Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 209 This morning's class was History of Magic, and you said Rice went to class?!

"Yes, she just fainted, she wasn't seriously injured." Rice walked over to Daphne, checked her condition, and after finding that she was alright, instructed Astoria to take her back to the girls' dormitory.

Astoria: ...

"How am I supposed to explain to others that I was just winning seven consecutive duels in the arena, and then suddenly I was knocked unconscious?" she asked, both amused and exasperated.

"Just say she was too tired and fell asleep halfway there—she just collapsed and fell asleep." Les winked at Astoria.

"Alright." Astoria reluctantly accepted the excuse that Rice had given her, and before Rice could make any further moves, she used a levitation spell on her sister, making her float beside her.

Before returning to his dormitory, Rice walked to the armor and left a sentence in Latin on the lining of the armor. He then used magic to make the writing much darker, as if it had been weathered by a thousand years.

Astoria glanced thoughtfully at Rice, who was walking ahead of her and seemed to be deep in thought.

The older sister's "sacrifice" was not in vain; at her own cost, she barely managed to gauge the difference in strength between herself and Rice. If they were to actually fight, the older sister could at most withstand one move from Rice, because she couldn't even defeat the armor Rice had created.

As for the "wizard's letter" and "the conversation with the blood man Barrow," those could only fool simple-minded people like children and her sister; they wouldn't fool her. Astoria believed that the fire armor she had just seen was imbued with powerful magic by Rice's spell.

Possessing such strength is truly terrifying; Rice could never be just an ordinary student.

However, Astoria had no intention of delving into Rice's identity or revealing his true nature. So far, she and her sister had been entirely benefiting from him, and for them, Rice's true purpose wasn't that important, even if it might violate the current laws of the magical world.

Back in the lounge, the fact that the Duel Champion had come in lying down certainly attracted a lot of attention. When they came to ask what had happened, Astoria consistently gave the excuse that she was "tired and fell asleep."

Such words were hard to believe, but the students in the academy wisely refrained from pressing further. Tonight's theme was celebrating Miss Daphne's remarkable seven-game winning streak in the dueling tournament; let's not let any distractions spoil the fun.

Daphne regained consciousness the following morning.

She abruptly sat up in bed, so fast that she felt dizzy and saw stars. After about ten seconds, she realized that she was now on her own bed in her dormitory room, with her robe, shirt, and trousers haphazardly folded at the foot of the bed, and her socks stuffed into her boots and tossed aside.

Daphne covered her head with her hands, trying hard to recall what had happened last night.

After a winning streak in duels, he challenges Rice to a duel; the armor moves...

As memories gradually returned to his mind, the pain in his abdomen also began to surge up.

pain!

Daphne didn't even need to look to know that her stomach must be covered in bruises; the armor had really gone too far! But considering the appearance of that fiery slash, it was already a mercy that it hadn't cut her into the shape of Daphne.

"He's a monster, how could I possibly beat him..." Daphne muttered in a wronged tone as she struggled to put her clothes on. She had been hit in the lower abdomen, and every time the muscles there were touched, they would ache.

After quickly tidying herself up, Daphne went into the common room.

On the way, she encountered many students from the college. Freshmen a year below her respectfully called her "senior sister," while upperclassmen would greet her warmly and friendly.

Daphne understood that it was all due to the reputation she had built up from the duels last night.

Everyone had smiles on their faces, were exceptionally friendly, and treated her with great respect. This should have been a very happy scene, but Daphne couldn't be happy at all—after all, she had just been instantly killed by a suit of armor, and it would be difficult for anyone to remain cheerful in such a situation.

She kept exchanging pleasantries with the classmates she met, and by the time Daphne entered the common room, she felt the muscles around her mouth were stiff.

After looking around the lounge, she didn't see Rice, but instead saw her sister Astoria sitting in her usual corner.

"Where's Rice?" Daphne plopped down in the armchair, the movement aggravating her injury and causing her to gasp.

Astoria didn't answer her sister's question immediately, but instead took out two small bottles.

"Rice asked me to bring you these two bottles of healing potions—an ointment for external application and a potion for oral administration, which can effectively alleviate your pain."

"Thank you so much." Daphne took the two crystal bottles, then persistently asked, "So, where's Rice?"

"He had class this morning, he must have gone to class." Astoria's face practically screamed "I don't know."

Daphne was amused and exasperated: Astoria, do you know what the first lesson of the second year of Slytherin was this morning?

"The first class this morning is History of Magic," Daphne said coldly, downing the vial of the potion that needed to be taken orally.

Astoria: ...

She lowered her head, looking like she didn't know the answer and was ready to hit me.

Daphne ignored her and started applying ointment to her own wound.

Sure enough, the potion Rice made worked very quickly. I couldn't feel the pain immediately after drinking it, and the area on my stomach where the ointment was applied felt warm.

After treating her wound, Daphne walked straight out of the lounge and, sure enough, saw Rice enjoying maple waffles and cream pudding in the auditorium.

"Just looking at my throat makes me feel sick of it," Daphne couldn't help but complain about Rice's eating habits.

"Sweetness is a preference imprinted on the human soul." Rice smiled and pushed a plate of pancakes without maple syrup in front of Daphne.

"You should really see the oil, milk, and sugar you put in the pancakes." Daphne looked at the pancakes on the plate, shook her head, and ate them on their own—the taste was just right for her.

"Okay, so could you please get me that Basque cake again?"

Daphne: ...

"This morning's first class is History of Magic," she said, casually mentioning the morning's schedule as she handed over the plate of Basque cake.

"Um."

"So, do you have any plans?" Daphne pulled the plate back a little.

Rice :)Д(

"I'm planning a trip to the Forbidden Forest. You can come in and explore with me if you'd like."

A large piece of Basque cake was placed in front of Rice, at just the right distance.

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.

ヾ(ｏω) The second update is here!

The next update will still be at midnight.

Undeterred, I tried a different program and ran a few more images of Daphne and Astoria:

Which one do you like?

(End of this chapter)