Rhys's eyebrows twitched twice, and he let out a cold snort.
"Heh~"
"Why do you refuse to mention that this treasure is Salazar Slytherin's wand? It does not belong to Ilvermorny. Every second you possess it is an insult to Hogwarts.
"And I did not attack them. They handed it to me voluntarily. Weren't you the one who used a Disarming Charm on me first?"
Seraphina's expression darkened again.
"Child, let me explain the history of this wand to you..."
"I know it far better than you do."
Rhys interrupted her directly.
The only reason he was still willing to speak with Seraphina was out of respect for Dumbledore, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts.
He felt that he was already being extraordinarily reasonable.
"Listen carefully. This was not Salazar Slytherin's first wand. His first wand broke not long after he embarked on his adventures.
"This was his second wand, and he made it together with Godric Gryffindor, another founder of Hogwarts.
"Together, they killed the Dark wizard Boch the Hidden and the Basilisk he had raised. They then crafted this wand using the Basilisk's horn as its core and snakewood for the shaft.
"Salazar wielded this wand throughout the magnificent adventures he shared with his three companions. In his later years, he gave it as a coming-of-age gift to his adopted son, Gaunt, the ancestor of the Gaunt family.
"The wand was then passed down through the Gaunt family as an heirloom, generation after generation, with a clear line of inheritance.
"If you ask why it later appeared at Ilvermorny, there can only be one explanation. Someone from Ilvermorny stole it, or seized it by force!"
Dumbledore and Seraphina were both stunned.
Were you actually there?
How could you know such detailed events that had long been buried by history?
For an ordinary person, simply knowing that Salazar Slytherin's wand was made of snakewood with a Basilisk horn core would already be remarkable. Yet Rhys even knew that it was his second wand?
He must be making it up, Seraphina thought.
Dumbledore's thoughts, however, were somewhat different.
"My family has an ancestral diary written by Slytherin himself. Everything is recorded clearly inside."
Seraphina: !!!
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.
"All right..." Seraphina felt as though Rhys had led her in circles. Everything he had just explained had nothing to do with what she intended to say.
"The founder of Ilvermorny was certainly not someone who seized things by force," Seraphina said solemnly. "What happened back then was this..."
She told Rhys and Dumbledore the entire story of the conflict between Isolt Sayre, the founder of Ilvermorny, and her aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt.
In simple terms, Isolt, with the help of her friend William, killed her aunt when she came seeking revenge. During the battle, Slytherin's wand fell dormant. Since Isolt could not speak Parseltongue, she was unable to awaken it and had no choice but to bury it in the ground before the school castle.
Later, a snakewood tree that could neither be cut down nor destroyed grew from the place where the wand had been buried. Legend held that Slytherin's wand still waited beneath the tree for the arrival of its new master.
In recent years, Ilvermorny had admitted a student who could speak Parseltongue. He successfully dug Slytherin's wand out from beneath the snakewood tree and awakened it. It was said that he had earned the wand's recognition.
After hearing the story, both Rhys and Dumbledore frowned.
"So it was still stolen, wasn't it?" Rhys's words caused barely restrained fury to appear on Seraphina's face.
"You can leave out all those minor details and look at the essence of the story. Isolt stole a wand that belonged to her aunt while escaping, then killed the wand's original owner when her aunt came looking for her. Isn't that what happened?"
Dumbledore remained silent as well.
In his opinion, although Rhys had omitted many important details, the fundamental nature of the matter had not changed. The person who stole the wand killed its original owner, buried it in the grounds before her own school, and refused to return it.
Seraphina remained silent for a while before finally forcing out a sentence.
"The wand belongs to Ilvermorny. Albus, you know that when a wizard dies in battle, their possessions belong to the victor."
Rhys took a deep breath.
"You mean that because you won, the wand belongs to you. Is that correct?"
Seraphina said nothing, clearly accepting Rhys's interpretation.
"That's excellent."
Rhys smiled.
The wizarding world had indeed possessed such a custom in the past. He had never expected that near the end of the twentieth century, the Headmistress of Ilvermorny would still believe in such medieval rules.
But that was not a problem.
He accepted those rules too.
Wasn't it merely a duel to the death?
Who was afraid of whom?
This suited him perfectly.
"Professor Dumbledore, the problem has been resolved," Rhys said to Dumbledore with complete seriousness. "I challenge the entire faculty and student body of Ilvermorny to a duel to determine ownership of Slytherin's wand."
He looked towards Seraphina.
"You may send anyone you like. I will accept every challenger. However, I must make one thing clear in advance. These will be duels to the death. One side will inevitably lose their life."
Dumbledore and Seraphina both widened their eyes.
Neither of them had expected Rhys to be so uncompromising.
They did not know that, as far as Rhys was concerned, the wand absolutely could not remain at Ilvermorny.
It was an intolerable humiliation.
Had Ilvermorny possessed something like a chair Salazar had once sat on, Rhys might have held his nose and accepted it.
But this was his wand!
Now that he knew where it was, he would never ignore the matter.
It was a question of principle.
Rhys did not mind defending ownership of the wand with blood.
"Once we step onto the duelling platform, age and seniority will no longer matter. I'm warning you in advance so that none of you can blame me afterwards."
Rhys made a remark that initially seemed rather confusing to both Dumbledore and Seraphina.
His meaning was actually very simple.
Once he entered the duelling arena, he would show no mercy.
After he finished speaking, the classroom fell into a prolonged silence.
Seraphina felt an overwhelming headache.
She had believed that bringing Dumbledore into the matter would allow her to suppress this unruly young wizard. Instead, Rhys had turned the situation against her.
She could tell that the boy named Rhys was not joking.
If they entered the duelling arena, someone would undoubtedly die.
For a brief moment, Seraphina considered accepting the duel outright.
She would personally take the field.
At worst, she would die in the arena!
Dumbledore keenly sensed that the situation was sliding towards an irreversible abyss.
He took a deep breath and prepared to mediate.
Under no circumstances could he allow the two of them to enter a duelling arena.
At that moment, the classroom door was suddenly thrown open with a bang.
Professor Smith White, who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts, entered together with Professor Aries, who taught Alchemy.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI