets of holiday assignments would probably require time magic—borrowing a dozen extra hours might barely be enough.
Seeing Daphne looking so miserable, Rhys let out a sigh. Daphne was clearly not someone he could rely on this time. But there was no way he was going to write the homework himself…
With a flick of his wrist, Rhys pulled out the automatic quill he had painstakingly made earlier. He tossed it onto a sheet of parchment, and the quill immediately began writing the essay on its own.
Sitting to the side, Cedric—who had just summoned his schoolbag with a Summoning Charm—was completely stunned. Was it really okay for junior Rhys to do this?
But when he saw that the quill produced a two-foot-long History of Magic essay in less than five minutes, Cedric's heart wavered.
With the help of such a quill, not only would there be no need to stay up all night, he could even go to bed early… Just thinking about it made Cedric's breathing grow a little heavier.
Rhys took all of this in at a glance, the little abacus in his mind clacking away noisily.
"I feel like there's no need to write the Defense Against the Dark Arts homework," Rhys declared. His statement was immediately supported by Daphne and Astoria. Cedric didn't say anything out loud, but judging by his expression, he agreed in his heart as well.
They had already done three weeks of hard labor—couldn't the homework just be waived?!
The four of them tacitly pushed the Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment to the very bottom of the pile, deciding to wait and see what Professor White would say when she returned.
While they were chatting, Rhys's quill had already finished writing the Divination homework.
Daphne could no longer sit still. She immediately spoke up, asking Rhys to bestow the divine quill upon her to help her conquer the mountain of homework.
Rhys had no objections, but everything came at a price. The cost of using the quill was that she would be responsible for polishing and editing the essays the quill produced.
Daphne naturally had no problem with that. After agreeing, she gained the right to use the quill. Most importantly, this time Rhys completely lifted the restrictions on the quill's usage—homework for any subject could be completed with it.
He didn't want his students to waste too much time on these assignments, even for important courses like Transfiguration and Charms.
Watching Rhys and the two girls use such a miraculous tool to finish a huge pile of homework in one go, Cedric could no longer sit still.
"Um… Rhys, this quill—"
The office door was suddenly pushed open, and Professor White strode in.
Smiling warmly, she said to Rhys, "You've all worked very hard. It's already quite late—hurry back to your common rooms and get some rest. Oh, right—considering that you've been engaged in Defense Against the Dark Arts–related research here throughout the Christmas holiday, your Defense homework is waived."
Seeing Helga's expression, Rhys felt that she had probably been standing outside the door for quite a while. Bursting in now was clearly to prevent him from lending the quill to Cedric.
Understanding instantly, Rhys didn't hesitate. He directly led the Greengrass sisters out of Helga's office, leaving Cedric standing there alone, wanting to speak but stopping himself.
And just like that, the Christmas holiday came to an end amid utter chaos.
The next day was the students' return to school. Rhys didn't know how late Cedric had worked the night before, but judging from the dark circles under his eyes, it wasn't hard to tell that Cedric had most likely performed a miracle with nothing but a quill and a lamp.
When Daphne and Astoria ran into Cedric, both of them couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.
Thank Merlin they had borrowed Rhys's automatic writing quill—otherwise, Cedric's state would have been their fate as well, perhaps even worse.
Rhys had been about to walk over and say a few words to Cedric, maybe give him a bottle of Pepperup Potion, but he stopped after taking just one step—because Hermione had appeared.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI