Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 250 Magic Originating from Hufflepuff

Of course, things are different now, and Rice couldn't find a suitable excuse to avoid taking the exam with Daphne.

Poisoned by a potion last year, poisoned by a potion again this year? That's too deliberate and will arouse the professors' suspicion, so Rice chose to directly borrow Daphne's written test answers.

After all, a thousand years had passed, and his theoretical knowledge was somewhat outdated. It was too much of a waste of time to memorize it, so he simply had his students do it for him—Rice wasn't the kind of guy who would sit in the library and memorize principles.

The process of borrowing the technology didn't even require Daphne's cooperation. The reason for creating a "bet" was mainly because Rice decided to inform Daphne in advance.

If she really doesn't want to, Rice naturally has other methods.

Of course, teasing this little girl and seeing her reaction is really hilarious!

Daphne was torn: although she had lost the bet, she still wanted Rice to take the exam alone. This wasn't because she was a model student who followed school rules; it was simply because she wanted to know how many points Rice could get on the final exam—if, hypothetically speaking, she could outperform Rice…

So, you could say that was a small victory for her, right?

Just as she was thinking about how to cleverly "cheat" off the gambling debt, a figure rushed to their table like the wind. Daphne didn't even need to look to know it was Astoria.

"Rice?! That's great, you're back!" Astoria's excited voice rang in their ears.

Rice smiled and nodded, remaining silent about what happened last night.

After a while of reflection and once the excitement subsided, Astoria realized something.

"Sister, you didn't even tell me! You were just sitting here chatting!" Daphne was quite unhappy that she hadn't told her about Rice's return right away.

"We haven't even chatted for long, you won't mind taking a few more minutes!" Daphne gave Astoria a disgruntled look.

"What are you two talking about? You've made the older sister forget about the younger sister?" Astoria pulled out a chair from the table, plopped down in it, and stared intently at the two of them.

Rice told her about the bet between him and Daphne, and a thoughtful look flashed in Astoria's eyes.

"I think—" Daphne had organized her thoughts and was about to have a good debate with Rice when Astoria spoke up.

"Why don't you let me try? We can look into the exam schedule and see if I can take a few exams too." Astoria looked eager to try: she wanted to experience the difficulty of the exams for the next grade! And wouldn't it be fun to compete with her sister?

"What about your exams?!" Daphne couldn't sit still any longer. "There are also courses like the history of magic, which have nothing to do with your spellcasting level!"

"I can review these rote-memorization subjects in advance, there's still a month left!" Astoria replied confidently. "As for my exams..."

She looked at Rice and blinked.

"Rice, I'll definitely have to drink the Polyjuice Potion since I'm taking the exam for you. Why don't you also drink the Polyjuice Potion containing my hair and take my final exam for me?"

Rhys stroked his chin, finding half of Astoria's proposal quite feasible, but one point needed correction.

"No need for compound decoctions. I can use transfiguration to create a lifelike dummy to take the exam in your place. I guarantee no one will recognize it. But I do think you could try taking the second-year exam to see how it goes."

After hearing Rice's words, a look of confusion flashed in Daphne's and Astoria's eyes at the same time: Is this really possible?!

Rice's lips curled into a slight smile: "Daphne, you should still remember that fake body from before, right?"

Daphne instantly recalled a memory from not too long ago: that fake body was indeed completely indistinguishable from a counterfeit.

"That's very advanced magic." Rice smiled as she told them about the origin of the spell, a spell developed by Hufflepuff. She gave it a simple name: "The Magic of Creating Dolls."

The source of this curse occurred after an exhausting adventure...

"Rest!" Godric said as he entered the cave, immediately lying down on the ground without any regard for his image, almost falling asleep.

His three closest friends were no exception; the ground held them firmly to the ground like a magnet attracting iron blocks, and there seemed to be nothing happier than lying down.

But they still had much to do, such as starting fires to cook, cleaning the caves, and standing guard. But given the current situation, who had the energy to do all of these things?

"Royna..."

"You can pretend I'm dead."

"Godric?"

"I think I left my sword sheath in the forest outside. My good brother, please bring it back for me."

Salazar: ...

Just as he was about to muster his energy to get up and tidy up the cave, Helga, who had been silent all along, started to move.

"Let me do it." Compared to her three friends, Helga was in relatively good condition, suffering only minor injuries and excessive physical exertion. She took out her wand from her pocket, pointed to a corner, and the stones at the corner of the cave came together, combining with a pile of dirt to form a three-foot-tall figure.

After the little figure took shape, it staggered out of the cave and returned after a while with a bundle of firewood and a dirty sword sheath—by this time, it was quite agile.

"Helga, you can actually use such spells?!" Salazar was astonished. The Helga before couldn't even turn wood into a wood carving, but now she can actually cast such amazing magic?

"Hmm, I've been studying the transformation magic you taught me for a while now and have gained some new insights, which I'm putting to good use today. Also, the soil here is perfect... I probably wouldn't be able to do it in another place." Helga's face was pale, and she stopped talking, focusing most of her energy on manipulating the clay figures she had created.

The clay figures bustled about in the cave. The master lit a fire, cleaned the cave of its filth, and even set up a pot to cook a soup for everyone.

Salazar also provided some herbs to add to the soup to help everyone heal.

He keenly realized that the little clay figure could actually use magic! The dust, dirt, cobwebs, and dung on the ground were all removed by it using magic.

"Incredible, Helga, how did you do that?" Salazar's astonishment was almost tangible.

"I thought it was going to happen, and I did it," Hufflepuff confessed.

Salazar: ...

"Really, I just really, really wanted to, and combined with that previous flash of inspiration, it just came to me." As if afraid her friend would misunderstand her, Helga added another sentence.

Salazar fell even more silent.

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.

This is the second update. There will be another update tonight, but it will be a little later. Everyone, go to sleep now, and you'll have something to read when you wake up!

(End of this chapter)