Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 243 An Unexpected Alliance

Both were extremely excited when they learned that they could help Rice—finally, they could be of use, couldn't they?

Rice successfully ignited their fighting spirit.

"no problem!"

"We will definitely complete the mission!"

Hearing Daphne and Astoria's resolute voices, Rice nodded in satisfaction and left the Slytherin common room.

Just as the lounge doors closed, Ravenclaw's voice continued to come from the crystal ball.

"You've gone too far."

"Don't you enjoy it just as much, Rowena?"

The sound ceased emanating from the crystal ball, and Rice cast an illusion spell on himself before heading towards the Great Hall. He needed to confirm whether another important figure had been drawn into the situation as he had planned.

After parting ways with Daphne and her sister, Harry fell into a brief state of confusion. His reason told him that all he had to do was wait for Daphne and the other two to arrive, and the problem would be easily solved, but his emotions kept urging him to do something.

Perhaps the feeling of lying down and letting the big shots carry him was too shameful for him. He desperately wanted to do something; he couldn't just be a "messenger," could he? What would that make him? A dictionary translator? A game NPC issuing missions?

Of course, if Harry knew how Rice viewed him, he might think the role of translator of dictionaries was quite good.

Wanting to do something is one thing, being able to do something is another.

After thinking it over carefully, Harry realized that there was nothing he could do.

After his conversation with Professor McGonagall, he had lost all hope of getting support from the university's professors—if he couldn't even convince the dean of his own college, how could the deans of other colleges possibly accept his "nonsense"?

As for student support, Daphne has already agreed to help him, hasn't she? Who's more reliable than Daphne and the others? Ron? Forget it, he's terrified of spiders, and this shouldn't involve him.

As Harry was lost in thought, the library closed, and the last few students were ushered out by Mrs. Pince.

In reality, no one stays until closing time. Most people pack up and leave the library a few minutes before closing to avoid any conflict with the ill-tempered librarian, Mrs. Pince. Only a very few exceptions remain until the very last moment, such as Hermione Granger.

Today, she and Neville of Hufflepuff worked together to organize their Herbalism notes for the school year, and then summarized some key points about Potions. The two were completely immersed in the magical world until Mrs. Pince appeared, and they were then kicked out.

"I absolutely dared not look Mrs. Pince in the eye..."

"This isn't your problem, Neville. Are you coming to the library to study again tomorrow?"

"Okay, there are still a lot of things I don't understand about Potions—isn't that Harry? Why isn't he back in the common room at this hour? Curfew is coming!" Neville noticed Harry leaning against the wall in the corridor. He looked worried, as if he had encountered some trouble.

Kind-hearted Neville wanted to help him. Even if he couldn't actually help, chatting with him and helping him relieve his negative emotions would be helpful.

"Harry, what are you doing? Curfew is almost here." Hermione stepped forward and asked about Harry's condition.

"Uh..." Harry hesitated, unsure whether he should involve these two.

Rice, who was not far away, witnessed the entire conversation between the three.

He waved his hand, shutting out all sound around him, and then connected to Ravenclaw's "phone." Ravenclaw, who was in the dungeon, could see everything happening in front of Rhys through the crystal ball in his hand.

"Oh? It seems someone unplanned has been dragged into this," Ravenclaw's voice came from the crystal ball. "Who is he?"

"A boy from Hufflepuff named Neville Longbottom," Rice briefly introduced Neville to Ravenclaw.

"A toad as a pet but not good at potions? Interesting."

"It's also related to the teaching methods of the current Potions Professor Snape; his personality is quite awful. It's good to bring Neville along; I won't interfere anymore." Rhys thought for a moment and felt that bringing Neville along wouldn't be a problem—if the weight was increased by one unit, a second unit could be added.

While Harry was debating whether or not to tell Hermione and Neville the truth, Daphne and Astoria arrived.

Neville and Hermione realized something was amiss: Harry was supposed to be waiting for them here, getting involved with them, and doing something so late at night couldn't possibly be something trivial.

Seeing that there were other people with Harry, Daphne frowned immediately—she didn't want to cause any more trouble and just wanted to resolve the problems in the Forbidden Forest as soon as possible.

"How so?" She preferred to launch a direct attack and get rid of the two troublesome outsiders.

"Okay." Astoria nodded, but she still had another thought in mind.

"Daphne, Astoria, what's wrong with you—"

He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!

"They'll all be petrified!"

As the Greengrass sisters approached, Hermione stepped forward to question them about their purpose. She was eager to find out what these three were up to, but instead of a greeting, she was met with two curses.

The incident happened so suddenly that Hermione only had time to dodge to the side. The curse grazed her clothes and hit Neville, who was standing behind her in a daze.

Neville was knocked unconscious by the spell.

Hermione's eyes widened instantly. She drew her wand and unleashed a curse in return, followed by several spells from the Greengrass sisters. The spells collided in mid-air, exploding into colorful sparks, leaving Harry completely mesmerized.

For a time, the two sides were deadlocked. Daphne could not win quickly, and Hermione was also temporarily unable to do anything to the two opponents.

"Stop!" Astoria suddenly shouted, signaling everyone to stop.

"I think we can bring her along—"

"Are you all insane?!"

"What are you guys doing???"

Several people spoke at the same time, and then fell silent at the same time, plunging the corridor into silence.

"This is absolutely, absolutely a violation of a hundred school rules!" Hermione finally broke the silence with an extremely angry tone.

"Please let us explain—"

"We don't have time; this is for your own good!"

Hearing Daphne's words, Hermione raised an eyebrow: "They ambushed us with petrification and stun spells, and then said it was for our own good?"

"That's right." Daphne raised her head, her aura undiminished: "This operation is extremely dangerous. Even our spells can't stop it. Going there would only cause trouble."

Hermione: ?

"Then you should contact the professor, not—"

"I've already looked, it's no use." Harry, who had been almost invisible the whole time, finally spoke up.

Hermione: ? ? ?

She felt her mind was in complete chaos.

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.

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(End of this chapter)