Return of Salazar Slytherin

Helena misunderstood Rhys's words, thinking that her mother must have somehow found Uncle Salazar before her death and confessed everything she had hidden from him.

To her, this seemed like the most reasonable explanation, and she didn't dare even to speculate about the true nature of events.

After a moment of silence, Helena confessed everything to Rhys: after stealing the diadem from her mother, she fled eastward and eventually arrived in a desolate forest in Albania.

She believed that even someone as powerful as her mother could not reach her in such a distant place.

Helena was right. Rowena Ravenclaw indeed couldn't reach her, as an obligation far heavier than familial love weighed on her shoulders.

After revealing everything, Helena completely let down her guard before Uncle Salazar. Her words poured out like a flood breaching a dam.

"I wanted to be smarter than my mother, more renowned than her. Uncle Salazar, you wouldn't understand. Because I'm Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter—because of my surname—every achievement I make is seen as something I was born to have, no matter how much effort I put in. Yet every tiny mistake I make is unforgivable because it tarnishes the name. You can't possibly understand!"

Rhys could more or less empathize with the pain of Helena living under Rowena's shadow.

Fragments of brief memories surfaced in his mind—

["Isn't she Ravenclaw's daughter? How could she not know this spell? Hey, why are you nudging me—oh no, it's Professor Slytherin!"]

["She only became a prefect because of her mother, right? If I had the same background, I'd do just as well."]

["Alright, don't be upset. It's perfectly normal for Professor Ravenclaw to pick her—she is her daughter, after all! You losing out is just natural..."]

...

These were just the comments Rhys happened to overhear. Who knew how much passive-aggressive gossip Helena had to endure in her daily life?

No wonder she was so desperate to escape her mother's shadow. Unfortunately, in her confusion, the child chose to steal the diadem.

Even if the diadem really granted her a bit of wisdom, wasn't that still achieving success by standing on her mother's shoulders?

To truly surpass Rowena, Helena would need to leave home with nothing but a wand and a few books, then carve out her own reputation alongside like-minded friends.

"Foolish child, sigh," Rhys said, looking at Helena with sympathy. He shared his thoughts with her truthfully.

"If you had set out and achieved something remarkable on your own, then built a magic school with your friends that surpassed Hogwarts, wouldn't that have been a true way to surpass Rowena? Isn't that much better than running around with a dangerous diadem?"

Helena froze, and pearly-white tears began streaming silently from her eyes.

The idea had crossed her mind before, but she knew all too well how difficult it would be. She simply couldn't do it. In other words, she would never be capable of becoming as great a witch as her mother.

It's hard for anyone to accept their own mediocrity, especially for someone as proud and ambitious as Helena.

Still, calling her mediocre was a bit unfair. Helena was like a bright, shimmering star in the night sky. But the issue circled back to the beginning: her mother was the great Rowena Ravenclaw. Beside the brilliance of the full moon, even the most dazzling stars appeared dim.

"Alright, stop crying," Rhys said gently, offering words of comfort. At the same time, he shot a sharp glance at Barrow.

Barrow understood immediately. He floated quickly over to Helena's side, pulling a blood-stained handkerchief from his robes and beginning to dab at her tears.

Rhys: "..."

Never mind, some things just can't be taught by a teacher.

Fortunately, Helena was too overwhelmed to notice Barrow's blood-stained handkerchief. She simply sniffled and took the handkerchief, wiping at her own tears.

Judging by Barrow's expression, he seemed more than content with the situation. Normally, he wouldn't even have the courage to stay in the same room as Helena. But now, he stood beside her, offering a handkerchief for her tears and providing her emotional comfort. Wasn't that a significant step forward for him?

After a while, Helena's tears subsided.

"Now, can you tell me—wait. I'd rather hear your story somewhere else. Meet me at the Astronomy Tower," she said.

Rhys glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed the school's Halloween Feast was nearing its end.

This wasn't a good place to linger. If Ravenclaw students stumbled upon them, it would be a disaster.

Rhys opened the window of the common room and flew directly to the nearby Astronomy Tower.

Helena glanced at Barrow, said nothing, and turned to disappear into the wall. Barrow silently followed her, vanishing as well.

When Helena and Barrow arrived at the Astronomy Tower, Rhys was already there waiting for them.

"So, what happened after you left Hogwarts?" Rhys couldn't contain his curiosity about Helena's story after her departure.

"First, I headed east, crossing the channel. Then, I traveled through France, went south to Spain, took a ship across the Mediterranean to Venice, detoured to Byzantium, and finally ended up in Albania, where I found a desolate forest to live in seclusion," Helena recounted.

Rhys glanced at Barrow, who immediately understood and explained how he had tracked down Helena.

People leave traces wherever they go, and wizards are no exception. A young, beautiful lone traveler like Helena naturally left a strong impression on others.

Barrow followed the testimonies of eyewitnesses all the way to Spain. There, he came into contact with someone who had traveled with Helena, and this person informed Barrow that Helena's final destination was Albania.

"Traveled with someone?" Helena exclaimed in shock. "I was traveling alone the whole time!"

"Huh? Weren't you hiding in the forest with a companion, studying Professor Ravenclaw's diadem?" Barrow was bewildered by Helena's denial.

"Then why don't you tell me—who was I supposedly hiding with?"

After Helena posed this question, Barrow froze.

He couldn't, for the life of him, remember the name of the person who had given him Helena's whereabouts.

Watching Barrow's expression and noting the contradiction between his "testimony" and Helena's words, Rhys grew certain that the events of that year weren't as simple as Barrow's temper flaring and accidentally killing Helena.

Helena, too, was puzzled by Barrow's apparent confusion.

She couldn't understand how he could misremember something like this. But Rhys didn't give her time to dwell on it. Instead, he jumped straight to his next question.

"Nana, can you tell me what happened that day—when Barrow found you?"

"Of course." Helena brushed aside the strange feeling in her heart and shot a venomous glare at Barrow.

"I heard him stumbling and calling my name as he made his way through the forest. I walked out of my secluded cabin and hid my mother's diadem in a hollow tree."

"When he found me, I refused to go back with him, and he flew into a rage." At this point, Helena's expression twisted with anger. She shot another sharp glare at Barrow. "He hated that I rejected him, envied my freedom, and stabbed me to death."

Rhys nodded thoughtfully, then asked a pivotal question: "So, why did you hide the diadem?"

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