Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 20, Hogwarts

When he left, he vowed never to set foot on this land again, but now he has broken his promise.

No, it was Salazar Slytherin who swore never to set foot on Hogwarts territory again. What does that have to do with me, Ras Salazar Lint?

Rice comforted himself.

He had previously fantasized about what this place would be like if he returned, under what circumstances he would come back, and what he would say to Godric and the others. But even his wildest fantasies couldn't compare to the surreal situation he was in now.

A full thousand years have passed since his last visit here, and his three old friends from back then have all left. But Rice doesn't believe that the three of them have turned into a handful of dust.

If he could find a way to prolong his life, would his three old friends truly face death peacefully? Rice felt it was unlikely. Perhaps the three of them, like himself, had awakened from a long slumber, returned here incognito, or perhaps they were still asleep.

Rice would not admit that they were extinct until he saw their remains.

A gust of cold wind swept by. Although the heavy robes they wore blocked most of the cold, their exposed heads, faces, and hands were still exposed, and the three of them shivered.

A light suddenly appeared above the crowd, and a deep voice shouted, "First-year students, first-year students, come this way! Harry, come this way, how are you?"

Harry?

Like the other students, Rice looked in the direction of the lamp and saw a thin wizard with messy black hair, dressed in a wizard's robe, emerge in response to the call.

"That's Harry Potter?"

This is the thought that comes to many people's minds.

Everyone was somewhat disappointed when they saw Harry, because what appeared before them was just an ordinary child, around ten years old, thin and small, exuding a timid air. But thinking about it carefully, Potter seemed to be the same; stripped of his savior aura, he was just an eleven-year-old child.

Rice thus unexpectedly encountered the boy who had miraculously survived.

Daphne tugged at Rice's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "He looks...so ordinary?"

She was speechless for a moment, but eventually found the most suitable adjective for Potter.

Yes, it's normal.

Rice also thought that the guy was unremarkable, just an ordinary teenager. He really didn't know how the Dark Lord had fallen into his hands. Perhaps he would find out after getting closer to him in the future.

"So what do you think he should be like?" Rice asked Daphne as she pulled several candy jars from her pocket.

"I...I don't know." She wanted to answer "someone like you," but the words caught in her throat and she felt too embarrassed to say them.

"Here you go." Rice handed her a candy box containing a ball of blue flame, gave one to Hermione, and kept one for herself.

"A simple little trick to warm your hands. It shuts off automatically after half an hour, so you don't have to worry about it." Holding the candy jar in her hands, Rice felt a warmth spreading from her palms, quickly warming her hands. She wiped her face with her hands, and the lingering chill from the previous cold wind was completely dispelled.

Daphne, Hermione: !

"That's amazing!"

How fortunate it is to have a fire to keep warm in the cold wind.

"I'll teach you later," Rice said with a slight smile.

This spell, invented by him and improved by Rowena, once helped them survive the bitterly cold polar nights of the Nordic wilderness.

That's what magic is all about; it has the power to turn the rotten into the miraculous and save lives.

Against the flow of people, Rice and his two companions, carrying jars of fire, approached Hagrid. He called out a few more times, and after confirming that no first-year students had been left behind, he led the group of young wizards toward the school.

The road to Hogwarts Castle was steep and narrow, with darkness on both sides. The young wizards followed Hagrid, stumbling and trudging along this treacherous path.

The deeper Rice went, the more familiar the scenery seemed. Finally, a black lake suddenly appeared at the end of the path. On the opposite shore, a majestic castle stood on a high hillside. The castle was covered with spires, and its windows twinkled under the starry sky, vying with the night sky for brilliance, like a dreamlike fairyland.

Rice seemed to have traveled through time, back a thousand years. On that morning a thousand years ago, the four of them had also traversed the rugged path to reach this lake, and ultimately decided to build their own magic school on this hillside.

Before that, the four had argued for a long time about the location of the school. Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about it during the day, but Rowena Ravenclaw dreamed that a warthog led her to the lake and brought her to a place with lush vegetation.

As dawn broke, she and her friend followed the guidance from her dream and finally found the place from her dream.

There are swamps, lakesides, valleys, and mud pits here. Each founder can find a place that satisfies them, so they all decided to build their magic school here.

Of course, Rice thought Rowena's so-called "dream" was nonsense. She must have found this place that she was very satisfied with through some means, and then, fearing that the other three would have objections, she made up this story to give everyone a psychological suggestion.

If she really had such a dream, Rice felt that the four of them should immediately clean up the surrounding lakes and forests and find the mischievous spirit—could such a dream be so easily entertained? It contained too strong prophetic implications, and Rowena Ravenclaw was not good at predicting the future.

Upon seeing Hogwarts Castle, everyone was awestruck by the sight before them and couldn't help but let out a loud "Oh!"

"Ah, Hogwarts..." Rice couldn't help but sigh, a thousand thoughts and emotions condensed in that one sigh.

A row of small boats lined the lake, and the students boarded one by one, guided by Hagrid. Each boat could hold a maximum of four people, and Hagrid had his own boat. Rice, Hermione, and Daphne boarded the closest boat to them, and Neville followed. Rice noticed that Harry Potter and a red-haired boy sat in the boat next to him.

Once everyone was on board, Hagrid shouted, "Go!"

The small boat glided across the mirror-like lake, heading towards the towering castle that seemed to reach into the clouds. As they approached the cliff where the castle stood, it appeared to be perched high above them. The boat slowed slightly as it neared the precipice, carrying the new students through a canopy of ivy covering the cliff face, into a hidden entrance, and along a dark tunnel beneath the castle, finally arriving at an underground dock.

The students climbed up a ground covered with gravel and pebbles, followed a tunnel through the rocky hillside, and finally reached a flat, damp meadow in the shadow of the castle.

A huge oak door appeared before them. Hagrid walked up the steps and knocked three times on the door.

The door opened.

(End of this chapter)