"Then why can't I take these books home to read over the summer?"
Seeing that his observations were fruitless, Rhys was about to leave when he heard Hermione arguing with Madam Pince.
"Those are the library's rules, Miss Granger. Please put the books back," Madam Pince's voice sounded cold and unyielding.
The librarian had an obsessive love for the books in her care.
She adored the collection of books in the library, and as a result, she greatly disliked the young witches and wizards who borrowed them, believing that each turn of a page caused harm to her beloved books.
In her view, the ideal state of the library was having the shelves filled with books and the tables devoid of people.
Ironically, Hermione, who loved to spend time in the library and read a lot, was not favored by Madam Pince.
For those students who borrowed books, she strictly enforced the rules and carefully checked the condition of the books when they were returned.
Hermione's attempt to borrow books for two months was almost impossible for Madam Pince to accept.
"But—"
"No buts. The maximum borrowing period for students is one month."
"Then I can send the books back by owl before the due date."
"The library is closed during the summer holidays, and books are not allowed to be taken off campus. Books must be returned in person by the borrower. Miss Granger, you can find these books at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley."
Hermione: "..."
After dismissing all of Hermione's excuses, Madam Pince walked away with her head held high, as if she had won a battle, leaving Hermione alone to place a large stack of books to their original places with a sullen expression.
Rhys clicked his tongue in disapproval. He thought Madam Pince's approach went against the original intention they had when they first established the library.
Back then, the four founders, led by Ravenclaw, donated a large collection of books, forming the basic framework of the Hogwarts library. Over the next thousand years, the school's staff and students worked hard, accumulating a vast collection, making Hogwarts Library the largest in Europe.
But books are meant to be read, not just to sit on shelves as decorative items. If these books were just gathering dust in the library without anyone borrowing them, Rhys would genuinely feel sorry for them.
Although Rhys disliked Madam Pince as a person, he also acknowledged that she wasn't entirely without reason.
As the school developed and grew, it was normal for rules to become more comprehensive and strict.
Madam Pince's actions were all backed by school regulations, whereas Hermione's stance wasn't justified. The fact that a rule might be unreasonable doesn't give her the right to ask others to break it for her. She could write to Dumbledore and ask him to amend the school rules.
But considering everything, Rhys didn't mind helping Hermione out.
"Can I borrow a few sheets of parchment?" he said, approaching Hermione.
Hermione didn't understand Rhys's intention, but she still handed him a stack of parchment. With a wave of his hand, Rhys transformed the parchment into replicas of the books Hermione had been holding.
"Now you can take them with you. Just make sure to return them at the start of the school year," Rhys said, placing the fake books on a nearby table.
"Oh My! How—But..." Hermione hesitated.
"Books sitting on shelves gathering dust is a shameful waste," Rhys continued. "These aren't dangerous texts or rare editions. Go ahead and borrow them. Just remember to write a letter to Headmaster Dumbledore, suggesting he change the school's borrowing policy."
Looking at the stack of books in her hands, Hermione's desire for knowledge outweighed her respect for school rules.
"Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!" She nodded manytimes like a broken doll
She had decided to follow Rhys's advice, take the books home, and return them when the new school year began.
...
Despite the young wizards' reluctance, the last day of the school year finally arrived.
The students packed their clothes into their trunks and set off for Hogsmeade Station, where they would board the train back to London to begin their summer holidays.
"Is the Ministry high on some illegal potions? No magic allowed during the summer holidays?" Rhys muttered, settling into his seat after placing his luggage on the overhead rack. He was reading the notice they had received an hour earlier.
Just the title of the notice made it hard for him to keep a straight face.
'Since when was using magic against the rules for wizards?! It's utterly absurd!'
But then, on second thought, Rhys realized that to hide the existence of the magical world, such measures were a necessary compromise. Compared to adults, children seemed more likely to expose the magical world, although the adults weren't much more reliable.
Recalling the "anecdotes" he'd read in the newspapers about wizards playing pranks on Muggles, Rhys couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat over the enforcement of the Statute of Secrecy.
Keys that got smaller each day until they disappeared, teapots that bit people's noses, lawnmowers that would go berserk once the switch was flipped... The fact that the magical world had managed to remain secret for so long was nothing short of a miracle.
"In theory, underage wizards aren't allowed to use magic outside of school, but in reality, this rule isn't very strictly enforced," Daphne, who was sitting across from Rhys, said dismissively.
"If you cast spells in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, or other wizarding areas, the Ministry of Magic won't bother you. You can also cast spells freely on the estates of magical families since the Ministry assumes that adult wizards can properly uphold the Statute of Secrecy."
As she spoke, an idea came to her.
"How about spending the summer at my family's manor? There aren't any magic restrictions there, and Astoria's potions will need your attention. We should have some dark energy-warding fruits stocked up from last year, too."
Rhys was tempted. It didn't really matter to him where he spent the summer.
"My father's storeroom might also have some potion ingredients collected," she added, seemingly offhand.
Rhys immediately decided to spend his holiday as a guest at the Greengrass Manor.
"But make sure you don't use magic in Muggle residential areas," Daphne quickly added, fearing that Rhys might not take the notice seriously.
"If you use magic, the Ministry of Magic will detect it immediately. My dad says it's because underage wizards have something called a Trace on them."
"Oh?" Rhys perked up.
He was very interested in finding out whether he had the Trace on him. Technically, he shouldn't have it since he wasn't truly a part of the modern magical world, and he'd never noticed any locating spells on himself.
But then again, there could be exceptions...
"Do you know what the Trace is all about?"
Daphne shook her head. "I only know that wizards under seventeen will be detected if they use magic outside of Hogwarts. As for the mechanics of the Trace, that's a secret of the wizarding world—if you're really curious, I can help you find out. But all underage wizards who've attended Hogwarts have it, so you're probably no exception."
Daphne was aware that Rhys had always been in a near-reclusive state before, but she was convinced that Rhys wouldn't be an exception to this rule.
Listening to Daphne, Rhys suddenly felt that the Trace seemed to have something in common with the school's acceptance letters; the principles behind them were likely the same.
Inside Hogwarts Castle, there was a book called the Book of Admittance, which was the basis for Hogwarts' student enrollment.
It was an "artifact" he and his three old friends had crafted for the purpose of admissions. The book contained a spell that covered the entire British Isles, capable of detecting newly born young wizards through magical fluctuations and pinpointing their names and addresses, generating an admission list according to their age.
Back in the day after his resurrection, Rhys had also fooled the Book of Admittance by releasing a magical signal, getting his name onto the new student list.
Rhys felt that this large-scale group magic of the Trace might have something in common with the Book of Admittance.
'However, could those rookies really create a magical artifact of this level?'
The "Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery" was enacted in 1875, and Rhys doubted that wizards of that time still had the capability to make something on par with the Book of Admittance.
'Wait a minute, trace on children that attended Hogwarts...'
'If that's the case, there seems to be a shortcut — could they be attaching the Trace to all the new students arriving at Hogwarts?
Then it wouldn't be a large-scale detection spell; it would fall under the category of contract magic.'
Adding a contract magic to young wizards so that whenever they cast spells, the Ministry of Magic would receive location feedback — that's much simpler than monitoring magical fluctuations across the entire British Isles.
'The specifics might vary, but this should be the general principle.
So, what is something all young wizards have done?'
The answer popped into Rhys's mind instantly.
All new students have worn the Sorting Hat and participated in the Sorting Ceremony.
In the future, when he has time, he can ask the Sorting Hat to confirm this — it's normal that he doesn't detect the existence of the Trace on himself. After all, he doesn't believe the Sorting Hat would have the audacity to do anything to him.
_________
Read 12 Chapters ahead of WN—
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