Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 251 Rice: I really didn't study much.

"So, even the Slytherins didn't understand Lady Hufflepuff's spell?"

After listening to Rice's story, Daphne blinked.

"Of course not!" Rice glared at her. "Otherwise, where would my fake body have come from?"

After calming himself down, he told Daphne that although Hufflepuff couldn't explain it clearly, he did his best to work with his friends to study the spell, which was eventually successfully reproduced by Slytherin and Ravenclaw, with some improvements.

However, the clay dolls recreated by Slytherin and Ravenclaw are still far from those made by Hufflepuff themselves—the two of them can only exert a small portion of their own power, while the dolls made by Hufflepuff can exert more than 80% of their original power and last for a much longer period of time.

"However, Slytherin and Ravenclaw were not just for show. They greatly improved the appearance of the dolls, making them almost indistinguishable from real ones—wizards back then could sense magic, so achieving this level was quite remarkable." Rice couldn't help but show a hint of pride as he said this.

Because they really put a lot of effort into it back then.

Daphne and Astoria listened, completely stunned.

After a short while, Daphne asked hesitantly, "Was this also recorded in the letters of an ancient wizard?"

Rice narrowed his eyes: This little girl is getting harder and harder to fool!

"No, it's a Slytherin journal—alright, let's get back to the point. Astoria, would you be willing to take my second-year final exams for me? In exchange, I can take your final exams, but you'd better not have too high hopes for the grades." Rice's purpose had changed.

If before it was to save time and effort, now it's to see Astoria's level. To see how she performs in the upcoming exams for the first year of high school.

After careful consideration, Astoria accepted Rice's suggestion and began a month-long period of grueling studying. She truly got up earlier than the rooster and went to bed later than the pig, spending every day in the library.

On the day of the final exam, she overslept, and the compound decoction and changing clothes took up a lot of her time, causing her to almost miss the first exam.

However, she managed to complete all the courses without incident under Daphne's complicated gaze, and no one noticed anything amiss.

"Now we're just waiting for the results!" The auditorium was bustling with excitement after the exam. Astoria happily picked up a bowl of pudding and said with a grin, "How did you do, sister? Don't end up not scoring as high as me."

Daphne's face darkened, and she suddenly felt a pang of regret: she should have reviewed her notes on the history of magic more thoroughly. Damn it, under Rice's influence, she hadn't paid much attention to subjects like the history of magic!

Could it be that she really failed Astoria? She shuddered, and the dessert in her hand no longer tasted so sweet.

After lunch, the group followed the flow of people out of the Great Hall. On the way, they ran into Hermione, who had just finished eating. Judging from her expression, the girl must have done well on her exam—of course, she wouldn't admit it. If you ask her, she'll always launch into a long, drawn-out complaint about how she changed the correct answer to the wrong one on a certain exam. But when the results come out, you'll find out she only got that one question wrong.

Since their shared adventures in the Forbidden Forest, the Greengrass sisters and Hermione have grown closer. In addition, Rice and Hermione are also old acquaintances, so the four of them got together and chatted.

The main topic of conversation was naturally their summer vacation plans. Halfway through the conversation, a cheer suddenly came from behind them.

The voice was familiar; Rice immediately recognized it as Ron Weasley's voice.

He turned his head and met Ron's eyes. Ron gave him a hearty smile, waved a letter in his hand, and then squeezed next to Rice amidst the surprised gazes of the other students.

"My dad won the Daily Prophet jackpot! The prize money is several hundred Galleons! Now I can buy a new wand!" He couldn't wait to share his joy with Rice.

What else could Rice say? She could only offer him her congratulations as a courtesy.

"Not only a new wand, we're also planning a summer vacation to Egypt. My brother Bill works there as a Gringotts anti-spellcaster... By the way, Rice, where are you planning to go this summer?" Ron was clearly thrilled and couldn't wait to share his joy with the whole school.

"Oh?" Upon hearing the word "Egypt," Rice couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "What a coincidence, I also have plans to go to Egypt this summer."

Daphne and Astoria, who were standing nearby, both perked up their ears, but unfortunately Rice didn't say much, which disappointed them quite a bit.

Seemingly just as eager as the students for the holidays, the final exam results came out extremely quickly, with report cards arriving in the students' hands less than three days after the exams. Professor Snape, as usual, obtained the grades of all the students in the school and posted the ranked table on the house bulletin board.

When Daphne saw those forms from afar, she felt both excited and nervous.

As she got closer, a few words drifted into her ears from the crowd.

"That Astoria is Daphne's sister, right? Wow, amazing, perfect scores in all subjects!?"

"As expected of the descendants of the Greengrass family, the two sisters are second and first respectively, they are really too strong."

"Rice Lint is really strong too. He was second last year, right? He's first this year!"

"If he were willing to go up on stage and fight, who knows how many consecutive victories he could achieve—"

"..."

Daphne's mind went blank, she saw stars, and almost fainted: How could this be?! Astoria actually did better than me? And what's with Lesti coming out in first place?

She gritted her teeth and squeezed into the crowd, then saw the clear rankings written in black and white on the paper, and she was completely devastated.

Turning her head, she found Rice and Astoria squeezed behind her, their eyes gleaming with an eerie light.

Astoria: "Sister, I didn't expect you... *chuckles*!"

She couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Rice: "I really didn't study much, really! The questions just happened to be on topics I already knew..."

His face was full of sincerity.

However, as a teacher, how could I possibly let my students fail several subjects while I was taking the exams for them? Those who know, know.

Summer vacation began amidst the laughter and joy of Rice and Astoria, and Daphne's melancholy.

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.

Update delivered, second update tonight.

(End of this chapter)