Rhys was a man of action—once he made up his mind, he didn't delay.
After leaving a note for Daphne, he departed from Greengrass Manor and set off for Harry's home.
According to Harry himself, he lived on Privet Drive in Devon, so Rhys followed that address to find him.
The protective enchantment of 'Love' on Harry was something even Rhys, an old wizard, had never seen before. He was extremely curious about it and wanted to study it carefully—so naturally, he couldn't miss this opportunity.
"Little Whinging, 4 Privet Drive." Muttering Harry's address to himself, Rhys stood at the street corner, frowning slightly. While he knew the exact address, Little Whinging wasn't exactly a small place—finding it wasn't going to be easy.
Just then, Rhys sensed a ripple of magical energy.
In a Muggle-populated area, such unmasked magical fluctuations were especially conspicuous. Rhys's eyes immediately lit up: this wizard was most likely the very one he was looking for—Harry.
But why was this kid so bold?
Did he not care about the Statute of Secrecy?
Casting magic outside school—was he confident the Ministry wouldn't catch him?
Where did Harry's confidence even come from?
Following the trail of magical energy, Rhys easily arrived at Privet Drive, and then he saw Harry—dragging a suitcase, a birdcage tucked under one arm—rushing out of a standalone suburban house.
Rhys: ?
Harry: ?!
The two locked eyes, both momentarily stunned. From the house behind Harry, Rhys could hear a wailing noise that sounded like a chorus of banshees.
"Wait here a moment," Rhys said, dashing into the house.
He followed the noise straight to the source of the chaos: in the Dursleys' dining room, a round, floating blob was bobbing in mid-air.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an old, hideous woman. Harry's uncle was clinging desperately to her leg, trying to keep her from floating away.
Rhys immediately understood what that earlier burst of magical energy had been.
He glanced around—seeing that the people in the kitchen hadn't noticed him at all, he didn't bother making a fuss. Silently and subtly, he fired a spell at the ballooned woman, reversing her swelling just a bit to keep her from floating out the window.
Containing the chaos within the Dursley home was to Harry's advantage—casting magic in front of a Muggle family was one thing, but causing a magical incident that hundreds of Muggles could witness was quite another.
The consequences would be far more severe in the latter case.
There was nothing more Rhys could do. Once Harry had chosen to cast magic outside school, the situation had already gone beyond saving.
The Ministry of Magic would certainly have been alerted, and Ministry officials might arrive on the scene any minute now. The best Rhys could do was help minimize the fallout.
Without looking back, Rhys walked out of the Dursley house and turned to the dazed Harry standing by the roadside.
Harry looked up and said in a bitter voice, "Rhys… I think I'm going to be expelled."
Rhys shook his head. Hogwarts might expel anyone, but it definitely wouldn't expel Harry freaking Potter.
Dumbledore paid special attention to him. But this wasn't something he could explain to Harry, so he simply told him that things weren't as serious as he feared. The Ministry of Magic wasn't going to expel the "Boy Who Lived" over something this minor.
But judging from Harry's expression, he didn't quite believe him. That was normal—after all, he wasn't even in his third year yet. He still had a deep fear of the Ministry's laws and lacked a clear understanding of his own importance.
"So, what now? Got any plans?" Rhys figured that after pulling something this major, Harry probably wouldn't want to stay at the Dursleys' any longer.
Rhys's question helped bring some clarity to Harry's overwhelmed mind. He had no Muggle money at all—only a few wizard coins. All of the inheritance left to him by his parents was stored in Gringotts Wizarding Bank...
So whatever he planned to do next, his first stop had to be Gringotts to withdraw some funds.
"I'm going to London. Gringotts," Harry said with unwavering determination.
"Alright," Rhys replied. He thought it was a good idea—Diagon Alley was certainly safer than any obscure corner of the magical world.
Rhys led Harry to a nearby street, then drew his wand and summoned the Knight Bus.
"What is that?!" Harry stared wide-eyed at the enormous, triple-decker bus that had appeared out of thin air.
"The Knight Bus! Emergency transport for stranded witches and wizards. All you have to do is stick out your wand hand and hop aboard—we'll take you wherever you need to go," explained Stan Shunpike, the conductor, answering Harry's stunned question.
Harry struggled to haul his trunk and owl cage onto the bus.
Rhys was about to follow him up, but suddenly changed his mind—because he realized they were being watched.
"!!!"
He turned his head and saw an enormous, filthy black dog crouched in a corner of the street, staring at them.
Rhys blinked: Good grief, what is it with Animagi roaming the streets? Why are modern wizards so obsessed with this half-baked spell?
"Safe travels," Rhys said, standing at the bus door and waving to Harry.
"You aren't—?" Harry turned back, a flicker of panic on his face. Rhys leaving felt like a drowning man losing his final lifeline.
"I have a little something to take care of. Don't worry—you just need to sleep a bit on the bus. When you wake up, you'll be in Diagon Alley. I'll be there waiting for you." Rhys gave Harry a reassuring promise.
As for actually waiting in Diagon Alley—well, Rhys would probably go back on that.
He'd bet a thousand Galleons that within three minutes of Harry stepping foot in Diagon Alley, he'd be intercepted by the Ministry.
This kid has absolutely no idea how to go on the run after committing a crime.
Still, it wasn't a serious offense—better to get it over with quickly and have peace of mind. Dumbledore probably wouldn't even bother to intervene.
After seeing Harry off, Rhys turned toward where he had spotted the black dog earlier, only to find it had completely vanished without a trace.
"Should I go after the Animagus? Nah, must be a Ministry employee.. But it didn't feel like it. If it were, they would've stopped us right there," Rhys muttered to himself, then headed back toward the Dursleys' house.
He still wanted to study the magic protecting that house. Things had moved too quickly earlier for him to properly examine it.
At the Dursley residence, Rhys made a new discovery: the house was enveloped in a strange magical energy that seemed deeply connected to Harry. Between the two, there was a unique magical circuit—one Rhys had never seen before.
After studying it carefully for a while, Rhys concluded that the spell's function was likely to prevent people Harry didn't trust from being able to locate the house—this completely opened Rhys's eyes.
Once he had memorized the structure of the magical circuit, he heard a few sharp popping sounds. He knew at once that the Ministry's cleanup team had arrived.
Casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself, Rhys was just about to leave—when the conversation between the Ministry workers made him stop in his tracks.
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