"Really?" Hermione, unaware of the deeper implications, was delighted.
A library domain? Didn't that mean she could slip into a library to read anytime she wanted? She absolutely loved this domain.
She tried as Rhys suggested, and a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them flew straight into her hands.
Hermione: !!!
"So it really works!" She snapped her fingers several times, and six or seven books appeared out of thin air on the table beside her.
After playing with the ability for a bit, she waved her hand, and all the books automatically returned to their original places.
However, when Hermione tried to conjure some food or drink, she failed.
"Maybe it's because eating and drinking are forbidden in the library?" she muttered to herself.
Rhys was also somewhat astonished. This domain even came with built-in rules? It seemed different from ordinary non-elemental domains—or rather, different from most domains he had ever seen.
Hermione's library domain couldn't expand almost infinitely like an elemental domain, nor could her body evade attacks or move rapidly through elemental transformation.
Yet unlike ordinary non-elemental domains that only covered a very small area, its range was actually quite large—after all, it was as big as the Hogwarts library, and even came with some strange rules.
This domain was truly fascinating.
"Wait a second!" Hermione suddenly interrupted Rhys's thoughts and pulled a Chocolate Frog out of her robe pocket, then took out a jug of pumpkin juice from her schoolbag.
Rhys: "??"
"That's really strange," Hermione said, looking just as confused. "I just found these in my pocket. Could it be because eating is forbidden in the library, but students are allowed to sneak food in?"
Rhys blinked, took the Chocolate Frog from Hermione's hand, and before she could stop him, tore open the wrapper and popped the frog into his mouth.
Mm~~. It tasted exactly the same as a Chocolate Frog from outside.
"That's really strange. This violates—"
"Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration?" Rhys anticipated what Hermione was about to say.
"Yes," the girl nodded, her bushy hair bouncing as she did. "You can't conjure delicious food out of nothing."
"This wasn't conjured out of nothing," Rhys shook his head. "It consumed your mana and manifested within your domain."
Domains are incredibly mysterious things. Within them, all sorts of strange phenomena can occur.
"By the way, do you feel tired?" Rhys asked, also curious to know how long Hermione's domain could remain active.
Her domain seemed to consume her own magic, and it was probably difficult for it to stay open as long as an elemental domain.
After Rhys mentioned it, Hermione did feel a hint of fatigue. However, she sensed that she could still hold on for a while longer—at least for a few more hours. If she hadn't just produced a jug of pumpkin juice and a Chocolate Frog, she might have been able to last even longer.
After asking a few more questions, Rhys gained a rough understanding of Hermione's domain.
It seemed to create a library containing the books she had read. Within the library, there were some strange rules, yet those rules could be circumvented by Hermione in her own way.
A fascinating, yet somewhat underwhelming domain.
"Deactivate your domain for now," Rhys gestured for Hermione to dispel it so the two of them could return to the real world.
Hermione did as instructed, and in the blink of an eye, they were back in the actual Hogwarts library.
Looking at the clear sky outside the windows, Rhys was certain that he and Hermione had returned to reality.
"Come on, let's take a walk by the Black Lake," Rhys said, leading Hermione straight out of the library.
"Professor Sprite should have talked to you about the classifications of domains, right?" Rhys asked as they walked.
"She mentioned it briefly, but didn't go into much detail."
"I see…" Rhys then explained to Hermione how domains were classified according to his own understanding, including the strengths and weaknesses of elemental domains, as well as the various non-elemental domains he had seen or heard of.
However, he was tactful enough not to bring up any comparison between elemental and non-elemental domains. When Hermione asked, he brushed it off with a simple "each has its own strengths."
Watching Rhys walk beside her, speaking confidently about domains, Hermione realized something.
"Rhys, do you also have a domain?" He was far too knowledgeable about such an obscure concept—even more detailed than what Professor Sprite had written in her notes. That could only mean one thing: he very likely possessed a domain himself.
"That's right." Rhys admitted it openly. In his view, Hermione already had the right to know part of the truth.
"You actually have one?" Hermione's eyes widened instantly.
"Yes."
"You never mentioned it!"
"You never asked, did you?"
Hermione: "…"
Just then, the two of them arrived at the Black Lake and walked side by side along its shore for a while.
Rhys noticed that someone in the castle not far away was watching him. That person was Helga—it seemed she had already received his message.
"Do you want to try opening your domain again?" Knowing that Helga was observing from afar, Rhys asked Hermione to activate her domain once more.
This was related to a hypothesis he had about Hermione's domain.
Although she didn't quite understand why, Hermione still did as he asked. Once the domain was activated, in the blink of an eye the two of them found themselves once again inside the library domain that closely resembled the Hogwarts library.
"This time, let's test how long this domain can remain expanded at most," Rhys said, continuing his examination of Hermione's domain.
Such a wondrous domain had piqued his curiosity, and he intended to study it carefully.
After taking an hourglass out of his robe and placing it on the table, Rhys pulled out the encyclopedia Hermione had given him and sat down to read inside her domain.
Hermione: "…"
Rhys really didn't stand on ceremony at all.
She smiled and took out her own books to work on her homework.
Time passed quickly. Rhys's hourglass flipped over once every quarter hour. After it had been turned thirteen times, Hermione put her things back into her bag.
"I can't hold on much longer," the girl said, her face slightly pale.
After Rhys also prepared himself, she dispelled the domain, and the two of them returned to the shore of the Black Lake.
The moment they returned to reality, Rhys looked up at the position of the sun—and the sun had not shifted noticeably.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI