Rhys's idea was actually somewhat similar to the enchanted ceiling of the Hogwarts Great Hall, except turned outward.
Magic would form something like a "dome." To the outside world, it would display the illusion he and Helga had created, while inside it would remain normal weather. That meant the Quidditch players would still have to compete in storms and rain.
"This will place very high demands on us." After being happy for a moment, Helga also realized the difficulty of this solution.
To put it bluntly, the two of them would be the ones bearing the burden.
Rhys let out a sigh.
"We have to leave something behind for future generations. Creating a massive magic array is still easier than constantly destroying Muggle satellites or completely knocking Muggle civilization back into a dark age." As he said this, Rhys suddenly narrowed his eyes.
Huh? It seemed he had just come up with a bold idea…
"No, you're not allowed to!" Helga thumped Rhys on the head, knocking that bold thought right back where it came from.
"You're absolutely crazy! Modern Muggles already have an extremely complete system of knowledge, and their methods of passing it down are very stable. You can't do something like that by yourself. What's more, there are so many students from Muggle families. They wouldn't just stand by and watch. Take the child Rowena took in for example, isn't that one also from a Muggle family? If you did something like this, she would definitely fight you to the death."
"Relax, didn't I not do it in the end?" Rhys rolled his eyes.
Helga glanced at him and complained inwardly. If Rowena and I weren't here, this guy might really go and do something like that.
For someone like Salazar, that old venomous snake, it was best not to drive him into a corner, because he would destroy the entire road along with it.
He really was just like a viper.
When faced with small troubles, he could still endure them, and his punishment would be nothing more than a light warning. But if you truly angered him or pushed him into a dead end, then he would become ruthlessly vicious.
Baring his fangs and injecting every drop of venom at once was his way of doing things.
However, Helga's mention of witches and wizards from Muggle families made something strike Rhys like a bolt of lightning. He realized something.
"Helga, I have a question." Rhys rubbed his chin with his fingers. "You see, Hogwarts accepts so many students from Muggle families. Can the wizarding world really keep itself completely secret from the non-magical world?"
At first, Helga thought Salazar was having a relapse of his old obsession, shifting his focus onto Muggle-born students again in the name of secrecy, trying to revive what he did a thousand years ago.
But as she listened further, his words stirred a trace of curiosity in her as well. Yes, why was that?
Unlike a thousand years ago, the modern magical world and the non-magical world were strictly separated.
Yet there was one group of people who could move back and forth across that divide again and again, and they were the students from Muggle families and the half-bloods.
After graduating from Hogwarts, without exception, all of them chose to stay and live in the magical world. No one even considered returning to the non-magical world to attend a university or anything like that.
That was a little strange.
"Do you think the school or the Ministry of Magic might cast some kind of strange spell on young witches and wizards from Muggle families when they graduate, making them…"
"Absolutely impossible," Helga said with great certainty.
That simply did not fit Hogwarts' style of doing things. It was far too Slytherin in nature, and she did not believe that Dumbledore would do something like that.
And to put it bluntly, she felt that with the current level of the magical world, they did not even possess enough power to bring about the scenario Salazar had described.
That would be equivalent to casting the Imperius Curse on every young witch or wizard from a Muggle family, which was obviously beyond the capabilities of the modern magical world.
Aside from the Imperius Curse, there were indeed other spells that could achieve something on that level, but Helga had never heard her colleagues mention them, and there was no trace of them in any books either. They were most likely already lost to time.
"That makes sense." Rhys nodded.
He also believed that neither the Ministry of Magic nor the school could possibly have that kind of resolve. If even he hadn't managed to do it, expecting those people to accomplish it was asking the impossible.
"So I was thinking, maybe a small number of Muggles do know about the existence of the magical world, it's just that there are very few of them. I mean, apart from those Muggles who are related to wizards, there might still be some who know that wizards exist. That's what I just realized."
Helga began to ponder the possibility of her old friend's conjecture. She rested her chin on one hand, while the other unconsciously tapped the table in a steady rhythm.
After a while, she also felt that what Salazar said sounded plausible.
"Perhaps the Ministry of Magic lets the leaders of the Muggles know about the existence of the magical world. Who is the current leader of the British Isles?"
"The Queen and the Prime Minister, I suppose?" Rhys thought for a moment, then took out the corresponding Encyclopedia of Britain from his pocket. "You can take a look at the section on the British political system."
Watching Helga flip through the encyclopedia at top speed, Rhys couldn't help saying to her, "I really think you need to catch up on this. Your understanding of Muggles is seriously lacking. Why not start with this set of the Encyclopedia of Britain? I think they're very useful. If you want, I can get you another set later."
Helga stopped what she was doing and shot Rhys a fierce glare.
"At my age, I should have gone on a trip around the world first, then found a quiet little village to enjoy my retirement in peace. Instead, someone dragged me here to start working again. And now I still have to learn a whole bunch of new knowledge. Is this really what an old person about to retire should be going through?"
There was a strong note of resentment in Helga's tone, clearly showing her deep dissatisfaction with the workload at Hogwarts.
"I need to remind you that there's no such concept as retirement in the magical world—" Seeing that Helga was on the verge of exploding, Rhys immediately changed the subject. "Flip a few pages further and you'll find the section introducing the British political system."
Guided by Rhys, Helga found the part of the encyclopedia that described Britain's system of government.
"The Queen, the Prime Minister, constitutional monarchy? What is all this supposed to mean?"
Rhys gave Helga a brief introduction to Britain's political system. He had once discussed this in detail with Hermione, so he had a fair understanding of it.
"So the royal family has become just a symbol, and the Prime Minister is the one with the most power?" After listening to Rhys's explanation, Helga felt that something didn't quite add up.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI