Return of Salazar Slytherin

61- Thank you, Dumbledore.

Rhys silently left the secret space beneath the third-floor corridor and returned to the common room of his house.

Leaning back in an armchair, Rhys fell into deep thought.

In Rhys's view, most of the obstacles seemed deliberately easy. If it were up to him, the lethality could easily be increased tenfold. For instance, instead of placing the Devil's Snare below the trapdoor, he would replace it with sharpened stakes and line the passage walls with hallucinogenic magical plants.

The hundreds of flying keys would be enchanted to attack intruders on sight, with the correct key not mixed among them but carried by the person who designed the barrier.

Similarly, the giant wizard chess pieces should attack intruders instead of playing by the rules. Why negotiate with a thief, right?

Rhys easily thought of several improvements that would significantly increase the difficulty of protecting that mysterious item. He couldn't believe Professor Dumbledore wouldn't think of them.

Combined with the empty room at the end of the level, the answer is obvious.

Dumbledore likely never hid that item in the secret room beneath the third-floor corridor. He probably carried it with him. Those puzzle-like obstacles seemed more like a game maze for the children to play. If Dumbledore truly believed these flashy obstacles could stop intruders, Rhys would seriously consider whether he had dementia.

A game for children... a test for the students!

Rhys's thoughts suddenly paused on this idea.

If we follow this conjecture, the levels in the secret space are very reasonable. Moreover, if we think about it carefully, the design of this secret space is really good, with moderate difficulty and guaranteed safety. It is very suitable for children to play a game of courage.

Dumbledore may have other purposes. After all, it is very time-consuming and laborious to build such a space. Rhys thinks it is probably used to catch "fish".

'Which child does Dumbledore want to cultivate after spending so much effort? 'As soon as this thought came up, Rhys had the answer.

The Boy Who Lived, the savior of the wizarding world, Gryffindor's rising star—who else could be more suitable?

Rhys put himself in Dumbledore's shoes and gradually dispelled the fog obscuring the truth.

Dumbledore first made people with ulterior motives believe that he had hidden a treasure in the school, and then designed a bunch of puzzle levels for this treasure - the difficulty was just suitable for first-year wizards. The three-headed dog at the entrance was intended to keep the villains at bay, preventing them from seeing the mechanisms below the trapdoor prematurely, which would ruin Dumbledore's nurturing game.

As for the suspicious villain, it's most likely Mr. Quirrell.

Rhys felt that with his current state and frequency of contact with Quirrell, he could sense something was off. How could Dumbledore, who sat at the same table with Quirrell every day, not notice?

Rhys didn't believe Dumbledore was in the dark.

Dumbledore's next move might be to gradually guide Harry into discovering the item hidden in the school, uncover Quirrell's plot, and at the crucial moment, allow Quirrell to breach the defenses of the three-headed dog, officially beginning Harry's trial.

Regarding safety, Rhys speculated Dumbledore had likely already made arrangements.

The information Rhys had gathered painted a picture of Dumbledore's plan.

Seeing through all this, Rhys couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental: the old man really knew how to play the game from the shadows! It'll be like a reasoning test for Harry to develop decisiveness and confidence. 

"Why didn't I see you in the dining hall just now?" As Rhys was contemplating these thoughts, Daphne appeared before him with a small bag of food.

"I had something to do." Rhys narrowed his eyes at Daphne as she sat down opposite him.

"What kind of thing?"

"Secret."

"Oh, then I guess I'll just eat this finger millet myself."

"Huh?!"

After the two chatted and fooled around for a while, Rhys gradually began to guide the topic in the direction he desired.

"So, what do you think is hidden behind the third-floor corridor?"

"I don't know. It should be something dangerous."

"I know~"

Daphne's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "So you went exploring just now? And you didn't take me with you!"

'There have been plenty of explorations without you. Not every adventure is suitable for children.'

Rhys smiled. "That's right. Since you know what I just did, does that mean I can—"

"In your dreams!" Daphne quickly grabbed the remaining finger millets for herself. "Tell me what you found in there first."

Rhys described to Daphne the three-headed dog he had seen behind the door.

"Behind the door is a very rare three-headed dog!" Rhys said, almost boasting.

A three-headed dog... Daphne chewed over the news Rhys brought, then frowned. Why would Dumbledore and the school professors keep a three-headed dog in a corridor room on the third floor?

Following this line of thought, Daphne came to a conclusion: Professor Dumbledore must have hidden something in the corridor on the fourth floor and placed a three-headed dog to guard it.

Her curiosity was piqued.

"Is it just the three-headed dog?"

"I didn't really check. I just satisfied my curiosity and then left," Rhys said, a statement that fits perfectly with the image Daphne had of him.

"Hey, wait, three-headed dogs are very dangerous magical animals. You--" Daphne remembered something, but she closed her mouth halfway. In her opinion, even if there is a dragon behind the door, a wizard like Rhys can escape unscathed.

"It's this, a 'calming' potion" Rhys showed her the bottle of desire potion. "Just one breath of this, and even a three-headed dog would fall into a beautiful sleep."

Daphne looked at the potion, thoughtful, but too embarrassed to ask directly.

"Can... I mean, um, can this potion be used on people?"

Rhys looked at her.

Daphne quickly added, "My sister often has nightmares at night. If this potion can help her sleep..."

Rhys shook his head. "This potion is too strong. It's hard to control the dosage for humans. If you need, I can make a suitable calming potion for Astoria."

"Thank you." Daphne closed her mouth embarrassedly.

Her sister indeed had suitable calming potions at home. Daphne, knowing she couldn't handle a three-headed dog, simply wanted to get her hands on Rhys's potion.

The girl wanted to find out what the three-headed dog was guarding very much. If she knew something Rhys didn't, he wouldn't look down on her, right? In future adventures, she surely wouldn't be left behind!

Rhys saw all of Daphne's expressions clearly. He took a large gulp of pumpkin juice, using the cup to hide his slightly upturned mouth.

Now he has an obstacle course for his little student.

Dumbledore, thank you, Rhys offered his heartfelt thanks to Dumbledore.

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