Seraphina stared in disbelief at her blood-soaked palm and the wand that had been reduced to nothing but a handle, falling into a daze.
Before the fight began, she had never imagined that something like this would happen.
She had actually failed to withstand even a single spell from the young wizard before her? Even her wand had been blown apart?
Not even Grindelwald had ever caused her to suffer such a humiliating defeat!
"You're old. Your spells are weak and feeble, and your reactions are as slow as a snail's," Rhys's cold voice echoed through the Great Hall.
Rhys was actually lying.
Seraphina was indeed advanced in years, but her personal strength had not declined by much. For wizards, as long as they had not become too frail to move or succumbed to senility, they could retain most of their power.
But Rhys had no intention of acknowledging that. Doing so would only bring him endless trouble.
So he simply placed all the blame on Seraphina and claimed that age had weakened her beyond recognition.
Most of the people present had never fought a wizard of her age anyway. Who could tell whether he was telling the truth?
"Stop!"
Dumbledore's voice rang out from beyond the doors of the Great Hall.
A moment later, the students saw Headmaster Dumbledore hurry inside at an astonishing pace.
When Dumbledore entered the Great Hall and saw the situation, he froze.
It was somewhat different from what he had expected.
There were no ill-intentioned intruders causing destruction inside the hall. Instead, it looked as though a Hogwarts student had come into conflict with Headmistress Seraphina of Ilvermorny.
Moreover, judging by the conversation he had overheard from outside and Seraphina's blood-soaked palm, it appeared that the renowned and highly experienced witch had been the one to suffer a loss.
As a wizard from the same era as Seraphina, Dumbledore knew perfectly well what the former President of MACUSA was capable of.
Although she was best known for her political skill, her combat ability had never been a weakness. Even after Ilvermorny recruited her as its Headmistress following her retirement, there had never been any rumours that she had become senile or incompetent.
In other words, even if Seraphina had underestimated her opponent, the young wizard who defeated her was certainly no ordinary student.
Dumbledore looked towards Rhys.
His impression of the student was extremely faint.
He only remembered that his name was Rhys Chasla Lint, that he was a fourth-year Slytherin, and that he was one of the contestants representing Hogwarts in this year's tournament.
During the first stage, he had earned no points and ranked at the very bottom of the individual standings.
That was the full extent of Dumbledore's impression of Rhys.
Oh, right.
He was also a friend of Daphne and Astoria.
Hmm?
That was somewhat unusual.
A thoughtful look flashed briefly through Dumbledore's eyes.
He quietly committed the name Rhys Lint, which he had never paid much attention to before, to memory, then began considering how to resolve the current trouble.
Dumbledore's arrival allowed Seraphina to quickly regain her composure.
She understood that she had thoroughly humiliated herself this time.
No matter what she said now, it would only result in her dignity being trampled into the dirt once again.
So she merely said, "Albus, you've taught your students well," before preparing to leave in a hurry.
She could not remain in the Great Hall for another second!
"Professor Picquery, please wait."
Seraphina wanted to leave, but Dumbledore had no intention of allowing her to depart like this.
He wanted to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, or at the very least, understand exactly what had happened.
If Seraphina returned to Ilvermorny in a fit of anger, the situation would become extremely complicated.
"What is it, Albus? Do you also want to test these old bones of mine?"
After Dumbledore called her back, Seraphina felt the anger she had only just suppressed gradually rushing back into her head.
"You've misunderstood."
Dumbledore strode over to Seraphina and personally used magic to remove the wooden splinters from her wound, stopping the bleeding in the process.
Then he drew the Elder Wand.
At the sight of that familiar wand, extremely complicated emotions flashed through Seraphina's eyes.
It was the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny. Only the most powerful wizard in the world could possess it.
Its previous master had been...
Gellert Grindelwald!
However, Dumbledore had not drawn the Elder Wand to flaunt his accomplishments. He merely wanted to repair the wand Seraphina had lost.
First, he used a Summoning Charm to gather the shattered pieces. Then came the Mending Charm, and a restored wand returned to Seraphina's hand.
"Thank you, Albus."
After Dumbledore's actions, much of the anger in Seraphina's heart faded. She turned and gave Rhys a deep look, swearing to remember the young wizard's face.
'I doubt I'll ever forget you, boy from Hogwarts. You were right. Perhaps I truly am old...'
The young man standing not far away was so youthful, spirited, and talented that the gradually calming Seraphina felt a rare sense of approaching old age.
Of course, her anger had not disappeared. She merely intended to vent it in a different way.
Rhys found her stare baffling. He interpreted Seraphina's gaze as a provocation and immediately glared back.
Seeing signs that another conflict might erupt, Dumbledore felt a headache coming on and hurriedly told both of them to follow him.
Under Dumbledore's intervention, the rekindling flames of conflict were extinguished once again. Rhys and Seraphina followed behind him out of the Great Hall, one after the other.
Daphne took one step forward, but Rhys stopped her with a look.
Helpless, she could only remain in the Great Hall.
After Dumbledore and the two people involved had left, the entire hall erupted into excited discussion. Everyone began talking about the brief but intense clash they had just witnessed.
"What happened? Did Rhys defeat Professor Picquery in a single move?"
"I couldn't see clearly. I only saw their spells collide once, then Professor Picquery's wand exploded..."
"A shattered wand can actually be repaired?"
"Huh? What's wrong with the Ilvermorny students?"
Amid the lively discussion, people gradually noticed that the Ilvermorny students looked rather strange. On closer inspection, they discovered that none of them could make a sound.
Rhys had left in such a hurry that he had forgotten to remove the silencing spell.
...
"Please, sit down."
Dumbledore found an empty classroom on the ground floor of the castle and used it as a meeting room. He hoped to resolve the conflict between the two of them there.
Holding this discussion in the Great Hall was absolutely out of the question. Dumbledore understood Seraphina's temperament to some extent.
Under the gaze of so many students, she would only make the most extreme choice.
"Could you let this old man know what happened?" Dumbledore gave a wry smile. Even now, he still did not know the full story.
"A Hogwarts student attacked my students and stole a treasure that has been passed down in our school since its founding."
"Heh," Rhys's eyebrows twitched twice, and he let out a cold snort.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI