Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 279 Why does it feel like there are Animagus everywhere?

Rice was a man of action; once he decided to leave, he wouldn't delay. After leaving a note for Daphne, he left Greengrass Manor and headed for Harry's house.

According to Harry himself, he lived on Privet Road in Devon, and Rice went there at that address.

Even an old wizard like Rice had never seen the protective spell on Harry before. He was very curious about it and wanted to study it carefully, so he naturally couldn't miss the opportunity.

"Little Huigkin, 4 Privet Drive." Muttering Harry's address, Rice stood on the street, a look of worry on his face: although he knew Harry's exact address, Little Huigkin was no small place, and it was still very inconvenient to find.

Just then, Rice sensed a fluctuation of magical energy.

In the Muggle enclave, this undisguised magical fluctuation was particularly noticeable, and Reston's eyes lit up immediately: this wizard was most likely the Harry he was looking for.

But why is this guy so brave? Does he not take the Secrets Act seriously? He dares to interpret the law outside of school, is he sure the Ministry of Magic can't catch him? What gives Harry his confidence?

Following the traces of magical fluctuations, Rice easily arrived at Privet Drive, where he saw Harry dragging his suitcase and carrying a birdcage under his arm as he rushed out of a detached villa.

Rice: ?

Harry: ?!

The two stared at each other, both stunned. Rice also heard a sound like ghosts howling coming from the villa behind Harry.

"Wait a minute." Rice rushed into the house.

Rhys, rushing into the house, quickly located the source of the chaos by sound alone: ​​a round, spherical creature was floating in the Dursleys' dining room; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an old, ugly woman. Harry's uncle was holding onto the woman's legs to prevent her from floating away.

Rice understood what the magical fluctuations were all about.

He glanced around and, seeing that no one in the kitchen had noticed him, Rice didn't do anything more. He simply secretly cast a spell on the woman who had turned into a ball, stopping her expansion and preventing her from floating out of the window.

Keeping the chaos confined to the Dursleys' house was advantageous to Harry—the punishment for using magic in front of his aunt and uncle was completely different from the punishment for using magic to cause hundreds of Muggles to see things they shouldn't have seen.

There were many other things Rice couldn't do. By the time Harry chose to cast the spell off-campus, the situation was already beyond repair; the Ministry of Magic must have received the alert, and officials would likely arrive at the scene within minutes. All Rice could do was help minimize the impact.

After leaving the Dursleys' house without looking back, Rice looked at Harry, who was standing by the roadside in a daze.

Harry looked up and said in a very bitter voice, "Rice, I'm afraid I'm going to be fired."

Rice shook his head. Hogwarts wouldn't expel you, no matter who it might expel. Dumbledore was paying special attention to you. However, he couldn't say these things to Harry, only telling him that things weren't as serious as he thought. The Ministry of Magic wouldn't expel the "Boy Who Lived" over such a trivial matter.

However, judging from Harry's expression, he didn't seem to believe him much. This was normal; after all, he was still a young wizard, not even a third-year student, and he had a deep fear of the Ministry of Magic's laws, as well as a lack of clear understanding of his own identity.

"So, what are your plans next?" Rice felt that after doing such a "big thing," Harry probably wouldn't want to stay at the Dursleys' house anymore.

Rice's question cleared Harry's jumbled mind a little. He had absolutely no money like Muggles, only a few wizarding coins; his entire inheritance from his parents was deposited in Gringotts Wizarding Bank…

So whatever he does next, he has to go to Gringotts and withdraw the money.

"I'm going to London, Gringotts," Harry said with absolute certainty.

"Great idea." Rice thought it was a good idea; going to Diagon Alley was safer than going to those remote, out-of-the-way places.

Rice led Harry to a nearby street, then took out his wand and summoned the Knight Bus.

"What the hell is this?!" Harry stared in disbelief at the giant three-story bus that had appeared out of nowhere.

"The Knight Bus! An emergency passenger service for witches or wizards in distress. Just stick out your wand and get on board, and we'll take you wherever you want to go—" Ticket seller Stan Sampark explained to Harry, clearing up his confusion.

Harry struggled to carry his suitcase and owl cage onto the bus. Rice was about to follow, but he suddenly changed his mind because he realized that he and Harry were being watched from the shadows by some kind of creature.

He turned his head and saw a huge, filthy black dog crouching in a street corner, staring at them.

Rice blinked: Good heavens, why are there so many Animagus spells everywhere? Why do modern wizards like this useless spell so much?

"Have a safe journey." Rice stood outside the car door and waved to Harry.

"You—?" Harry turned around, a hint of panic in his expression: Rice's departure made him feel like a drowning man who had lost his last straw.

"I have a little something to take care of. Don't worry, you just need to take a nap on the bus, and you'll wake up in Diagon Alley. I'll be waiting for you there," Rice reassured Harry.

As for waiting for him in Diagon Alley, Rice would probably go back on his word, because he'd bet a thousand Galleons that Harry would be cornered by the Ministry of Magic within three minutes of stepping into Diagon Alley. This kid has absolutely no idea how to escape after committing a crime!

Anyway, it's not a serious crime, so the sooner it's over, the better. I doubt Dumbledore will even bother to deal with it.

After seeing Harry off, Rice looked towards the spot where she had just seen the black dog, only to find that it had vanished without a trace.

"Are they employees of the Ministry of Magic? But they don't seem like it, otherwise they would have stopped us here." Rice muttered to himself as he walked toward the Dursleys' house.

He also wanted to study the magic associated with that house, but he hadn't had time to look at it properly in the rush of the previous action.

At the Dursleys' house, Rice made a new discovery: the house was imbued with a mysterious magic, seemingly intricately connected to Harry. A wondrous magical loop, unlike anything Rice had ever witnessed, existed between the two.

After studying it carefully for a while, Rice figured that the spell's function was to prevent people who weren't trusted by Harry from finding the house—which opened Rice's eyes.

After noting down the magical path, Rice heard several crisp pops, realizing that the Ministry of Magic's cleanup crew had arrived.

After casting an illusion spell on himself, Rice was about to leave when he stopped in his tracks because of a conversation between Ministry of Magic staff.

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, the next one will be at midnight tonight!

(End of this chapter)