177- Baron, it’s been a while

177- Baron, it’s been a while

The Great Hall had been decorated as it was in previous years, with live bats and enormous Hogwarts-grown pumpkins, filling the castle with a tantalizing aroma.

Rumor had it that Dumbledore had arranged for a skeleton dance troupe to entertain everyone.

In the Slytherin common room, Rhys waited for the Greengrass sisters, who were dressed to the nines.

When the two appeared in the common room, Rhys was visibly stunned.

To attend the deathday party, Daphne and Astoria each wore a long dress robe, both gray in base color and identical in style. The only difference was that Daphne's robe featured green silk accents on the front, while Astoria's was trimmed in silver-gray. They also wore matching lace-up boots, distinguished only by the color of the laces.

Rhys noticed that Daphne had prominently displayed the necklace he had given her.

Astoria, who hadn't received a necklace from him, clearly felt slighted, but there wasn't much she could do. She opted to wear an emerald necklace in its place.

"You two..." Rhys shook his head, a wry smile appearing on his face. The sisters' formal attire made him look rather underdressed by comparison.

After a moment's thought, Rhys cast a Transfiguration spell on his wizard's robe, transforming it into something more like formal evening wear.

"Magic makes everything so convenient. Shall we?"

Daphne didn't rush to leave but first asked a question: "Do you think this outfit looks good?"

"It looks great," Rhys nodded.

It was clear at a glance that Daphne and Astoria's outfits were expensive.

Rhys's response made Daphne visibly happy. Just as the three were about to leave the common room, Astoria asked the exact same question.

Rhys squinted slightly. His instincts told him that Astoria's question might be leading somewhere tricky.

"Daphne's outfit looks great, so of course yours does too. Is there even any difference between your outfit and your sister's? They're identical," Rhys replied with a sly smile.

He preemptively shut down any potential follow-up question like "Whose outfit looks better, mine or my sister's?"

Dealing with kids trying to outshine each other could be exhausting, so it was best to nip it in the bud early.

"Wait, I—" Daphne tried to follow, but the flame on her chest suddenly flared up intensely. It was clear Rhys didn't want her eavesdropping on his conversation with the Baron.

Daphne pouted in dissatisfaction at Rhys's arrangement. She instinctively wanted to pursue him, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Astoria obediently walking in the opposite direction.

Daphne: !

She was stunned. In this situation, shouldn't they stand united and insist on following Rhys? Why was her little sister retreating instead of pressing forward?

Daphne suddenly came to a realization: With me as the contrast, my sister looks so obedient....

So calculating! Daphne clenched her fists, then immediately turned around to catch up with Harry and Ron.

I can be a good good too! Astoria, just you wait!

Rhys, oblivious to Daphne's complex inner thoughts, walked up to the Bloody Baron and greeted him.

"Baron, it's been a while."

The Bloody Baron: "?"

Who are you? The Baron was confused. The young wizard before him looked somewhat familiar—probably a Hogwarts student, and one with decent grades at that. But he couldn't recall ever exchanging a single word with this student.

Why did the boy seem so familiar with him?

More unsettlingly, the Baron caught a trace of... affection in Rhys's gaze? It was as if Rhys was looking at a junior or a loved one.

And there was something about the boy—a strange yet familiar aura radiating from him.

The Bloody Baron was utterly baffled.

The surrounding ghosts were equally perplexed, unable to discern the relationship between this young wizard and the fearsome Baron.

__________

Read 12 Chapters ahead: