Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 265 The Possibility of Meeting Hufflepuff

If I'm not mistaken, time stands still inside this palace when it's not being observed by outsiders.

When I first entered the palace with Daphne and Astoria, the three of us went in together.

Before they left the palace, they were completely unaware that time was frozen inside because of the lack of an "observer," until Rice noticed something unusual through some details.

Rice also noticed that what was frozen was the time in the "palace," not the time of the people who entered the palace. So when Daphne and Astoria came out, Daphne's necklace was still destroyed, and the number of spells cast in Astoria's bracelet had not been restored.

The second time they entered the palace, time flowed normally because Rais was being observed by Daphne and Astoria. The third time they entered, there were no observers, and the time difference reappeared.

The same principle applies to the two dog-headed stone statues. Once the doors of the main hall closed and the observers disappeared, they returned to their original, recorded appearance.

Rice figured that if they went back into the ruins now, everything would probably have been restored, even the doll would likely be back to its original state.

Practice makes perfect, and Rice decided to revisit the ruins to find out more.

While Rice reveals all the mysteries, Daphne and Astoria remain completely unaware.

How did the ancient Egyptians do that?

"So, the flow of time is different inside and outside the ruins?"

Both of them were utterly shocked upon hearing Rice's words, for this was time-related magic.

If one had to bestow the title of "the jewel in the crown of magic" upon a particular field of magic, time magic would certainly be a strong contender for that title.

The vast majority of wizards never come into contact with time magic in their lifetime, and only a small number have the opportunity to establish some connection with it. For example, the Silent Men of the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic have research projects that include time magic—they even possess a batch of time-reversing converters, but the existence of these converters is known only to a very small number of wizards.

And now you're telling me this entire palace is a creation of time magic?!

Daphne and Astoria felt like their worldviews were collapsing.

"That's right. Ancient Egypt was a civilization from thousands of years ago. Back then, resources were plentiful, so naturally they could build these luxurious wonders," Rice said with envy.

Compared to their "later generations," ancient Egyptian magicians had far more abundant resources at their disposal.

However, Rice and the others were relatively lucky; at least they caught the tail end of the harvest. Daphne and her descendants suffered even more. After thousands of years of "mining," there was truly nothing left for them.

"Could we give this palace to..." Daphne blurted out a bold idea.

Rice: ...

He carefully assessed the possibilities and felt that it was unlikely to work, because the spell was cast on the entire palace, and "cutting" off a part of the palace would not have any effect; it would just be an ordinary stone.

"I need to go in again," Rice said softly.

Daphne and Astoria both looked up simultaneously, clearly wanting to follow, but it was impossible. Rhys wouldn't bring two young wizards, who couldn't even withstand a Hufflepuff's attack, into the ruins, especially with Daphne's necklace damaged.

Alone, Rice entered the ruins and noticed something amiss as he ventured deeper into the palace: outside the innermost gate, he saw two dog-headed stone statues blown to pieces—his own handiwork.

This surprised Rice greatly, as he had expected the place to be restored.

He gently pushed open the door, and a thick steam immediately wafted out from behind it, causing Rice to frown: the hall behind the door remained exactly as he had left it.

Bathed in the steam, Rice fell into thought and then further updated his hypothesis.

If someone enters the palace and causes significant changes that exceed the palace's recovery capacity, the changes will be "recorded" the moment they leave, becoming part of the palace's new form.

He turned the main hall into a wetland swamp and blasted the guardian statues into pieces. This alteration made the palace unable to recover on its own, so his changes were remembered and became the scene that adventurers who entered this ruin would face.

When Helga entered the palace, she likely exerted a significant influence on it, and the changes she caused were recorded. After her, no adventurer could leave their mark on the palace until I entered myself.

So this palace is more like a giant phonograph, preserving the traces of figures throughout history?

Thinking of the phonograph, Rice had a flash of inspiration: Was the time segment recorded in the palace a point in time, or a period of time? If the current segment was recorded, would the past segment be overwritten? His intuition told him that the answer to this question should be found in the other two channels.

With that thought in mind, Rice didn't linger any longer and walked straight out of the palace.

After confirming that time outside had hardly changed, Rice felt he was one step closer to the truth. He wasted no more time and entered the ruins directly through the entrance in the middle of the palace.

This time, there were more traps and obstacles along the way, but Rice eventually reached the end of the passage without any major incidents. The palace at the end of the passage seemed to have never been broken into; it contained some miscellaneous items and retained its appearance from thousands of years ago.

However, none of that matters. What's most eye-catching is a compass-like object, about half a person's height, placed in the main hall. Positioned at the end of the palace's central axis, it is the heart of the palace.

The compass's construction is not complicated, consisting of two layers. The outer compass has ten divisions, while the inner compass has no divisions, but a raised needle in the very center. The edge is decorated with a series of moons changing from full moon to crescent, giving it a sundial-like appearance. The needle's shadow falls precisely on the position of the crescent moon.

Rice narrowed his eyes, another suspicion rising in his mind: Did each cell in the outer ring represent a specific period of time that was recorded? And what about the inner layer…?

Could it be a tool for adjusting the recorded time segments?

After this thought popped into his head, Rice keenly realized that this seemed to be the opportunity for him and Hufflepuff to meet again after a thousand years, but it was all still just his conjecture and remained to be verified.

Rice reached into the inner compass and set it to the full moon position.

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)