Return of Salazar Slytherin

Rhys, of course, wasn't planning on asking Hermione to help him with his History of Magic assignments, as Daphne had imagined.

In his view, some assignments were just a formality—enough to get the professors off his back. The reason he didn't ask Daphne to help was that the automatic quill he had been working on was finally completed.

All he needed to do was "feed" it a large amount of assignments, and it would be able to automatically write out homework and essays.

With the end of the term approaching, he could now purchase assignments and essays from older students at a very low price, and use them to train his quill's ability to write essays.

"..Should I go ahead and order an essay for you, just like before?" Daphne, worried about becoming "unemployed," subtly tried to probe Rhys about his plans.

"Heh~ No need. This time, you don't have to write the essay," Rhys replied confidently.

He was eager to test his automatic quill on the History of Magic essays in the summer homework and had no intention of outsourcing the work.

Daphne's face instantly turned pale—her worst fear had come true.

"You really don't need Granger to write it for you... She's the type who strictly follows school rules, a complete bookworm. She'd never agree to it, and you don't know how the Ravenclaws—"

"What?" Rhys was puzzled. He didn't understand what this had to do with Granger.

"Huh?" Daphne also realized she might have misunderstood something.

After Rhys gave her a brief explanation, Daphne was utterly amazed.

"You actually invented something like that!" She could hardly believe her ears.

"Now all I need to do is buy some essays from the fifth and seventh-year students, then 'feed' them to my quill, and it'll be all set," Rhys explained the principle behind his automatic writing quill to Daphne in simple terms.

The quill works by recording a vast amount of homework and essays and then, when given a task, it can produce a new essay based on the previous records.

Such an essay could be a blend of dozens of different essays, and all Rhys would need to do is polish it up once it's written.

After hearing Rhys's explanation, Daphne frowned.

Every year, graduates and fifth-year students who have completed their O.W.L.s do sell their textbooks, notes, and assignments at a low price, but low price doesn't mean free. According to Rhys's plan, he might need to buy the assignments of every graduate in the entire school, which wouldn't be a small expense.

In that case, she thought, she might as well hire someone to write her essays!

Daphne's comment left Rhys in silence.

Rhys hadn't heard of the Industrial Revolution, nor did he know about the phenomenon where some Muggle factory owners preferred to hire workers rather than switch to machines for manufacturing, but at that moment, he felt the same kind of absurdity.

Fortunately, this project of his was not concerned with costs.

Understanding Rhys's determination, Daphne didn't say another word and went straight to help him buy the materials. Although the misunderstanding was cleared up, the sense of crisis still lingered around her, making it hard to dispel.

She needed to find an opportunity to prove herself.

Daphne had a good reputation, and both graduates and fifth-year students were more than willing to sell their assignments and essays to her.

Some kind-hearted older students even warned her that the professors had ways of checking for plagiarism, and simply copying essays from previous years would definitely get caught. To this, Daphne responded with a smile.

Soon enough, she had acquired several large boxes of materials.

Rhys placed the quill inside one of the boxes and then closed the lid.

"Eh? Is that it?" Daphne couldn't help but ask. The process of using this quill seemed so simple, it was almost like a joke.

"What else did you expect? Manually dragging the quill line by line? What's the point of developing it then?" Rhys retorted.

Before long, after the quill had "read" through the contents of the boxes, it was time to test it out.

Rhys first spread out a roll of parchment on the table, then took the quill out of the box and placed it on the parchment. The next moment, the quill stood upright, its tip hovering an inch above the parchment.

"Write an essay on whether the practice of burning witches in the 14th century was meaningful," Rhys said softly, frowning slightly. The words "burning witches" made him feel physically uncomfortable.

However, he also knew that most of the people burned by Muggles were not actually witches. It was rare for real witches to be caught and burned. Even in the rare case when a witch was captured, the magical community would find a way to rescue them and would retaliate decisively in the area.

Direct combat might not always go in their favor, but escaping was usually not a problem.

As soon as the quill received the command, it began to move swiftly, its strokes flowing smoothly across the parchment as it wrote line after line. Occasionally, it dipped into the ink bottle to replenish its supply.

A few minutes later, a lengthy essay, a full foot in length, was completed.

Rhys took a quick glance at it and found nothing wrong with it.

Daphne: "!!"

"So, can I borrow it to write my summer homework?" she pleaded, her eyes blinking hopefully.

Rhys promptly rejected her request, explaining that aside from those less important subjects, it was still necessary to complete the other assignments seriously.

"Ugh!" Daphne let out a disappointed sigh.

The end-of-term feast arrived soon after.

The Great Hall was newly decorated in blue and bronze, the colors representing Ravenclaw, in celebration of their victory in the House Cup.

A massive banner depicting the Ravenclaw eagle hung on the wall behind the staff table.

The students were buzzing with excitement, discussing their plans for the holidays, until Dumbledore's arrival.

Once the noise in the hall subsided, he began speaking: "Another year has come and gone! Before we indulge in these delicious dishes, I must first conduct the House Cup award ceremony. The final standings are as follows: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with 376 points; in third place, Hufflepuff, with 382 points; Slytherin, with 426 points; and Ravenclaw, with 472 points."

Upon hearing Dumbledore's announcement, the Ravenclaw table erupted in thunderous cheers and applause. Even though the Gryffindor and Slytherin students had mentally prepared themselves, they couldn't help but feel disheartened.

"However, there are a few other things that must be taken into account, and I have some final points to award,"

Dumbledore continued once the cheers had subsided.

"First, to recognize the bravery shown by Mr. Harry Potter, Mr. Ron Weasley, and Miss Daphne Greengrass in the dungeons, Gryffindor will receive one hundred points, and Slytherin will receive fifty points!"

The two houses erupted into cheers once more, while Rhys frowned.

In his opinion, Daphne deserved the full one hundred points for her contributions.

Damn Gryffindor!

After the cheers died down, the students in both houses began to realize that they might have tied for the House Cup. Could it be that there would be two winners this year?

But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Great Hall fell silent: "Miss Hermione Granger—she is the first student in a century to achieve full marks in all her exams as a first-year. To reward her diligence and intelligence, Ravenclaw will receive ten points!"

With this final award, Ravenclaw, which had been overtaken by Gryffindor and Slytherin, surged back into the lead, securing their championship.

Rhys couldn't help but marvel at Dumbledore's skill in point allocation.

The Headmaster had given just the right amount—no more, no less—rewarding the brave trio while maintaining his own sense of balance. It was quite the calculation!

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