Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 179 Barrow, Long Time No See (Bonus Chapter, Please Subscribe)

As in previous years, the Great Hall was decorated with live bats and giant pumpkins, a Hogwarts specialty, and the entire castle was filled with an enticing aroma. Rumor had it that Dumbledore had booked a skeleton dance troupe to entertain everyone.

Rice waited for the elegantly dressed Greengrass sisters in the common room of Slytherin House.

Rice's pupils dilated in shock when he saw the two people who appeared in the lounge.

To celebrate the anniversary of their deaths, Daphne and Astoria each changed into an identical formal robe. Both robes were gray, the only difference being that Daphne's robe had a green silk front, while Astoria's was silver-gray. They also wore the same style of lace-up boots, differing only in the color of the laces.

However, Rice noticed that Daphne had hung the necklace that Rice had given her in a very conspicuous position on her chest. Astoria, who had never received a necklace from Rice, was obviously very dissatisfied with this, but there was nothing she could do but replace it with an emerald necklace.

"You two..." Rice shook his head, a wry smile on his face: Daphne and Astoria were dressed a little too formally, which made him look very informal.

After a moment's thought, Rice cast a transformation spell on his wizard robes, making them look more like formal attire.

"Having magic is so convenient, shall we set off?"

Daphne didn't rush into anything; instead, she asked a question first: "Do you think this dress looks good?"

"It looks good." Rice nodded.

Daphne and Astoria's outfits look very expensive.

Rice's answer pleased Daphne, and as the three were about to leave the lounge, Astoria asked the exact same question again.

Rice narrowed his eyes; his intuition told him that there were probably more problems waiting for him behind Astoria's question.

"Daphne's clothes are beautiful, so of course yours are beautiful too. What's the difference between your clothes and your sister's? They're the same," Rice replied with a smile.

He directly eliminated the possibility of a question like "Whose clothes look better, mine or my sister's?"

It's a real headache when children start comparing themselves to others; we need to nip it in the bud.

"If I were you, I would bring some food with me." Lester led the two to the entrance of the hall after leaving the lounge. "The dead don't prepare food for the living."

Daphne listened to advice. When Rice said that, she took out the lunchbox she had prepared earlier and went to the auditorium to get some food.

After bringing the steaming hot food, the three of them immediately made their way through a narrow passage to the underground classroom where the anniversary party was to be held. Unlike the magnificent auditorium, the walls on both sides of the passage were only lit by a few thin candles, which glowed with a bluish light. It was unclear whether these were specially chosen atmospheric candles for Halloween.

The closer you get to the underground classroom, the lower the temperature becomes, and you can hear strange music that sounds like fingernails scraping across a giant blackboard.

Everything here felt out of place in the world of the living.

The three turned a corner and saw Nick, almost headless, standing at the entrance to the underground classroom, draped in a black velvet drape. Harry and Ron had already arrived.

"Good evening." Harry forced a bitter smile, clearly regretting agreeing to meet Nick. Ron, standing next to him, wore the same constipated expression as Harry.

Harry and Ron didn't seem too surprised by the arrival of Rice and his friends, as it seemed Nick had already told them that Rice and his friends would be coming.

Once everyone had arrived, Nick took off his feathered hat, bowed to the five of them, and said in a sorrowful tone, "My dear friends, welcome... I am so glad you could come."

Then he stepped aside and invited everyone to enter.

The underground classroom was now crammed with hundreds of milky-white, semi-transparent figures, most of them swaying and dancing in the center of the dance floor to eerie music. The temperature inside the classroom was definitely below zero, and with each breath that Rice and the other survivors took, a cloud of mist would rise in front of them.

"Here you go." Rice summoned five balls of flame, which flew to each person's chest and stuck to the front of their robes.

Although it's a roaring fire that brings warmth, it miraculously doesn't ignite clothes.

"This has really been a great help," Ron said gratefully. The others also felt much better under the warmth of the fireball.

"It was no trouble at all," Rice said casually to Ron, his eyes scanning the hundreds of ghosts in the arena as he looked for Barrow.

He quickly found his target, which wasn't difficult, because the other ghosts seemed very afraid of this blood-covered guy and kept their distance from him, leaving a large open space around him.

"I have some things to attend to. You can do whatever you want, but remember not to touch the food here." Having found Barrow, Rice had achieved his goal. After giving a few instructions to the young wizards, he walked straight towards the blood-man Barrow.

"Eh? Me too—" Daphne wanted to follow, but the flames on her chest suddenly flared up fiercely. Clearly, Rice didn't want her to follow and eavesdrop on his conversation with Barrow.

Daphne pouted, somewhat dissatisfied with Rice's arrangement. She instinctively wanted to step forward, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Astoria obediently walking in the opposite direction.

Daphne: !

She was shocked. Shouldn't the two of them be on the same side and both insist on following Rice in this situation? Why was her sister backing out?

Then it dawned on her: with her own presence as a foil, her younger sister would appear very well-behaved.

"So cunning!" Daphne clenched her fists, then immediately turned around and caught up with Harry, Ron, and the others.

I'm a good girl too! Astoria, you just wait!

Unaware of Daphne's complex inner thoughts, Rice walked up to Barrow and greeted him.

"Barrow, it's been a long time."

Blood Man Barrow: ?

"Who are you?" He was somewhat confused. The young wizard in front of him looked vaguely familiar; he seemed to be a wizard from the academy, and his grades were quite good. But they hadn't exchanged a single word, so why did the wizard seem so familiar with him? More importantly, Barrow also saw a hint of…kindness in Rice's eyes?

He looked at me like I was a junior, and he was emanating a strange sense of familiarity.

Barrow became confused.

The surrounding ghosts were also quite confused; they couldn't figure out the relationship between the little guy in front of them and the blood man Barrow.

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.

Here's the second update! I've finally paid off my debt, thank you!

Fun drawing of the day: I tried drawing Daphne and Astoria attending a death anniversary party.

(End of this chapter)