Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 176 Let me tell you about the fun things that happened to Daphne in her first year.

With the arrival of October, Hogwarts was enveloped in a damp chill, causing many students to catch colds. Astoria was one of them. However, with Madam Pomfrey, the school doctor, on the outside, and Potions Master Lys Lint on the inside, her cold was nothing to worry about.

After drinking the specially concoction of energizer that Rice had given her, two large plumes of steam shot out of Astoria's nostrils, lasting for a full minute, relieving her discomfort and clearing her nasal passages. After drinking some more energy-boosting potion, Astoria would be fully recovered.

Daphne, on the other hand, benefited from the Gryffindor teaching method. Running laps around the secret room every day improved her physical condition, allowing her to survive the infection.

The damp weather and rain did not dampen the Quidditch team captains' burning passion. Gryffindor captain Wood and Slytherin captain Marcus, as if engaged in an arms race, trained relentlessly, rain or shine, leaving their teammates miserable.

Malfoy, in particular, couldn't keep up with Marcus's pace at first and started causing trouble. However, after a private conversation with Marcus, Malfoy surprisingly accepted Marcus's grueling training.

I wonder what kind of spell Marcus cast on Malfoy.

However, the Quidditch team's training had little to do with Rice. After thoroughly raiding the Secret Order's stronghold in North Africa, his life returned to normal until Halloween approached.

"Last Halloween, a giant was put into the castle." On a stormy Saturday evening, Rice stayed with Daphne and Astoria until the library closed, and the three of them slowly strolled back to the lounge in the corridor.

"Ah, I've heard of it. It's said that the giant later died in the castle for unknown reasons." Although Astoria hadn't enrolled last year, she was very familiar with all the gossip in the school.

"Your sister killed her."

Astoria fell silent.

Then she was shocked.

She couldn't believe that her sister could single-handedly take down a giant monster—a giant monster indeed!

Don't let their ugly, dirty, and foolish appearance fool you; trolls are veritable wizard killers. Many wizards have perished after encountering them in the wild. These creatures, with superior strength, stamina, and burst speed compared to wizards, and possessing a degree of magical resistance, are a nightmare for wizards who cannot create distance or break through their defenses.

Astoria knew her sister was strong, but she never expected her sister to be this strong!

"Don't be too surprised. When she faced the troll—" Rice planned to share Daphne's amusing performance against the troll with Astoria, so she would know that the gap between her and her sister wasn't actually that big.

"Look!" Daphne sensed something was wrong as soon as Rice started talking, so she immediately interrupted him and forcibly changed the subject—how could she maintain her authority as the older sister if she let him continue?

"Isn't that Harry? Why is he still out so late?"

Rice and Astoria were both drawn to Daphne's words. They looked in the direction she was pointing and were then greatly disappointed: Harry was trudging along, looking tired, carrying his broom. He had clearly just finished an exhausting Quidditch session.

This is perfectly reasonable; there's absolutely no need to make a fuss.

A sudden realization flashed through Rice's mind. He glanced at Daphne, whose eyes were darting around—this little girl has quite a strong sense of self-esteem!

After thinking about it, he decided to save face for Daphne and not expose her.

"Sister, that Potter is the Seeker for the Quidditch team! Isn't it normal for him to be training until this time? But they're really dedicated, training out in this weather..." Astoria didn't realize her sister's intention and scolded her for being so dramatic.

Daphne discreetly observed Rice's reaction; her sister's opinion was insignificant, Rice's attitude was crucial.

Fortunately, Rice didn't seem to care about his performance and didn't dwell on the topic of trolls any further.

"Wait a minute, Harry looks like he's in trouble." While Daphne and Astoria were chatting, Rice noticed that the doorman Filch had silently crept up behind Harry.

Sure enough, Harry was taken away by an enraged Filch for soiling the floor.

"Is it really necessary? It's just a dirty floor, right? A cleaning spell can fix it." Astoria muttered to herself, thinking Filch was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"He's a Squib," Daphne explained for Filch, adding that he had his own difficulties. What would be a simple task for an ordinary junior wizard required ten or even a hundred times more effort from him. Worse still, having spent half his life in the wizarding world, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the Cleansing Charm.

He knew the spell to solve the problem, but he couldn't use it—that's the tragedy of a dud.

Filch's harsh treatment of students is likely related to his status as a dud; his mentality has become twisted.

Astoria: !

She never expected that the gatekeeper, who was always picking on the students, was actually a dud.

"Squibs..." Astoria murmured the word. She knew of their existence; they were poor souls born into wizarding families but without any magical abilities.

The most lenient approach to dealing with Squibs is to send them to Muggle schools from a young age and encourage them to integrate into Muggle society.

"It's said that all wizards born into Muggle families are actually descendants of Squibs and Muggles," Daphne shared this little-known fact.

Rice shook his head. This hypothesis was not quite in line with their judgment back then. According to the conclusion of his discussion with Ravenclaw, everyone on Earth had the potential to awaken magical talent, but the descendants of wizards had a slightly higher chance of awakening it.

"The difference between Squibs and regular wizards isn't that big. Regular wizards, even if they don't understand how magic works, can subconsciously use magic. Squibs might have a congenital defect, or their magic flow might be obstructed, or they might be insensitive to the magic in their environment, or their own magic might be too weak. In any case, they can't drive magic like normal wizards." Rice explained her analysis of the causes of Squibs to the Greengrass sisters.

"If you teach them how magic works, wouldn't the Squib be able to turn back into a wizard?" Astoria exclaimed.

"Perhaps," Rice said casually.

Astoria and Daphne: !!!

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 soon~

Today's funny picture: Hermione de Granger, an international student at Beauxbatons.

(End of this chapter)