Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 236 Rice: Death may not take a soul without permission.

The surgery was scheduled for Friday.

On the one hand, Astoria's soul activity would be at its lowest by then, and on the other hand, it was to allow Astoria to rest better after the surgery.

In the week leading up to the surgery, many students noticed Astoria's unusual behavior: she seemed unusually sleepy and often fell asleep in class.

When others asked her what was wrong, she just yawned and said that she hadn't slept well last night.

If this continued, Astoria would eventually be put in solitary confinement for sleeping in class, but thankfully Friday arrived.

Accompanied by her sister, she arrived at the secret room, where Rice was already waiting.

"It'll be alright, won't it?" Astoria became nervous as she looked at the table placed in the center of the secret room.

"Trust Rice, he can do anything." Daphne squeezed Astoria's hand to encourage her.

The secret room was empty, and even a very soft sound could travel a long distance, so Rice naturally heard the conversation between Daphne and Astoria.

He could only shake his head helplessly: "Can I do everything? There are many things, many times, that I can't do either..."

I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that my child has such high expectations of himself.

"Lie down," Rice gestured for Astoria to lie down on the platform first.

Astoria obediently climbed onto the platform and lay down on it.

The platform that Rice prepared was very large, which made Astoria look small and tiny. Dressed in a white robe, she lay on the cold stone platform like a sacrifice placed on an altar.

Looking at her sister's figure, Daphne couldn't help but think of the corpse placed in the morgue. She shook her head vigorously, banishing this terrible thought from her mind.

"Trust me, no matter what happens," Rice said in a low voice, taking out a small jar of potions.

Daphne and Astoria blinked blankly, then nodded.

Although it seemed absurd to think that a child about their age could treat their sister's incurable disease, the Greengrass sisters chose to trust Rice unconditionally. So many renowned doctors couldn't cure their sister's illness, but Rice might be able to—they had never seen him fail at anything.

Rice fed Astoria the prepared potion, and the girl quickly fell into a deep sleep. After Astoria fell asleep, Rice took out a small silver knife from his pocket, applied a layer of ointment to the knife, and then slit her wrist.

Crimson blood gushed from the girl's fair skin, like a red ribbon in the snow.

Rice pulled Astoria's hand off the stone platform, letting the blood flow from the wound.

Daphne couldn't help but let out a soft gasp: she hadn't expected Rice to use such a drastic treatment method right off the bat. But remembering Rice's earlier instructions, she immediately shut her mouth, keeping all her chaotic thoughts hidden behind her lips.

An eerie silence fell over the secret room. In the vast space, only the sound of Astoria's blood dripping onto the marble floor tiles could be heard.

Normally, such wounds would stop bleeding on their own without treatment, but Rice's knife seemed to have been specially treated; the bleeding from Astoria's wrist showed no signs of stopping. As the blood drained away, her face turned deathly pale, and her breathing became weak.

In contrast, Daphne's face grew increasingly red, and her breathing became heavier.

In her mind, it seemed like her younger sister was really going to die!

What was Rice doing? Confusion and bewilderment surged within her, but in the end she chose to believe Rice.

When the girl's breathing became barely audible, Rice took out a small bottle of potion, pried open her mouth, and poured it in. The girl's breathing stopped completely.

Through this series of actions, Rice successfully put Astoria's soul into a dormant state, almost indistinguishable from death. At this moment, the girl's life force was on the verge of being extinguished, and the curse attached to her soul was also greatly affected.

The curse seemed to sense the host's abnormality; it began to stir and became unusually active. Deeply bound to Astoria, it was unwilling to perish, and thus showed signs of overflowing.

Just then, Rhys took out Riddle's Diary and stuck it to Astoria's forehead. He then poured some potion on the diary, and it began to tremble slightly.

Rice briefly broke through the barrier that existed in the diary, injecting a sliver of life into the fragments of Voldemort's soul sealed within it.

The fragment, having been nourished, suddenly became active. Driven by the instinct for survival, it expanded outwards in search of fresh food. And then it ran headlong into the overflowing curse.

One was a soul fragment that was hunting, and the other was a curse that was beginning to stir. The two quickly combined and merged into one in a very short time.

By the time both sides realized something was wrong, it was too late; the curse was already inseparable from Riddle's soul.

Rice grabbed Riddle's diary and yanked it out. A dark shadow separated from Astoria's forehead and burrowed into the diary.

"It's a success!" A hint of joy flashed in Rice's eyes: the effect was even better than he had expected. The curse had been completely severed from Astoria's soul; she had been freed from the torment of the blood curse.

The only problem was that the girl had stopped breathing.

Rice's treatment method utilizes the properties of the curse and the Horcrux to separate them. However, this has a prerequisite: the patient must enter a near-death state. Otherwise, the curse will not actively sever itself from Astoria's soul.

Now that the first part of the treatment is complete, it's time to begin the second part of the rescue.

After the curse was completely removed and sealed in Riddle's diary, Daphne felt a cold wind blowing by, which fluttered the hem of her robe and brought a chill.

Astoria's face turned ashen instantly; she had reached her limit.

Rice naturally felt the faint chill as well, and he knew that a somewhat annoying old friend was coming, wanting to take away a pure soul.

But Rice disagreed.

No one's soul can be taken from his sight without his permission.

A bottle of dark red potion slid out of her sleeve and was fed to Astoria. Then, Rice dripped a few drops of white cinnabar onto the girl's slashed wrist.

Astoria's wrist wound healed rapidly; within seconds, a layer of tender flesh grew over it, as if it had been healing for several days. Her complexion also visibly regained its rosy hue.

The sudden chill that had appeared in the secret room vanished quietly.

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.

Second update delivered, goodnight~

Tomorrow's update will be at the same time as before!

(End of this chapter)