Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 267 Rice: Why does every old friend want to hit me when they see me?

Rice carefully examined the old woman in front of him.

To be honest, she was rather unremarkable. She was travel-worn, with deep wrinkles on her face. If it weren't for the fine quality of her robe, she would have looked like a typical peasant woman from the English countryside.

Anyone who knows her name would be absolutely shocked: apart from a handful of people like Rice, almost no one would believe that the person in front of them is the legendary wizard, Helga Hufflepuff.

As Rice sized up Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff was also sizing up the little boy in front of him.

For her, it was extremely shocking to see such a person after pushing open the door: this is a relic left by Egyptians thousands of years ago, how could there be a living person inside?

With her abilities, she could naturally distinguish whether the person opposite her was a human or a monster in human form, which made it even more incredible.

"Who are you?" Hufflepuff didn't attack the little boy in front of him, but instead questioned him about his origins.

She was a kind person; how could she rashly commit murder over the slightest unusual occurrence? Of course, Helga's confidence stemmed from her absolute strength. Few in the world could defeat her in the desert, not even her old friends.

"It's been a long time, Helga—it's me, Salazar Slytherin." Rhys composed himself and greeted his old friend across a thousand years in a slightly trembling voice.

The conflicts of yesteryear have long since faded with time; what remains now is only the longing between friends.

Well, unfortunately, this longing is entirely one-sided on Rice's part.

Hufflepuff was completely bewildered upon hearing this: Leaving aside how you got in here, first tell me your name! Salazar Slytherin?!

She stared wide-eyed at the boy for a moment. She admitted that he did resemble that arrogant old viper somewhat.

then……

"Are you Salazar's child?" Helga made the most logical deduction, assuming that Rice was "little Salazar".

In her opinion, the person in front of her was most likely a descendant of the old viper after he left Hogwarts—that guy was always cunning, and it would be easy for him to deceive some naive young girls. She just wondered which family's child had fallen victim to his evil deeds. Judging from the color of his hair, the Greengrass family could be ruled out first.

Rice: ...

“No, I am Salazar.” Rice spread his hands. “I didn’t leave any descendants after leaving Hogwarts, as you all think. As far as I know, you probably did too.”

Hufflepuff fell silent.

"It's been so long, Helga. You have no idea, after leaving school, I—"

"You! How dare you mention Hogwarts!?" Hufflepuff's emotions erupted instantly, and he raised his hand to unleash a vicious curse at Rice.

Rice: ?!

What's going on?! Why does every old friend want to hit me when they see me? Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, it's the same!

But he had no time to hesitate, because Helga's offensive came wave after wave, like an overwhelming tide, sweeping towards him.

Rice quickly waved his wand, deflecting all the curses Hufflepuff was unleashing. He was certain that if he hadn't managed to block them, his old friend wouldn't have shown any mercy, and he might have spent the next year in a hospital bed.

Fortunately, most of the evil spells Helga used were outdated. Over the past thousand years, generations of wizards have researched and optimized them to find the most suitable antidotes, so Rice easily broke her spells.

Hufflepuff frowned: once the fight started, she was completely convinced of the guy's identity—his fighting style was exactly the same as the Old Viper's, and the spells he used were exceptionally sophisticated. Who else could this person be but the Old Viper?

Also, Salazar's spellcasting skills have improved a lot in the past few years!

After Rice effortlessly neutralized a vicious curse, Hufflepuff clicked his tongue in amazement: "They actually neutralized it this way? This idea is simply outrageous!"

Hufflepuff realized it would be difficult to teach the old viper a lesson with a spell, so she stopped worrying and activated her own domain.

Seeing Helga activate his domain without warning, Rice felt an urge to unleash a torrent of abuse: "You, someone with an earth-based domain, choose to fight a water-based wizard in the desert? Helga, you have no morals!"

Helga felt no remorse. Once his domain was activated, the entire hall was swallowed up by yellow sand, and Rice was chased around in all directions.

Because Rice was too agile, she couldn't subdue him for a while, and he even managed to open up a bit of his own territory.

Helga snorted and plunged her wand into the ground. Soon, a clay doll that looked exactly like Helga appeared on the ground.

Rice: ...

He knew very well that if he didn't come up with a solution, he would likely be in trouble today.

So he immediately shouted, "Stop! Stop!"

As soon as Rice opened his mouth, a stream of yellow sand rushed in, choking him and causing him to spit out saliva repeatedly.

"Salazar, you've finally met your match?" Hufflepuff sneered, but slowed down his movements.

"This welcome is a bit too enthusiastic," Rice muttered, spitting out the sand that had gotten into his mouth.

"If that's all you have to say, then you can—" Hufflepuff and the puppet beside her raised their wands at the same time.

"Wait a minute! How come you're just like Rowena? We haven't seen each other for a thousand years, and the moment we meet, you open your domain to greet me." Rhys interrupted Hufflepuff's spellcasting, stopping the spell he was preparing.

"A thousand years? Salazar, what nonsense are you spouting?" Hufflepuff's eyes narrowed slightly. "Am I getting senile, or are you hallucinating from too much potion? You—"

"A thousand years have really passed, or rather, I come from a thousand years in the future, and you are talking to me a thousand years from now!" Rice said decisively.

His explanation only confused Hufflepuff more, because there were so many suspicious points that she didn't even know where to begin her critique.

But Rice had achieved her goal: Helga stopped. And as she began to think, her opportunity arose—who would want to get entangled with her in the desert?

"I know you have many questions, and I can explain them to you one by one. Why don't we sit down and talk it over?"

Looking at his old friend's youthful face, Hufflepuff took his advice: Old Viper can be beaten up anytime, but this opportunity might only come once. If he were to act on impulse and beat him up, it would be difficult to get the truth out of him later.

So she put away her wand and conjured two stools from the sand.

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.

First update delivered!

The second update is being written, it will be a little late. If you don't see it when you wake up tomorrow morning, it will be tomorrow night.

(End of this chapter)