Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 135 Hufflepuff's Food Magic

Upon hearing Daphne's assessment of Professor Lockhart, Hermione abruptly raised her head and stared intently at Daphne.

She had prepared many rebuttals, but Daphne beat her to it, silencing her with a single sentence.

"He's lying. The story in his book, 'Wandering with Werewolves,' is fictional, or rather, not something he actually experienced—because that's not how the Restoration Charm is used." Before Hermione could refute him, Daphne shared with Hermione the knowledge that Rice had taught her about the Restoration Charm.

"Perhaps he has a very deep understanding of spells..."

"Impossible. Neither the Ravenclaw nor the Hufflepuff ladies who invented the spell could do it—I have their letters as proof. The first time they cast the spell, the effect lasted at most five years," Rice said in support of Daphne.

"What's more, he just said so much, but there wasn't a single thing of substance in it," Daphne pointed out the problem incisively.

Hermione recalled their conversation and realized that it seemed to be true. Whenever Rice steered the conversation towards more professional topics, Lockhart would find a way to steer it away from the topic. She had been so engrossed in her conversation with her idol that she hadn't noticed the problem.

Hermione panicked. Like a drowning person grasping at a straw, she desperately tried to defend Lockhart: "No way! He—I mean, Professor Lockhart—he's written so many books!"

"His writing of the book does not mean he actually experienced these things; it may be fabricated or something he heard from elsewhere."

Rice's words silenced Hermione, and after that she became suspicious: Could Professor Lockhart really be a fraud with no real reputation?

"You can't judge a book by its cover. We'll know the truth after he takes a few classes," Rice said in an almost desperate tone.

He had actually given up hope on Lockhart.

The atmosphere inside the carriage had become quite somber until the arrival of a trolley full of food, which lifted everyone's spirits a bit with the various snacks.

"So besides desserts, is there any other food, even sandwiches would be fine?" After buying a bunch of snacks, Rice felt like something was missing; he wanted to eat some staple food.

"Of course." The kind-faced sales clerk handed Rice a box of ham and egg sandwiches, fulfilling his request.

However, a single sandwich wasn't enough to satisfy Rice's appetite. Just then, a river appeared outside the train window, and Rice immediately remembered a food magic spell Helga Hufflepuff had taught him, so he immediately tried to cast it himself.

"Come on, let me show you something."

As soon as Rice uttered those words, the three little witches in the carriage all threw aside the chocolate frogs, sandwiches, and other food they were holding, and stared intently at Rice.

They knew very well that Rice was about to cast another magical spell.

"This spell is said to have been invented by Helga Hufflepuff, one of the founders of Hogwarts. At the time, they were in a hurry to travel, and Hufflepuff, who was in charge of cooking for everyone, couldn't bear to see her friends eating dry bread with cheese and salted meat day after day. She wanted to get her friends some fresh fish and meat."

"But it was winter, and the river was frozen, so there was nowhere to fish. That's why she invented this spell so that you could fish even while sitting in a warm carriage."

Rice covered up Helga's story for the younger generation, explaining that the true events were that the four of them were trapped in a mountain cabin during a blizzard. They agreed to take turns going out to find food, but when it was Hufflepuff's turn, she didn't want to brave the blizzard. However, she couldn't break her promise, so in desperation, she devised a spell that allowed her to stay inside the cabin and use spatial magic to connect a wooden tub to the river outside, then fish from the river using that tub.

This solves the food problem without having to go out.

"Is it something mentioned in the letter again?" Daphne laughed as soon as she said it.

"Yes, I have a huge collection of letters."

Daphne clicked her tongue, an interesting idea suddenly popping into her head: why not go find Ravenclaw and verify the story's truth? After all, she was in the Hogwarts dungeons.

Rice got a wooden tub from outside and filled it with water using a Clear Spring spell. Once it was full, he conjured a fishing rod and cast the hook in.

A magical thing happened: the fishhook disappeared as soon as it entered the basin, just as if it had really sunk into the river.

The three little witches all widened their eyes.

Less than a minute later, Rice flicked his wrist and caught a fish about the length of his index finger.

"I've eaten this kind of fish before!" Hermione recognized the species of fish Rice had caught and said excitedly, "It's fried until it's crispy, even the bones are crispy, and the flavor is excellent."

She sighed as she said this, "It's a pity that the conditions aren't right here."

"If it's just about dehydrating the fish, that's not difficult," Rice thought for a moment, and an idea came to mind.

He did the same thing and soon fished out of the basin a dozen or so fish out of thin air.

With a flick and a wave of his wand, Rice cleaned the fish of its scales and guts, while the moisture in the fish began to "stir," and in no time, the fish was turned into dried fish by Rice.

"You can try it. Although it's not fried fish, it should be crispy enough."

Hermione took one and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

The originally fresh fish was processed by Rice into a crispy, biscuit-like texture, so crisp that even the bones could be easily chewed. Although the dried fish was not seasoned, it still had a unique flavor.

"The taste is great, and the spell is incredibly magical!"

Rice nodded in satisfaction.

During the rest of the trip, the group quickly finished off the snacks and sandwiches they had bought at noon and enjoyed a fresh fish feast. They either dried the fish or lit a fire to grill it.

The delicious fish added a touch of brightness to the otherwise monotonous journey.

As night fell, and the sky outside the car window completely darkened, we arrived at Hogwarts.

As the train slowly pulled into the station, a hint of tension appeared on Astoria's face.

"What's wrong?" Daphne noticed her sister's change in mood and put her arm around her shoulder.

"I'm a little worried... What if I get sorted into Gryffindor?" Astoria became more and more nervous as she spoke, and even a bead of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Neither her father nor her sister, nor even the doctor who treated her, were willing to reveal details about the branch hospital, which made her lose confidence and panic.

"If you're really scared, just keep silently chanting my name while you're in the sorting room, and your wish will definitely come true." Rice looked at the nervous Astoria and shook his head with a smile.

How could this girl have been assigned to another college? But should we use her to verify the clues?

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.

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(End of this chapter)