Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 126 New Employees at the Dessert Shop

"Excellent bread!" After picking out a croissant from the dessert plate that Lupert brought out and tasting it, Rice highly praised Lupert's skills.

The perfect baking temperature, the rich aroma of butter, and most importantly, the flaky crust—every detail is perfect, giving this ordinary, even somewhat ubiquitous, bread its own unique brilliance.

"I'm glad you like it." Seeing that Rice thoroughly enjoyed the desserts she had made, Lupert was genuinely happy.

"Aren't you opening today?" Rice asked, noticing it was getting late and Lupett showed no sign of coming down to open. The worst thing for a restaurant is to close halfway through operations; they'd already closed yesterday, and closing again today would severely damage customer loyalty.

"The young girl I hired before went home, so I need to hire two assistants today." Lupet understands the necessity of opening the store every day, but she is indeed too busy right now.

unless……

Feeling Lupert's gaze, Rice thought it wouldn't hurt to help her, since he didn't have anything urgent to do at the moment. Besides, he was also eager to experience the novelty of working in a dessert shop. So, a few minutes later, Rice appeared on the first floor of the dessert shop wearing an apron.

"You just need to pack the customers' orders and collect the cash. Leave the dessert making to me." After carefully instructing Rice, Lupert went into the kitchen and began manipulating the ingredients with his wand.

She added flour, eggs, sugar, and milk to the bowl one by one, and then, under magical power, the mixture began to stir on its own. Soon, the aroma of baked goods filled the kitchen.

As the sun rises higher, the flow of people in Diagon Alley increases, and Lupert's Dessert Shop begins to welcome its loyal old customers.

With a flick of his wand, Rice's food orders floated out from in front of the counter and landed in pre-prepared takeout boxes. Rice only needed to calculate the price and then collect the change.

At first, he felt quite relaxed, but later he found that customers came to buy things almost non-stop from morning to night, leaving him with almost no time to rest.

After a busy day, Rice's thoughts underwent a subtle change: Damn, the restaurant business really is hard-earned money!

And he discovered a terrifying fact: after spending too much time in the dessert shop, he actually lost interest in the dazzling array of desserts! This won't do!

The crowds in Diagon Alley were thinning out, and the desserts in the display cases were almost gone. Rupert rushed out of the kitchen as soon as she finished cleaning up.

"You've gone to so much trouble! Please take a rest!"

When she first opened the shop, Lupert didn't realize the problem, but after she finished baking a batch of bread, she looked up and saw Rice busy running around the counter, and she immediately broke out in a sweat.

This is his own master!

To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, it's like the Death Eater Bellatrix opening a clothing store, then cutting clothes herself in a small hut while Voldemort takes customers' measurements in the store—is that appropriate? Is this a normal master-servant relationship?

As Lupert thought about this, beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. If Rice hadn't shown no signs of impatience, she would have already run out and closed the shop again.

She had made up her mind to hire some odd jobs, even if it meant closing the shop again tomorrow—how could she be so stupid as to let her boss watch the shop for her?

"Hello, excuse me..."

A young male voice suddenly came from the store entrance, interrupting Rice and Lupert's conversation.

Rice and Lupert turned around and saw a blond boy with a chubby, round face standing at the store entrance, looking timidly at the two inside.

"Neville? What... are you looking to buy some desserts? Well, you've come to the right place. The desserts here are especially delicious." Rice immediately recognized the Hufflepuff boy who brought a toad to school.

Because of his unusual pet, Rice initially thought he was particularly good at potions, but when he chatted with Hermione, he learned that the little boy was introverted, forgetful, and not good at potions at all—he often huddled alone in a corner of the common room reading books on herbalism.

"My grandma told me to come to Diagon Alley and find a shop to work in. That way, I can improve my speaking skills and courage, and also earn my allowance for next year." Upon seeing an acquaintance, Neville felt a surge of courage and, with a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, began to explain his purpose.

I have to say, Grandma Neville's idea is actually pretty good. Giving him a summer job and letting him meet all sorts of people might help him mature and become more efficient.

Judging from Neville's appearance, he had likely spent the entire day in Diagon Alley running into walls. He went into shop after shop, only to be rejected time and time again—he didn't have any particularly outstanding skills, nor did he seem very clever, so naturally, he wasn't well-liked by the vendors.

If his grandmother were willing to pull some strings and ask a few old acquaintances, Neville, who comes from a pure-blood family, could easily find a summer job. But clearly, Mrs. Augusta Longbottom had no intention of helping him; she wanted Neville to solve the problem himself.

This was her test for him.

"So you want to work here?" Lupert's eyes lit up immediately. "Sure, I'm short-staffed—can you be a cashier?"

Lupert has now reached the point of being "indiscriminate" in her interviews; anyone with two legs (or even one) and the ability to breathe will pass her interview.

As long as the ancestors don't come down to work for her again, that's fine!

"Oh, okay, sorry to bother you—hmm? I got through?" Neville was numb from being rejected all day, and subconsciously prepared to say goodbye, then realized something was wrong.

I actually passed?!

He glanced at Rice furtively, wondering if this was Rice's doing. Who was this store manager to him?

"Alright, come to the store at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. I'll give you a simple pre-job training. The salary... one Gallon per day, how about that?"

Neville nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

After he left, Lupet breathed a sigh of relief: Now I shouldn't need my master's help tomorrow... right? But thinking of the boy's clumsy appearance, she suddenly lost confidence.

Rice yawned and began tidying up the unsold desserts in the shop. He stopped halfway through because he noticed that Lupett was staring motionless at the shop door.

Following her gaze, Rice noticed a poorly dressed, pale-faced girl standing outside the shop, who was also staring at Lupert.

After a few seconds of eye contact, the girl spoke: "Are you still hiring here?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Update delivered, second update coming later.

I drew another Daphne.

(End of this chapter)