Rhys was not surprised that Mr. Jamison Greengrass had managed to find this place. Astoria must have told him where he had gone.
And as the head of the Greengrass family, there was no reason for Mr. Jamison not to know where the Gaunt house was, especially since the Gaunts had never bothered to conceal their shabby dwelling with spells.
"Why trouble yourself to wait here until so late?" Rhys said with a smile. "Staying at home and reading would have been far more meaningful than standing here like this."
"Spending a quarter of an hour with you is better than reading a hundred books."
Mr. Jamison's words left Rhys momentarily speechless. Why suddenly say something so awkward?
"Be serious. What's the matter?" Rhys rolled his eyes helplessly and told Mr. Jamison not to do that again.
Only then did Mr. Jamison explain why he had rushed to this remote place overnight: he had accomplished the task Rhys had entrusted to him.
"Professor Dumbledore has already given his approval, and the Ministry of Magic has agreed as well. All that remains now is for us to send invitation letters to those schools."
Hearing this, Rhys's face lit up with joy, and he said "Good" several times in a row.
"Not only should we send them to the famous schools. We can also announce it publicly and allow students from smaller schools, educational institutions, family-trained wizards, or other organizations to come to Hogwarts and participate in the competition."
When it came to the transmission of knowledge, the wizarding world had eight globally renowned magic schools, as well as many lesser-known regional schools and countless educational institutions. There were even wizards who were homeschooled—this was precisely the persona the Lint family maintained in front of Daphne and Astoria.
Rhys believed these people should also be given an opportunity. After all, if so many students from other schools had been invited, a few more would hardly matter.
As for students trained by "organizations," Rhys was referring to the secret society. He intended to take this opportunity to eliminate another batch of their active members. The only question was whether the secret society would take the bait.
"Wouldn't that be a bit too exaggerated?" Jamison asked with some concern. "With so many people and so many eyes watching, could it cause trouble?"
Rhys glanced at him and said it would not be a big problem.
The Ministry of Magic could manage a Quidditch World Cup final with a hundred thousand spectators. An event like this would naturally be no difficulty, especially with him present.
Hearing that, Jamison felt reassured.
Then the scene fell into an awkward silence.
Rhys looked at Jamison and immediately saw through his little thoughts. The man clearly wanted to invite him to stay at his house but felt too embarrassed to say it out loud, worried that it might make Rhys unhappy.
As a wizard who considered himself understanding and kind toward others, Rhys would not let someone close to him feel awkward.
So he took the initiative and asked Mr. Jamison whether, since it was already so late, he could stay at his house for the night.
"Of course, no problem." Genuine joy flashed in Mr. Jamison's eyes as he immediately agreed.
Before long, Rhys entered Greengrass Manor.
Walking along the path toward the residence beside the stream, Rhys and Mr. Jamison chatted casually.
"You went to the Gaunt house to see someone from their family, right? Unfortunately, that's bad timing. The Gaunt family was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for attacking a Ministry official and murdering a Muggle," Mr. Jamison said, instinctively assuming that Rhys had gone to visit his descendants.
The moment he said that, Rhys realized that Daphne and Astoria must not have told their father about his true attitude toward the Gaunt family.
"I remember that the Gaunt family still has one last descendant alive, named Morfin. Do you need me to make arrangements for you—"
"No need." Rhys shook his head. "I didn't go there solely to see them. I just wanted to settle a lingering matter. Though there were some unexpected discoveries as well, for example, Tom Marvolo Riddle…"
Rhys directly revealed Voldemort's background to Mr. Jamison.
Jamison: !?
Good heavens, the Dark Lord had such an origin?
Although he had lived through the wizarding war, Mr. Jamison had remained neutral. Naturally, he had never heard such secrets, ones that even most Death Eaters did not know.
"What a strange bit of trivia," Mr. Jamison could not help remarking.
"Don't rush. There's something even more interesting." Rhys tossed the Resurrection Stone ring straight into Mr. Jamison's hand.
"This is…" Jamison did not recognize the ring at first, until Rhys told him it was the Resurrection Stone.
The legendary Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows!
Mr. Jamison nearly blacked out. By Merlin's beard, you just casually tossed something like this? What if it broke?
As a pure-blood wizard, Jamison Greengrass had certainly heard the tale of the three brothers. But until a minute ago, he had always treated it as nothing more than a bedtime story.
And now, in the blink of an eye, the legendary Resurrection Stone had appeared right before him?
It was like someone by the roadside casually handing you a stone and telling you it was the stone Nuwa used to mend the heaven, while you also happened to know that the person was a living fossil from ancient times.
"You can keep it and play with it," Rhys said somewhat listlessly.
For him, the stone was no longer of any use. The fragment of Voldemort's soul attached to it had already been destroyed, and it could not even be used to treat Rowena.
Mr. Jamison was startled by Rhys's words and quickly shoved the ring back into Rhys's hand.
"This thing is too precious, and… too dangerous," Mr. Jamison said seriously.
He knew the legend of the three brothers by heart and naturally remembered the fate of the second brother.
In his eyes, the Resurrection Stone was a dangerous artifact capable of bewitching people's hearts. He had no intention of gambling on his own self-control. If he fell into its influence, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Alright." Rhys did not insist and put the ring away.
"Oh, right. How is Percy doing with his studies?" Just as they were about to enter the manor, Rhys remembered that he had previously assigned Mr. Jamison another task. Now he wanted to check the "project's progress."
"That child is truly hardworking," Mr. Jamison said, full of praise when Percy was mentioned.
Recently, Percy had almost used the Time-Turner issued to him by the Ministry of Magic to the point of smoking, absorbing all kinds of knowledge from the Muggle world like a sponge.
He could now almost be called an "expert on Muggles."
"When you handle something, I'm at ease," Rhys said, giving Mr. Jamison an approving look. Jamison responded with a wry smile.
'At this rate, Lord Slytherin probably won't allow me to retire after the competition is over,' Mr. Jamison Henry Greengrass thought pessimistically.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI