Hermione might not be comprehending an elemental-type domain—this thought flashed through Rhys's mind.
Rhys knew that domains were not limited to elemental types. A few wizards did indeed awaken strange, non-elemental domains; he had heard of such cases back in the day.
But…
Non-elemental domains were often rather underwhelming. Their combat effectiveness and sustainability were far inferior to elemental domains. Unless the domain's special effect was absurdly powerful, it was hardly different from mastering a single spell.
Rhys had once seen someone whose domain merely enhanced their physical body. According to Rowena's feedback, when her wind blades cut into that person's body, there was no particularly noticeable difference. If Rowena were to find out that her chosen successor had awakened such a domain, who knew how badly her mentality would collapse.
After figuring out what was likely happening, Rhys simply stood quietly behind Hermione, waiting for her to regain consciousness, while privately thinking about how he should explain this matter to Rowena later.
After about a quarter of an hour, the magical fluctuations radiating from Hermione gradually stabilized. The girl shuddered slightly and regained consciousness.
What just happened? Hermione felt a bit dazed.
She had been reading the notes her teacher gave her, and as she read… she seemed to have spaced out? No, not exactly spaced out—she seemed to have realized something?
Was this the "domain" Professor Sprite had mentioned? Why did it feel different from what was described in her teacher's notes?
Just as the girl was sinking into confusion, Rhys appeared at precisely the right moment.
"Good morning, Hermione. I thought I'd run into you at the library—and sure enough, you're always here," he said, sitting down across from her with a gentle smile.
Seeing Rhys suddenly appear like mushrooms sprouting after rain, a flash of delight crossed Hermione's eyes. Someone as knowledgeable as Rhys might know something, after all.
"Morning. I was just reading a set of notes passed down from the Middle Ages. They describe a kind of magical technique called a domain. Have you heard of it, Rhys?"
Of course Rhys had heard of it—this was practically like asking Einstein whether he'd heard of relativity.
"Of course. The ultimate form of magic. In the Middle Ages, it was regarded as the sole threshold for becoming a top-tier wizard."
"Rhys, I suspect I might have awakened a domain," Hermione thought for a moment, then decided to honestly tell him what she had just experienced.
"Really?" Rhys raised an eyebrow. He was genuinely a little surprised, because from Hermione's tone, it sounded like she had fully awakened a domain, rather than getting stuck at the 'half-step domain' or 'pseudo-domain' stage like Daphne or Cedric.
Then again, that made sense. Her domain was not an elemental one, so crossing that threshold was far easier than it had been for Daphne or Cedric.
"Maybe?" As a wizard awakening a domain for the first time—and someone who had never seen another person do so—Hermione herself was completely confused. Still, she had a strong intuition that she had indeed awakened a domain.
"Then why not try unfolding your domain?" Rhys wanted to see Hermione's domain for himself.
He was extremely curious.
"It might cause a rather big commotion…" Hermione was still hesitating, but Rhys, sitting across from her, kept urging her on, encouraging her.
"It's fine. I can handle any unexpected situation."
At that moment, Hermione was immersed in the changes she was experiencing and didn't notice Rhys's words.
"Alright then." In the end, curiosity overcame her instinctive caution, and Hermione decided to try unfolding her domain.
"Stir your magic, focus inward—" Rhys guided her from the side. The next instant, he felt a wave of magical fluctuation sweep past him.
But it seemed as though nothing had changed.
Rhys: ?
What just happened? Had Hermione actually unfolded her domain?
Hermione herself was also a little confused. She didn't yet understand her new domain very well either.
Rhys stood up from his seat and carefully scanned his surroundings, trying to find any trace of Hermione's domain.
What was happening to Hermione was truly abnormal. Perhaps this was simply a trait of non-elemental domains—maybe such things shouldn't even be called domains, but rather special abilities?
While silently complaining about the strangeness of Hermione's domain, Rhys kept his focus razor-sharp, sweeping his gaze across every corner of the library, determined to find something out of place.
Very quickly, Rhys noticed what was wrong.
The library had become far too quiet.
Although it was a Hogsmeade weekend and the library was already quite empty, Madam Pince and a handful of younger students should still have been inside.
But at this moment, Rhys could no longer sense their presence.
He quickly walked toward the library's information desk.
Sure enough, it was completely empty. Rhys then glanced toward the exit doors, and that single glance immediately revealed something wrong—the glass beyond the doors showed nothing but pitch-black void.
Rhys walked up to the library entrance and tried pulling the door handle. The doors didn't budge at all, as if they had been welded shut.
Rhys spun around sharply, his gaze sweeping repeatedly across the "library" before him. After a short while, he reached a conclusion.
This library was Hermione's domain.
He took long strides, pulling Hermione along with him, and quickly circled the library once. He found that this library was extremely similar to Hogwarts' library, yet subtly different in its details.
First, all the curtains on the windows were drawn, and they couldn't be pulled open at all, as if they had been enchanted with a Permanent Sticking Charm.
Second, aside from himself and Hermione, there was no one else here—not only were there no people, there weren't even spiders or flying insects to be seen.
Lastly, the shelves appeared to be filled with many books, but some of them had only an outline.
When taken down, they turned out to be empty notebooks with beautifully crafted covers. Some books didn't even have titles, existing only as props. Especially in the Restricted Section, almost none of the books contained any actual content.
Moreover, Rhys also noticed that this library only imitated the structure of the Hogwarts library itself and didn't include the attached buildings. Rowena's exclusive classroom had been replaced by a simple study room.
So Hermione's domain ability was to create a library?
That thought flashed through Rhys's mind.
If that was the case, it was somewhat darkly humorous.
Your teacher commands the wind and the sky, your friend controls all the liquids of the world, your classmate wields the power of earth and magma—and your ability is to build a library.
Hermione Granger, your domain is the most useless of them all! Rhys could practically hear Daphne's voice ringing in his ears.
While Rhys's thoughts drifted, Hermione also discovered the pattern governing the books on the shelves.
"The books I've read all have content. The ones I haven't read but still remember the titles of have titles but no content," Hermione said, casually pulling Hogwarts: A History from the shelf. When she opened it, the pages were filled with text.
"It seems your domain unfolds into a library, filled with the books you've read. Try bringing a book directly to yourself. This is your domain—you can do anything here."
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI