I want to take a moment to thank you for your incredible support and love. May your Christmas eve be filled with laughter, warmth, and magical moments. Wishing you joy, peace, and endless adventures in the coming year!♥
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Helena was completely stunned.
Her brain, which had effectively crashed, left her unable to think, so she instinctively asked Rhys a question: "Which mother?"
Rhys: ...
Seeing Rhys's expression, Helena's mouth dropped open.
"You mean my mother, Rowena?"
Rhys nodded.
"But how is that possible... I mean, oh my god!" Helena suddenly realized something. She rubbed her cheeks with both hands and ran her fingers through her hair. What Uncle Salazar had said was almost unbelievable to her—but the information came from Salazar Slytherin, after all!
"I told you, it was your mother who told me about you fleeing Hogwarts with the diadem," Rhys said, spreading his hands helplessly.
"I thought Mother told you this when she was alive."
"If that were the case, the person sent to find you wouldn't have been the Baron," Rhys clarified.
He explained to Helena that if Rowena Ravenclaw had managed to contact him or reveal the truth to him while she was still alive, it would have been either himself or one of the other founders who came to find her. If Rowena had wanted to go in person, the other three wouldn't have stopped her.
Neither Rhys, Godric, nor Helga would have allowed the diadem to be taken from the school.
Helena lowered her head.
If it had been Slytherin who set out to find her at the time, her fate might have been entirely different.
"So, is my mother still alive, like you?" Compared to the vague "what ifs," she was more concerned with real, tangible questions.
"Of course, though we need to redefine what 'alive' means."
In Rhys's view, Rowena Ravenclaw was stuck at the boundary between "life" and "death"—closer to "life" than a ghost would be.
Helena: 'What the..?'
She didn't quite understand what Uncle Salazar meant.
"She's like you now, but she's managed to retain her magical abilities."
After becoming a ghost, Helena had once thought she had lost the emotions of a normal person, but today she realized it had been an illusion.
"So where is she?" Helena asked urgently.
Before leaving, she had sworn never to return to the school unless she had achieved something significant. During her wandering days, she often felt lost, unsure of how to face her mother.
But after becoming a ghost and spending some time roaming the forests of Albania, those emotions gradually faded.
In their place grew regret—regret that she had not managed to see her mother one last time before her death.
Summoning her courage as a ghost, she returned to Hogwarts, only to be met with devastating news: the school's founder, the great Lady Ravenclaw, had passed away.
When she later learned from Rhys that her mother had also become a ghost, the impulsive desire to see her surfaced once more. Now, she wanted to see her mother again.
"She's sealed herself beneath the dungeons. If you want to see her, I can take you there," Rhys offered.
"Yes! But…" Helena initially agreed eagerly, but hesitation quickly crept in.
The impulse that had surged so strongly quickly faded. When faced with the prospect, her burning desire to see her mother quietly slipped away, taking her courage with it. She was unsure if she could earn her mother's forgiveness.
What Helena feared most was meeting her mother only to find that she could not forgive her—a daughter who had been so unfilial and unrighteous.
"Take your time to think it through. When you've made up your mind, come find me," Rhys said, not rushing her. He didn't think Ravenclaw harbored any particular eagerness to see her daughter either.
After all, a thousand years had passed—what difference would a few more days or months make? But there were still some things that needed to be said.
"You should go see her. I don't think Rowena blames you," Rhys said after thinking for a moment, speaking a few kind words on Ravenclaw's behalf. "Look, even the Bloody Baron had the courage to come see you. Are you saying you don't have the courage to face your own mother?"
Helena lowered her head.
"I just… need a little time to prepare myself. Once I'm ready, I'll definitely go to her!"
Seeing Helena's determination, Rhys decided not to push further. He turned and headed downstairs. As he rounded the corner of the staircase, he caught sight of the forlorn-looking Bloody Baron.
Rhys gave him a disappointed look, full of unspoken reproach.
Some people could charm even ghosts into their arms. Others, after spending years in school together and nearly a thousand years in death, still couldn't even hold hands. Who that person was, Rhys didn't need to say.
If the collective romantic luck of all his students added up to ten pounds, Adrian alone would have taken a full stone, leaving everyone else in debt by four pounds.
If only Adrian could have shared a bit of his talent with the Baron, things between him and Helena might not have… Ugh! Some thoughts were better left unexamined.
Given the Baron's fragile state of mind, Rhys decided not to tell him anything about Helena, Voldemort, or the diadem.
"Teacher…"
"In the school, call me Rhys."
"Yes, Teacher," the Bloody Baron nodded repeatedly.
The fearsome Bloody Baron, notorious in the ghostly realm, was utterly meek and obedient in front of his teacher.
"I'm heading back to the common room. Tonight's been quite fruitful," Rhys said, heading down the stairs on his own. As he reached the bottom, he seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to the Baron, who was still frozen halfway up the stairs.
"Oh, I almost forgot to remind Helena. Pass a message for me: from now on, in the school, everything should proceed as usual. I am Rhys Lint now."
"Understood." A trace of joy appeared on the Baron's face, and he quickly floated upward toward the tower.
Rhys let out a deep sigh. "That's why I don't like love. Sight~ What a mess this is!"
Afterward, he made his way to the Great Hall—there was still a chance he could grab some dessert.
When the Baron floated up to the Astronomy Tower, he found that Helena hadn't left yet.
His heart leapt with excitement, and he hurriedly floated to her side. But as he got closer, he hesitated again, unsure of how to start the conversation.
It was Helena who spoke first, breaking the silence and allowing them to finally connect.
"Do you need something?"
Helena's tone was still cool, but she was at least willing to initiate a conversation.
This was already the most cordial moment between the two in nearly a thousand years. Such progress couldn't help but lift the Baron's spirits.
"Um, well, the teacher asked me to remind you. If you run into him at school from now on, just call him Rhys Lint. His exact words were, 'Everything as usual.'" The more critical the moment, the more nervous the Baron became, and his speech grew stilted.
"Do all you Slytherins enjoy rearranging the letters of your names so much?"
"What?"
"Never mind." After saying this, Helena fell silent and stared blankly at the night sky, dark blue like a velvet curtain.
The Baron decided not to disturb her further. Quietly, he turned to leave, just about to descend the stairs, when he heard a voice behind him—
"Stay and watch the stars with me."