Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 276 Helga's Revenue Generation Methods

After signing the contract, Dumbledore stood up, shook hands with Hufflepuff, and then quickly left Rupert's Pastry Shop.

Rice leaned closer to Helga and asked with a smile, "How's it like being a Hogwarts professor?"

Hufflepuff gave a wry smile: this whole mess had turned him from the owner of the school into an employee. But it was already much better; at least he didn't have to sneak into the school like Salazar had suggested.

Although she had a place to stay at the school, who would choose to smuggle themselves into the school if they could enter openly and legitimately?

"By the way, is a salary of 100 Galleons a lot or a little a month?" Hufflepuff realized after Dumbledore left and wanted to ask Rice what level his salary was at.

"It should be alright?" Rice wasn't really sure how much an ordinary wizard in the magical world could earn in a month—he had heard Fred and the others complain that their father, Arthur Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, earned fifty Galleons a month. So Hufflepuff's monthly salary of one hundred Galleons plus fifty Galleons for research funding must be quite generous, right?

Of course, Rice couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the last item in the contract.

"Helga, this is money earned by risking your life."

"Superstition," Hufflepuff retorted with an eye roll. She didn't believe in so-called "curses." They'd already reduced the false Norse gods to ashes; what was there to fear?

Hufflepuff didn't want to chat with Rice anymore; she had a very important task at hand: to gain a thorough understanding of the modern magical world before the start of the semester.

"I'm going to the bookstore to buy some books—" Hufflepuff stopped abruptly in her tracks: she suddenly realized she didn't have any modern wizarding currency. She'd forgotten to ask Dumbledore to pay her a portion of her salary in advance when she signed the contract.

Fortunately, she still had her old friend Salazar to rely on.

Rice gave Helga the books he had previously bought and told her she could exchange her potion ingredients and other valuables for money at shops in Diagon Alley or Knockturn Alley. He earned his first fortune in Knockturn Alley, where he also met the Greengrass family.

Hufflepuff nodded, heeding her old friend's advice. However, her situation was far worse than Rice's had been, because she hadn't brought many valuables with her.

"Actually, you should think about it differently." Rice coughed twice and gave Helga a wonderful idea.

"Did you know? Our 'relics' are incredibly popular in the modern magical world." Lesch Helga winked. "Any magical item that's even remotely related to the four of us can fetch an astronomical price."

"For example, if you put a badger's head on your wine glass and then age it, it becomes an extremely valuable Hufflepuff relic."

Helga: !!!

"This...isn't this a bit inappropriate?" She hesitated, because it all felt like a lie.

"What's wrong with that?" Rice asked, puzzled. "You're Helga Hufflepuff herself, aren't you?"

Hufflepuff nodded.

"This wine glass is one you used, isn't it?"

Hufflepuff nodded again.

"Then what kind of fake is this? This is a genuine treasure passed down from Helga Hufflepuff, the founder of Hogwarts!" Rice's words made Helga feel enlightened.

Without further hesitation, she picked up a wine glass and went to find the buyer.

Of course, the antique dealers in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley aren't fools; a badger's head alone won't make them part with their hard-earned cash. But if the cup is imbued with Helga's spell, that's a different story.

After Salazar's guidance, Helga's mind was completely opened. She took out three exquisite golden goblets and tapped them one by one with her wand. Soon, the three goblets changed in turn—

The first wine glass features a relief of a badger and an eagle, and on the bottom is inscribed in Latin: "To my wise friend, Rowena Ravenclaw, may this sweet wine accompany her to sleep."

The second glass features an embossed design of a lion and a badger, and the Latin inscription at the bottom reads: "To my brave friend Godric Gryffindor, may he enjoy a fine beer after a good fight."

For the third glass, Hufflepuff had a little trick up her sleeve. She carved a badger and a snake, along with a Latin blessing, on it before scraping off the snake relief and the blessing.

Carrying the three wine glasses, Hufflepuff picked out an antique shop that looked appealing and went inside.

……

After parting ways with Hufflepuff, Rice didn't rush to leave Lupert's Bread Shop—he had an important matter for Lupert to attend to.

After this summer vacation, he will be a third-year student at Hogwarts. At that time, he will also unlock access to Hogsmeade Village, provided he obtains the signature of his "guardian".

Although sneaking into Hogsmeade wouldn't be difficult for Rice, as a lawman, he outwardly respected the school rules and was willing to follow them.

So Rice needed to get a guardian's signature, and according to the persona he created for himself, Lupert was his guardian, so he went to Lupert.

Lupert naturally had no objection to this, as long as Rice didn't feel it was beneath his dignity.

A few minutes later, Rice left Lupert's Dessert Shop with a signed form and a large bag of pastries. Now, he was heading to Greengrass Manor to deal with a little tail he'd left behind.

Upon returning to Greengrass Manor, Rice went straight to the room where Scabbers was.

The sound of Rice opening the door startled Spotty. Its eyes widened instantly, and the mouse trembled with excitement: Finally, someone's here! It's been locked up in this little room all day and is almost going crazy!

Rice opened the cage door and took Banban out of the small cage.

Banban was so excited to regain her "freedom" that she almost cried: the cage was too small, being locked in it was torture!

It tried its best to look cute, hoping to win the favor of the little wizard in front of it and be taken by his side like it was at the Weasleys' house—it really didn't want to be locked in a cage again.

However, things didn't go as planned. In Rice's eyes, who had seen through its true identity, Banban's behavior was not cute at all, but rather quite terrifying: Just imagine, a grown man trying so hard to be cute in front of you...

Rice grabbed the scruff of the scruff of the scruff's neck, lifted it up, and stared directly into its small black eyes.

Banban couldn't help but shudder: the little wizard's eyes were as cold as a pond in late autumn...

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.

The second update is here!

Requesting monthly votes at the beginning of the month

There will be another chapter tonight, so everyone should read it when they wake up in the morning!

Thank you Starry Nightmare and Jun Yexin for the generous donations~ Mwah!

(End of this chapter)