Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 127 The Secret Order's New Mission

Instead of immediately answering whether the girl was hiring, Lupet first whispered the girl's name: Valentina Catalano.

"Sister Lupert has such a good memory, so are you still hiring?" The girl with gray hair forced a stiff smile.

Lupert looked at Rice.

"I need some time to think about it."

A flicker of despair crossed Valentina's eyes: she was at her wit's end, and if she couldn't be taken in by Lupert, the most tragic future awaited her.

Lupert pulled Rice a couple of steps toward the kitchen and gave him a brief, almost whispered, introduction to the unexpected guest who had suddenly appeared at the door.

As Rice expected, the little girl who suddenly appeared at the store entrance was a werewolf, just like Lupert.

Unlike Lupert, she did not receive a systematic education at a magic school. After she was turned into a werewolf, the magic school she attended—which Rice considered more like a magic cram school—expelled her, and her family also perished in a werewolf attack, so Valentina ended up living a life of wandering.

During her wanderings, she met Lupert and lived with him for a while. Later, the two were separated due to an accident. After that, Lupert met Rice, which marked a turning point in her life.

Clearly, she came to my door today because she saw an acquaintance outside—at the very least, she could still pick up some leftover desserts from the dessert shop from my sister, right?

"Master, may I beg your mercy to bestow, to grant, that magical spell that can transform a werewolf? And to let her stay here and do odd jobs for a while?" Lupert racked his brains, carefully choosing his words, hoping that Valentina could also be saved by Rice.

Although she didn't eavesdrop intentionally, Valentina still overheard Lupert addressing Rice.

She glanced at Rice in astonishment; the turn of events was truly beyond her expectations.

Could this dessert shop be sponsored by this little boy? What exactly is the relationship between Sister Lupert and him? Considering how Lupert addresses Rice, the answer becomes obvious.

After considering it for a moment, Rice decided that he could use the Restoration Charm on the girl after she turned into a werewolf, thus freeing her from the werewolf curse.

Now that he'd encountered a werewolf, he wouldn't simply abandon her; that would be irresponsible to any ordinary wizard. However, there were nuances to how he should handle her. Using a Restoration Charm to prevent them from transforming into werewolves for a period was one method, while killing them was another.

Rice used to prefer the latter, simple and quick method, but now he's willing to put in more effort.

"Stay here. Call me when she transforms next time—oh, and I'll have to cast a spell on you later too." Rice made his decision.

The spells developed by Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are only effective against werewolves in wolf form. The principle is to use their own magic to remove the wolf poison attached to the werewolf and to continuously remove the curse from the werewolf through the spell, thereby suppressing the werewolf's transformation.

Once the spell's energy is depleted, the werewolf will still transform on the night of the full moon, at which point a Restoration Charm will be needed. The duration of the spell's effect depends on the caster's skill. However, according to Ravenclaw's design, theoretically, as the curse within the werewolf's body gradually diminishes, the spell's duration will gradually increase, potentially lasting for over a decade without needing to "reapply" the spell.

As for why it's only theoretical, Gryffindor and Slytherin prefer a faster method to cure werewolves. The Restoration Charm has significant drawbacks, since not every werewolf can find someone who knows the spell to cast it before the effect wears off and reapply the charm.

Wouldn't it just turn into a wolf and harm humans?

However, Lupert's situation is slightly different. She is a resident and can see Rice every summer, which makes it much easier for her to replant the spell.

cuckoo-

While Rice and Lupert were talking, Valentina's stomach suddenly growled.

Meeting their gazes, Valentina remained unfazed: "I'm a little hungry. May I have two of the unsold small cakes?"

Of course, Rice simply shoved the desserts he had packed into her hands.

And so, Lupert hired his second employee.

She took Valentina directly to the Leaky Cauldron, booked a room for her, gave her a shower, and even gave her a set of her own clothes to wear.

When she returned to Lupert's Dessert Shop, Rice had already gone back to her bedroom on the second floor.

She went up to the second floor and found Rice sitting at her desk, intently looking down at something.

"Sorry I'm a little late, because—"

"They finally contacted us." Rice looked up, picked up a booklet from the table, waved it around, and a smile of triumph flashed across his face.

"Who—the Secret Order?!" Lupert almost didn't react.

Rice closed the booklet and tossed it to Lupert.

"That guy in Knockover Alley, Sergi or Sergiel, had such low authority. The Secret Order made him do odd jobs for a year before they gave him a new mission," Rice couldn't help but complain.

Does the Secret Order have a sufficient budget? How could they have persisted in acquiring briefings for so long?

Rice had misunderstood them. Lupert and Serge, the previous owner of the alumni directory, had done an excellent job with their briefings, which was why the Secret Order was willing to continue paying her, even assigning her higher-level tasks after further evaluation. It's extremely difficult for ordinary people to obtain such blatant funding from the Secret Order.

Lupert opened the booklet and found a sentence appearing on the previously blank title page:

[Investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the Gringotts exorcist in northern Scotland, gather relevant intelligence, and send intelligence to the same address as before.]

Upon seeing this sentence, Rice realized that the accident was not simple, and the identities of those unspellers probably warranted further investigation.

They are very likely connected to the secret society, and the investigation into them may just be a "stepping stone" to prove their abilities.

"So you're planning to go to Scotland to investigate the truth of the matter?" Lupert asked—if her master was going to the Scottish Highlands, she would have to make some arrangements.

“No,” surprisingly, Rice shook his head. “I think there’s someone who wants to know more about the Secret Order than I do. Let him do the intelligence gathering—Rupert, write an anonymous letter to Mr. Albus Dumbledore, and give him a proper introduction to the Secret Order and how to use this pamphlet.”

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. Goodnight everyone, the next update will be at the usual time tonight!

This is the second picture of Daphne (or perhaps she resembles Astoria more in temperament?).

(End of this chapter)