Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 269 Helga: Since we're already here...

"Huh?" Hufflepuff could hardly believe his ears.

I was just exploring the ruins, how did I end up traveling a thousand years into the future?

She looked at Rice with a suspicious gaze, her disbelief practically written all over her face.

"I'm not Rowena!" Rice said, quite displeased that Helga didn't trust him. "I certainly wouldn't lie to you about something like this."

Helga sighed.

"Go out and see for yourself." With that, Hufflepuff left the hall without looking back.

Rice followed behind her, and halfway there, he suddenly thought: Is Helga's doll still kept in the main hall?

Considering his previous experience, Rice seemed thoughtful.

That's it!

He has sorted everything out.

From Hufflepuff's perspective, it's like she was traveling in Egypt when she met her long-lost friend at a ruin, and was then accidentally transported a thousand years into the future.

Because she had traveled through time, in the eyes of Ravenclaw a thousand years ago, Hufflepuff had mysteriously disappeared while traveling.

In Helga's own eyes, her timeline was still very coherent, with not a single day missing.

While pondering, he followed Hufflepuff out of the palace ruins.

After exiting the passage, Rice immediately looked towards the sand dunes opposite the palace. Sure enough, Daphne and Astoria were standing on the dunes not far away.

Hufflepuff noticed the changes around her. She sighed again: seeing the two unfamiliar little witches on the dunes, and the environment so different from before she entered the ruins, she knew her old friend wasn't joking.

She really did come a thousand years in the future!

Looking at Rice following behind him, Hufflepuff clenched his fists: Salazar, you did a great job!

Rice shuddered and silently took two steps to the side, trying to distance himself from Hufflepuff, but sometimes you can't avoid things just by running away.

"Salazar Slytherin, magic is truly wondrous, isn't it?" Hufflepuff's voice whispered in Rhys's ear.

Rice shuddered: In most cases, being called by one's full name is not a good thing.

But he had no other choice but to nod in agreement: Yes, magic is truly amazing!

Hufflepuff didn't say anything, just stood there quietly staring at him.

Rice felt uneasy under her gaze, and for his own safety, he decided to say something to comfort his old friend.

"Hmm..." Rice opened his mouth, then realized that this matter was inexplicable. He was like the butterfly in the butterfly effect, causing too many unexpected events.

If it weren't for him, Helga wouldn't have been sent to the modern era, and Rowena wouldn't have been imprisoned in the Hogwarts dungeons for a thousand years—all because Rice took a potion of immortality a thousand years ago. And if we go even further back, if he hadn't fallen out with his friends, the four founders would probably still be in the castle, right?

The turning point in the lives of these four people began with him; fate played a little joke on him.

But as a seasoned old magician, Rice was still extremely shrewd. After a brief moment of speechlessness, he came up with a brilliant approach.

"Helga, isn't this another form of immortality?" he said calmly.

Helga: ? ? ?

Rice's words caused her brain to momentarily freeze. She didn't understand what her journey to a thousand years in the future had to do with immortality.

"Your situation and mine are essentially the same—although I can claim to have lived for a thousand years, I've been asleep for those thousand years, completely unaware of what's happening in the outside world, until I woke up two years ago. So what's the difference between me and someone who has suddenly traveled through a thousand years?"

Helga nodded. She thought Salazar made a good point, but what did it have to do with her?

"Isn't someone who can experience life a thousand years in the future a kind of immortality? Let's just say that we lost our memories a thousand years ago." Rice's next words struck Helga like a thunderbolt.

Hufflepuff was shocked. How come he hadn't realized before how good his old friend was at bluffing?

Rice: Of course! Because you couldn't kill me before, but now... it's hard to say!

Even though she knew the old viper was fooling her, Helga still felt much better. What else could she do? Even if she beat the old viper up—while she could vent her anger—there would be no going back. Going to see Hogwarts a thousand years in the future was fine too; the old viper and the old raven were still there, and it wasn't fundamentally different from a thousand years ago.

Looking down at Salazar's youthful face, Helga suddenly revealed a mysterious smile: "You've gotten younger, old viper. This way I'll surely leave this world before you, which is wonderful."

There was nothing in the world that Helga feared, except the departure of her friends.

Just as she was about to head to the opposite dune, Rice called out to her.

"There's one more thing."

Hearing Rice's voice, Helga turned her head and stared at him.

"My name is now Rhys Lint, and Rowena's name is now Spite. Please don't reveal our real names in front of outsiders," Rhys instructed Helga, lest she give herself away.

Helga raised an eyebrow: These two old geezers are really... well, she should also consider what she should call herself.

Helga acknowledged that her two old friends had been very thoughtful; their names appearing at Hogwarts would certainly cause a sensation. She wasn't the type to seek attention, so using a pseudonym was necessary.

A very common name of a passerby popped into her mind.

"Then I'll change my name to Smith White," said the blacksmith.

"Yes, Ms. White." Rice remembered her old friend's new name.

While Rice and Helga were chatting, the two people on the opposite sand dune felt like they were about to split open: Why did Rice bring someone with him this time?!

What exactly is going on?

The two girls became nervous as the two men approached them.

That's normal, after all, this person came from ruins thousands of years ago. If Rice hadn't been standing next to that person, the two of them would have run away long ago.

"Silver hair...is he a descendant of the Greengrass family?" Daphne and Astoria were observing Helga, and Helga was also observing them.

"Is this yours—?"

"Student," Rice said very seriously, "you could say he's my successor."

Helga seemed thoughtful: after hearing her old friend say that, she was also starting to think about finding an heir.

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!

There will be another update tonight, but it will definitely be very late. Please check back in the morning (if you don't see it when you wake up in the morning, you'll have to wait until tonight).

(End of this chapter)