The wizarding world had extremely little tolerance for wizards who could transform into other kinds of creatures. Jack was already a Parselmouth, and combined with this transformed state, Seraphina knew exactly what sort of consequences awaited him.
From the moment Jack chose to transform into a dragon-man, the label of "wizard" had effectively disappeared from him, replaced by a label closer to that of a "werewolf" or some other non-human creature.
His actions ran completely contrary to the mainstream values of the wizarding world. Even Ilvermorny, which had always prided itself on tolerance, would find it difficult to accept.
Ilvermorny might not care about blood status, but it still placed great importance on the identity of being a "wizard."
Seraphina strongly disapproved of Jack's choice, but simply watching him die on the duelling platform did not seem appropriate either.
Seeing that Jack had already lost, she cleared her throat and prepared to intervene and end the duel herself.
Unexpectedly, Rhys, who had held the advantage and appeared determined to fight until one of them died, suddenly stopped.
He even dispersed all the blood blades he had created through "Transfiguration."
However, whether by coincidence or not, just before he stopped, several blood blades accurately sliced through dozens of crucial tendons in Jack's body.
This completely deprived him of control over his limbs, causing him to collapse helplessly to the ground, unable to move even a single finger.
Rhys even walked over to Jack and personally helped him up, behaving with extraordinary friendliness.
He took several potion bottles from his robes and poured healing liquid over Jack's battered body.
The potions were extremely effective. The surface of Jack's body immediately stopped bleeding, although there was not much blood left inside him in the first place.
A thin layer of fresh pink flesh even formed over his wounds, making the entire "person" look pink and tender rather than quite so horrifying.
After this series of friendly actions, even Seraphina could find nothing to criticise. She could only applaud Rhys's good deed in encouragement.
She had never imagined that Rhys Lint would voluntarily stop, let alone treat his opponent's wounds afterwards.
Such a gentle attitude surprised Seraphina greatly and completely changed her impression of Rhys.
Dumbledore and the other spectators also began applauding.
The scene before them perfectly matched the mainstream values of the wizarding world.
After taking in everyone's reactions, a faint smile appeared on Rhys's face.
Meanwhile, Jack, who had remained conscious the entire time, had eyes filled with overwhelming despair and agony.
No one knew what he had experienced.
They were even applauding the demon standing before him!
Yes.
In Jack's eyes, Rhys Lint was a demon through and through.
The moment those potions of unknown composition touched his body, they stripped him of control over it, paralysing every remaining muscle and depriving him of the ability to communicate anything to the outside world.
The potions poured over him afterwards made him feel as though tens of thousands of insects were devouring him.
Combined with the potion that had initially been injected into his body, he remained fully conscious and acutely aware of everything.
Yet to everyone watching, Jack was merely lying there quietly and receiving treatment.
"Sleep."
Rhys whispered gently to Jack while feeding him another potion.
One of the effects of the newly administered potion was to temporarily suppress the healing potion, allowing Jack to finally fall unconscious.
After Jack lost consciousness, Rhys fed him several more potions before handing him back to Seraphina and explaining that Jack only needed to rest quietly for a while to recover.
Seraphina did not want to remain there for even another second. After giving Rhys a few perfunctory replies, she hurriedly left the scene with her students and then handed Jack over to Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts for treatment.
She could no longer be bothered with this student who had strayed onto the wrong path.
Only after leaving Hogwarts Castle and making sure there were no outsiders nearby did she stop and sternly warn her students.
"I don't know whether any of you, like Jack, encountered some extraordinary opportunity in that place. But I hope you remember one thing clearly: you are wizards. Never abandon your original identity in pursuit of power. We are wizards, the most perfect species in this world!"
Under their old headmistress's stern gaze, every Ilvermorny student nodded, indicating that they would remember her teachings.
At that moment, an unexpected visitor arrived at the duelling venue.
"Professor Gryffindor, you're here." Dumbledore gave the red-haired man standing at the classroom doorway a friendly smile, while Professor White and Professor Aries silently retreated behind several students and lowered their heads.
Their presence instantly faded to almost nothing.
Godric walked up to the duelling platform and stared at the wand in Rhys's hand.
"I never expected to see this wand again in my lifetime. It brings back endless memories." His gaze swept across Rhys's face for a brief moment before focusing once again on the wand in his hand.
"Would you be willing to transfer this wand to me? I truly miss my old friend. I am willing to pay any price," he asked softly.
The classroom instantly became extremely quiet.
In the eyes of the students who did not know the truth, Rhys seemed to have no reason to refuse. Who else in this classroom was more suitable to possess that wand?
This was the first time Rhys had the opportunity to observe the man from such close range.
Hmm.
No matter how he looked at him, the man appeared flawless.
"I refuse."
Rhys's voice was not loud, but it was clear enough for everyone present to hear.
"This is my wand," Rhys said. "I just took it back from that monster."
Rhys could feel the wand trembling faintly in his palm, as though delighted to have finally returned to his hand.
Gryffindor smiled.
"You're right. I was too rash. I had only just woken from a hangover when I heard that my old friend's wand had reappeared, and it made me lose my composure. This wand does indeed belong to you now."
He looked carefully at Rhys, left behind one final sentence, and then departed from the duelling classroom.
"You resemble Salazar very much. I can see his shadow in you."
...
"What did that fellow mean by his last sentence?"
Inside the office, Helga frowned as she repeatedly went over everything that had happened in the duelling classroom.
"He may have sensed something familiar about me. That's perfectly normal." Rhys did not take his first direct conversation with the impostor seriously.
He sat on a stool in the corner of the office, idly playing with the wand that had finally returned to its rightful owner.
"Could he have..." Helga was somewhat worried that Salazar's identity had been exposed.
"Then how would he still have the courage to remain here?" Rhys laughed.
He did not particularly care whether the impostor had discovered his identity.
There were advantages to remaining undiscovered, and there were also advantages to being exposed.
Sometimes, an appropriate change was necessary to force the other side to alter their course of action and reveal more weaknesses.
"What did you do to that idiot?" Rowena's concern was completely different from Helga's.
She knew Salazar far too well. If he had not killed Jack, that meant he must have done something even more terrifying than death.
"Nothing much. I merely made it so that he can experience what happened on the duelling platform at every moment," Rhys said with a shrug. "Of course, I was very careful with the extent of it. No one else will be able to notice anything unusual."
Only after hearing Salazar say this did Helga finally breathe a sigh of relief.
At the same time, she felt a trace of gratification.
Salazar had grown too!
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI