While Dumbledore persisted in burning away the lump of flesh that Capricornus had turned into, Rhys was preparing for departure in the dungeon alongside Ravenclaw.
"I need you to help me create a body," Rhys said to Ravenclaw.
"Can't you do it yourself? I remember Transfiguration isn't your weak point," Ravenclaw replied, a bit puzzled, not understanding why Rhys needed her help.
"Because I need to conserve my magic for the journey and to deal with those little rats. More importantly, this trip will take at least a day, so I need this body to be a bit more… 'intelligent' and able to convincingly play the role of Rhys Lint."
"I could control this body for you," Ravenclaw suggested, her lips curving into a slight smile.
"Absolutely not."
Upon seeing her smile, Rhys declined her "kind offer" immediately.
He wouldn't dare let Ravenclaw control his duplicate body; who knew what she might do?
"I'll just stay in the library and attend classes. I won't cause any trouble."
"Impossible."
Though Ravenclaw's tone was entirely sincere, Rhys wouldn't believe a single word of it.
"I could swear by the Black Lake."
"Miss Ravenclaw, your credibility is bankrupt with me. Even if you swore by the Black Sea, it wouldn't matter!" Rhys refused Ravenclaw's request firmly.
He would never allow Ravenclaw to meddle with his duplicate body.
After several failed attempts, Ravenclaw finally accepted reality and joined Rhys in using Transfiguration to create the duplicate. As for playing tricks or leaving a hidden backdoor within the duplicate, Ravenclaw refrained.
Attempting such things right in front of Salazar would truly be taking him for a fool.
A few minutes later, a Rhys duplicate, brimming with magic, was ready.
Rhys circled around the duplicate twice, then frowned. The face generally resembled his, but something felt slightly off.
Yes, some details didn't look quite right!
Rhys looked at Ravenclaw. "Rowena, did you make changes to the facial structure?"
Ravenclaw: Of course! (▰˘o˘▰)
"Don't you think it looks more handsome? See, just a slight lift here on the nose, and a bit more contour on the cheekbones—"
"Rowena Ravenclaw!" Rhys couldn't help but call Ravenclaw by her full name. "This is supposed to be a duplicate of me, not some decorative statue! Stop altering my appearance without permission!"
"But it clearly looks better this way."
"Sorry to disappoint that I didn't grow up to your ideal image!" Rhys replied irritably, with a quick wave of his hand to restore the duplicate's appearance back to his own, undoing all of Ravenclaw's tweaks.
Ravenclaw sighed.
Rhys noticed her subtle movements out of the corner of his eye.
Turning to see what she was doing, he saw Ravenclaw conjuring a small, palm-sized green vortex in her hand.
Rhys decided not to argue with her for now.
He pointed his wand at the duplicate, sending it off to walk around on the ground level.
Crafted with the combined ingenuity of two founders, this duplicate had an impressive range of functionalities.
Rhys could even share its vision and hearing over a certain distance, and controlling it to speak was no problem.
Once Rhys left the school, the duplicate could answer questions with simple phrases and even cast spells, all according to the instructions he and Ravenclaw had programmed into it.
"Are you really not considering giving me a bit of control? If the duplicate's auto-response mechanism causes any issues, I could step in to handle it," Ravenclaw suggested.
For a moment, Rhys felt tempted, but he quickly came to his senses—this was just one of Ravenclaw's usual tricks, and he knew better than to fall for it! He knew Ravenclaw's nature far too well.
If he handed over control of the duplicate, who knew if he'd find himself locked in a detention room upon returning?
"Alright, alright," Ravenclaw finally relented, shrugging her shoulders helplessly in the face of Salazar's complete lack of trust. For a brief moment, she wondered if maybe she'd overdone things, leading to this complete absence of trust between them after all these centuries as old friends.
She pondered this for two seconds before confirming it wasn't her fault: they'd left their vulnerabilities so obviously open—it was clearly an invitation for her to tease them!
Everyone enjoyed it, so how could it have gone too far?
Watching Rhys leave with his duplicate, Ravenclaw sighed. Salazar was getting harder and harder to fool.
If she'd gotten control of the duplicate, she would have definitely taken the opportunity to browse through every book she'd wanted to read in the library—there were several new books in the Restricted Section that had caught her eye!
Rhys guided his duplicate back to the Slytherin common room.
As soon as the door opened, a single oil lamp flared to life in the dark room. Daphne sat in a corner, expressionlessly watching Rhys's duplicate at the doorway.
Rhys: "…"
"Why aren't you asleep yet? Staying up this late will stunt your growth!" Rhys took control of his duplicate and spoke with mock concern.
"Blocking the common room door, huh? Makes it easy to catch young witches sneaking out after curfew, doesn't it?" Daphne raised an eyebrow, perfectly mimicking Rhys's tone.
Rhys thought to himself: This boomerang really came back fast—I walked right into that one!
"So, Mr. Lint, mind explaining how you managed to return from the bathroom to the common room entrance fully dressed? I'm really curious," Daphne said, her voice filled with feigned sincerity.
"Well, actually, there was a hidden teleportation array in the bathroom that activated and transported me out..." Rhys started spouting nonsense with a straight face.
"Even transported your clothes along with you?"
Daphne's comment made Rhys fall silent.
"Goodnight!" Rhys decided to head straight to his dorm and avoid further banter with this sharp-tongued girl.
"Wait!"
Rhys's duplicate stopped in its tracks.
"So, you went to deal with those three wizards, didn't you?" Daphne asked urgently. She was very concerned about those three sinister outsider wizards.
Rhys thought for a moment and decided to fall back on his usual reliable excuse.
"Yes, I caused a bit of a commotion and attracted Professor Dumbledore. The intruders have been dealt with now."
Finally hearing confirmation from Rhys, Daphne let out a sigh of relief. She'd been somewhat afraid that Rhys might actually ignore the situation.
Seeing that he seemed to have reassured her, Rhys withdrew his consciousness from the duplicate. The duplicate turned on its own and started heading to the dormitory to sleep.
But Daphne, who was standing behind the fake body, narrowed her eyes. She felt that something was wrong with the Rhys in front of her.
The next moment, a spell pierced through the chest of the fake Rhys.
___________
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