Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 280 Hufflepuff: How much?!

"Don't worry, leave it to me," a deep voice rang out.

"Get out of my house!" Uncle Vernon roared with all his might.

"Okay," the man with the deep voice readily agreed.

Vernon: ?

"But then, no one can treat Ms. Maggie's symptoms," the man continued. He seemed very adept at dealing with emotionally unstable people like Vernon, calming Uncle Vernon down with just one sentence.

A reliable man! That was Rice's first impression of the man with the deep voice. He couldn't help but feel a little curious about this elite wizard.

So, having concealed himself, he quietly went outside the kitchen to spy on what was happening inside.

A tall, dark-skinned, bald wizard stood before Uncle Vernon, with a witch of unconventional attire beside him. Both emanated considerable magical energy, the tall wizard's energy even rivaling that of Professor McGonagall.

The Dursleys were all crammed into the kitchen, with Uncle Vernon holding onto a small protrusion on the sphere with one hand and the table with the other to resist the upward buoyancy.

Aunt Penny was huddled in a corner of the kitchen with Dudley. For some reason, Rice felt that he saw a hint of joy in Penny's eyes.

The tall wizard's words eventually convinced Uncle Vernon—his shirt buttons popping open from the force of the blow also made him a significant persuader.

"Fine, but once you've settled this, please leave my house immediately and forever!" His voice lowered slightly, but his tone was still no different from a roar.

"Of course." The tall wizard didn't want to deal with Vernondo either. He flicked his wand, and the sphere in mid-air returned to human form.

After Maggie was restored, he also erased her memory and restored the kitchen, which had been in a mess, to its original state.

After doing all this, the tall wizard left the Dursleys' house with the strangely dressed witch.

"Those damn guys are finally gone. I need to take Maggie upstairs to get some sleep—" Vernon struggled to carry the unconscious Maggie on his back and shakily made his way upstairs.

Aunt Penny answered absentmindedly, her eyes constantly glancing at the spotless floor.

After leaving the Dursleys' house, the two wizards, a man and a woman, did not leave immediately. Instead, they circled around the neighborhood, as if searching for something.

Seeing the two people wandering along Privet Road, Rice suddenly remembered the big black dog he had seen earlier.

Their conversation confirmed this.

"Kingsley, I don't understand. The Auror training manual clearly states that this kind of accident is not within the scope of the Auror's work; it's the responsibility of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters. So why did the Auror Office assign this task to us? Although I'm still in my probationary period, I'm a reserve Auror, aren't I?" After completing the task, the strangely dressed witch asked her senior colleague for advice.

"Nifadora, your perspective is too one-sided. Yes, after we dealt with it, we found out it was just that Potter accidentally inflated his aunt. But as you know, Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban." Kingsley said slowly in his distinctive deep voice, "It's normal for the ministry to be anxious when we detect traces of magic on Privet Road."

"That's the first outlaw to escape from Azkaban since its founding! He betrayed the Potters, and after the fall of the Manifesto, he blew up half a street and killed thirteen people—all with a single spell! What do you think this guy will do after escaping Azkaban?"

"Isn't that Potter in a very dangerous situation? He left the Dursleys, and now—" Nymphadora frowned, her voice full of worry.

"He's on the Knight Bus now. The department has his location, and Prout and Savage are already on board. Potter's safety is definitely guaranteed. If Sirius is blind and tries to attack him on the Knight Bus, he's welcome to try."

Rhys, hidden in the shadows, nodded: It was the right decision not to get on the train with Harry; getting involved in this would mean a lot of trouble. As for Sirius Black, whom the two had mentioned, Rhys's intuition told him that the big black dog was highly suspicious.

After searching the Dursleys' neighborhood twice without success, Kingsley and Nymphadora left.

Rice also left. The next time he saw Harry was in Diagon Alley.

Rice, who came to Diagon Alley to buy textbooks for the new school year, met Harry, who was drooling over the Firebolts in the window of the Flying Broomstick Shop!

Harry wouldn't have felt such a strong urge to buy it if he hadn't ridden it before, but he had briefly borrowed Daphne's Firebolt during the Battle of the Forbidden Forest last semester, an experience that most people can hardly imagine.

It wasn't until Rice called Harry's name for the third time that he looked away from the firebolt. When he saw it was Rice, Harry greeted him excitedly.

From Harry, Rice learned that Harry had been cornered by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge as soon as he arrived in Diagon Alley that day. However, to Harry's surprise, Fudge showed no intention of holding him accountable.

"This is so strange. Before, I was threatened with expulsion from Hogwarts just for—and that wasn't even my doing—spilling a piece of pudding on someone's head. And this time, I blew up my aunt and got absolutely no punishment, just being forbidden from leaving Diagon Alley for the rest of the holidays. Isn't that strange?"

Rice waved his hand: Fudge's actions show that Harry has a special effect on him, which is probably related to Sirius.

"Aren't you going to consider buying it?" Rice changed the subject, pointing to the fire crossbow bolts in the shop window.

Harry fell silent. He really wanted a Firebolt, but it was just too expensive…

Money is meant to be spent.

"Aren't you afraid that once I get the Firebolt, I'll utterly crush the Slytherin Quidditch team?"

"They were able to defeat you even without fire crossbows?"

After chatting with Harry for a few minutes, Rice parted ways with him because he saw a familiar figure smiling at him while holding two large ice creams.

"Ms. White, are you comfortable living in Diagon Alley?"

Hufflepuff shoved a huge vanilla, yogurt-flavored ice cream into Rice's hand and nodded with a broad smile.

"It's very comfortable. Over the past thousand years, the food in the magical world has made leaps and bounds. Based on this, I have many new ideas."

Rice took a big bite of ice cream and showed a satisfied expression.

He noticed that his friend's ice cream was covered with a thick layer of chocolate and sprinkled with a lot of nut pieces. He immediately showed a look of utter disgust: Hufflepuff has absolutely no idea about ice cream!

After hiding these feelings, Rice asked Helga a question: "Was that set of cups new? How much did it sell for?"

Hufflepuff honestly admitted it and told Rice that she had sold the three small cups for a total of two hundred Galleons.

"The broker brought that set of cups to Greengrass's house, and guess how much he asked for?"

Hufflepuff: ?

"Three thousand Galleons."

"How many?!"

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 first update is here; the second update will be a little later.

(End of this chapter)