Hermione left the common room, and when she did, she very unapologetically took an entire crate of stamina potions from Rhys.
Clearly, the little girl intended to seriously develop her domain.
Rhys naturally had no objections. He also wanted to see what a fully developed library domain would look like.
After Hermione left, Astoria immediately leaned in, barely able to contain herself. She had a whole stomachful of things she wanted to ask Rhys.
"What was that phantom Granger mentioned?"
Rhys blinked. "I think it's an image left behind by people who entered her domain."
"But she also said just now that your phantom was waving at her!"
"Well." Rhys lowered his head and fell into thought. The information Hermione had brought back this time was truly astonishing. It seemed that as the number of times he entered the domain increased, the imprint he left behind within it was also "evolving."
The last phantom could only repeat his movements. This time, it was able to wave at Hermione.
If he entered the domain a couple more times, would that image be able to talk to her?
And if the number of entries kept increasing, would the phantoms replicated by the domain even be able to cast magic?
He could not help wondering where the upper limit of the phantoms replicated by Hermione's domain lay. If it could fully reproduce his combat strength, that would be far too outrageous.
He even imagined a scene where Hermione summoned phantoms of all four of them at once.
If it truly reached that level, the potential of Hermione's domain could be described as virtually limitless, but that existed only in theory. Rhys did not believe her domain could sustain all four of them fighting at full strength.
There was also one extremely crucial point: were those phantoms actually copies of himself, or were they Hermione's impression of him—in other words, manifestations of Hermione's memories?
Rhys felt that this still needed observation. The gap between these two possibilities was quite large. Since Hermione had never seen him fight at full strength, the power of any phantom she conjured would definitely be worlds apart.
After organizing his thoughts, Rhys shared his ideas with Astoria.
"Clearly, the phantoms within Hermione's domain possess the ability to grow. As the number of times we enter increases, the phantoms' capacity for autonomous action also grows stronger. Later on, I believe that phantoms of others constructed from Hermione's memories should be able to move freely within her domain, and might even be able to use magic. It's a domain with considerable growth potential."
Listening to Rhys's explanation, Astoria was completely wrapped in shock. Her small mouth fell slightly open, and for a moment she did not know what to say.
Granger's domain sounded incredibly powerful!
"Then has my shadow already been recorded too?" she suddenly thought of this question.
"Of course. Every time we use the domain together with Granger, it strengthens her domain. Each time, the phantoms of us within her domain become more complete."
Hearing Rhys say this, Astoria almost felt reluctant to use Hermione's domain anymore, but Rhys had not finished speaking.
"However, the benefits of using her domain are equally obvious. Every day, we can gain several extra hours of time out of thin air. Perhaps not entirely out of thin air, but it's still more than tempting enough." In Rhys's view, using Hermione's domain was a win-win situation.
They gained additional time, and Hermione strengthened her domain.
Why not?
"Then…" Astoria hesitated slightly.
"In the future, whenever Granger comes over, we'll just enter the domain together with her." Seeing that the girl was still a bit unsure, Rhys tossed out this line in a teasing, mischievous tone.
"You could even secretly put in extra effort inside Granger's domain behind your sister's back, couldn't you?"
Astoria was instantly tempted.
She was already far behind her sister. If she made use of Granger's domain, could she narrow the gap between them? Or even… overtake her on the inside track?
With that thought, she made up her mind to use Hermione's domain together with her.
At the same time, she could not help but begin to look forward to what her own domain would be like.
That longing for a domain rose once more in her heart.
In the days that followed, every time Hermione's stamina had mostly recovered, she would seek out Rhys and pull him into the domain.
To make it easier for the girl to contact him, Rhys even gave her a communication crystal ball. This way, Hermione could find him whenever she needed to.
As the number of times accumulated, the phantom of Rhys within Hermione's domain became more and more vivid.
The current phantoms could not only greet Hermione when they saw her, they could even engage in simple communication and interaction with her.
For example, answering questions and the like.
As time passed, the N.E.W.T. and O.W.L. examinations were gradually drawing closer.
Professors like Helga also became busy. Her student Cedric would be sitting the exams this year as a fifth-year student, so she could be considered directly involved herself.
"Salazar, how is your plan progressing? Have you actually been preparing for the final trial?"
One Friday evening, Helga intercepted Rhys, who had recently been increasingly elusive, in the Great Hall and brought him back to her office.
As soon as the office door closed, Helga impatiently asked about Rhys's preparations for the final trial.
Hearing Helga bring this up in advance, Rhys's expression stiffened. It felt exactly like when finals were approaching and a group member who had not shown up for half the semester suddenly started asking about the progress of the project.
Sure, he had not written a single word, but she had not done anything either.
Facing Helga's questioning, Rhys only said that he would definitely prepare for it. It was just that he had been rather busy lately and had been delayed. When the time came, he would naturally take action.
Helga looked at him with deep suspicion. Salazar, are you serious? You are not just brushing me off, are you? This school year is about to end!
Eh? Could it be that this fellow had secretly arranged special trials for his own students and given them private coaching?
But on second thought, Helga felt that Salazar probably was not that kind of person. He was likely just genuinely busy. If something like that were exposed, how would he still show his face in front of her and Rowena? He would probably be laughed at for more than ten years.
"I really don't know what you, a student, could possibly be so busy with," Helga muttered under her breath.
"And you have the nerve to say that?!" Rhys sprang up like a snake that had been stepped on. "Do you want me to list out all the puppet components I've helped you make recently?"
Helga chuckled awkwardly and shut her mouth.
Salazar was actually quite talented when it came to crafting puppet components. He worked fast and well, one person easily matching three. On top of that, with the students busy revising and preparing for exams lately, Helga had piled even more work onto Salazar.
Seeing Helga back down, Rhys did not press the matter further and instead asked about her preparations.
"I'm already prepared," Helga said, taking out her wand and pointing it toward the wardrobe behind her. The cabinet doors sprang open, revealing a puppet standing quietly inside.
The puppet had already been fitted with a suit of chainmail.
"A top-of-the-line automatic combat puppet, plus Godric's armour. Even if that Voldemort they keep talking about showed up, I'm confident I could take him down with just this one puppet," Helga said proudly as she introduced the automatic combat puppet she had specially prepared for the final trial.
Compared to the versions sold externally, this puppet had its service functions removed, with all the freed-up space devoted entirely to mounting combat modules.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI