Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 278 Rice is a riddle

Rice and Daphne rushed to the garden.

"Without a doubt, this is a treasure left behind by Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four giants..."

From a distance, Rice could hear Borgin introducing the treasures he had brought to Mr. Henry. When he heard the name Hufflepuff, Rice's heart skipped a beat.

"It's a complete set, which is quite difficult to collect. You see, the carving style of the cups and the inscription on the bottom are consistent with the style of that era. Based on my research, I believe it is likely a work from Helga Hufflepuff's later years," Mr. Bogin said with great certainty.

Somewhat illogically, Bojin, the middleman who runs the shady business in Knockturn Alley, almost never sells counterfeit goods, especially not to these established pure-blooded families.

He might raise the price, he might try to lower the price when taking delivery, and he might be vague about the function of the item, but whatever he says is valid.

He was certain that the cups were Hufflepuff's belongings.

"Why wasn't the third cup preserved?" Mr. Henry was immediately captivated by the set of cups. While the eagle badger and lion badger cups were desirable, his favorite was the snake badger cup, but that cup had been destroyed.

"That's why I'm so certain this set of cups is genuine." Mr. Borgin gave a mysterious smile. "As we all know, the great Lord Slytherin, in his later years, was persecuted by the other three founders for the sake of the interests of the various pure-blood families, and was forced to leave Hogwarts. So isn't it perfectly normal that the cups Hufflepuff gave him were destroyed?"

Borgin had long since mastered the art of speaking appropriately to different people. Since he was currently at Greengrass Manor, Salazar Slytherin was seen as a persecuted victim.

Rice overheard the entire conversation. He clicked his tongue, figuring it was probably something Hufflepuff had come up with a few days ago to earn some living expenses.

As one of the parties involved in the story, he certainly didn't remember Hufflepuff ever giving him such a gift.

Daphne also overheard her father's conversation with Bogin, and she glanced at Rice, wondering what he thought about it.

"I can tell at a glance whether it's a relic from the era of the Four Greats," Rice said confidently.

"Then do you think the things Mr. Bokin brought are genuine?" Daphne immediately asked upon hearing this.

"I don't know," Rice smiled, giving a perplexing answer.

Daphne: ? ? ?

She immediately realized, "This set of cups is a fake?"

To her surprise, Rice shook her head again.

He genuinely didn't know whether he should classify the set as a fake, because it was indeed made by Hufflepuff; it was just that the gift hadn't been given out yet.

Rice felt that even if all the world's antiquarians were summoned here and argued for three days and three nights, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion.

Mr. Henry finally noticed Rice and Daphne standing not far away. His eyes lit up when he saw Rice: who could be more suitable than her to appraise this treasure?

He was quite tempted by the set of cups, but he still had some doubts: the relics of the Four Great Wizards were extremely rare; most of what had appeared before were correspondence between the Four Great Wizards and their contemporaries. This time, three cups had appeared at once, and a complete set at that…

Anyone would have grumbled about it.

"Rice...you've arrived! Please have a seat!" Mr. Henry quickly said, inviting Rice to sit down.

Seeing Henry's enthusiastic attitude towards Rice, a glint of light flashed in Mr. Bockin's eyes: He remembered this child very clearly. How did he become so familiar with the Greengrass family?

After Rice sat down, Mr. Henry looked at him with expectant eyes, the meaning of which was self-evident. Rice felt it was necessary for him to help Henry out—given the warm hospitality he had shown him over the past month, he should lend a hand.

"How much are you planning to sell this set of cups for?" Rice wanted to hear the price first.

"Three thousand Galleons, that's a very fair price."

Rice: ...

Your cup is gold... Oh, it really is made of gold, but it's too expensive!

Just by looking at Rice's expression, Mr. Bogin knew he thought the cup was too expensive. He immediately began to defend himself—

"These are not just three ordinary cups, they are magical cups, look—" Bokin took out his wand and summoned a stream of water.

Water poured into the first glass turned into wine; water poured into the second glass turned into beer; and water poured into the third glass turned into something similar to vinegar.

Rice's face twitched.

Mr. Bokin looked at the two of them with an expression that said, "See, I didn't lie to you."

"Three thousand Galleons, only a wealthy family like the Greengrass could afford that," Rice said with a forced smile.

Mr. Boggin remained silent, only looking at Mr. Henry, confident in his treasure.

Mr. Henry was very conflicted. He didn't understand why his ancestor was unwilling to speak frankly. Was he afraid of offending Bokin? Don't be ridiculous, he wasn't even afraid of that broker.

Rice was equally perplexed: because the definition of this thing was too complicated.

After much deliberation, he decided to leave the decision to Mr. Henry.

"If you're willing to spend three thousand Galleons for these three cups, that's certainly possible; they were indeed made by Hufflepuff."

Mr. Henry narrowed his eyes: he sensed something amiss in his patriarch's tone. So even with Rice's endorsement, he politely ushered Mr. Boggin out of his estate.

"My lord, this is..." After Bokin left and Daphne returned upstairs, he voiced his doubts to Rice.

"That is indeed a Hufflepuff piece, but it's not as amazing as he makes it out to be. It's a mass-produced item, not worth three thousand Galleons. There are plenty of these; I can get you a few if you want." Rice wondered if Borgin had actually paid three hundred Galleons when he bought the Golden Cup from Helga.

Mr. Henry finally understood and thanked him profusely.

Rice waved his hand: "I just don't want to see Henry waste money. Let Bokin take this cup and use it to swindle some rich fools!"

After Henry left, Rice couldn't help but stretch: he had finally repaid Henry for his hospitality. He was getting a little tired of staying at the manor and wanted to go out for a stroll.

Where to go? That's a good question.

Then the image of Harry popped into Rice's mind: that boy, carrying the "love magic" left by his mother, and this love magic had given rise to some very wonderful applications.

He wanted to go and observe this legendary magic in person.

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. Second update will be a little later, check back tomorrow morning.

(End of this chapter)