Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 282. Leaving now, no one will get hurt, otherwise…

"This is the Hogwarts Express! How dare they do this?" Daphne exclaimed incredulously, as did the other young wizards in the carriage.

The train was full of Hogwarts students. Attacking this place would be an attempt to make an enemy of the entire British wizarding world.

"What's there to be afraid of? Every year when your ancestors returned to Hogwarts for the start of the school year, a string of human heads would hang from their horse's bridle," Rice said calmly, glancing at Daphne.

In their time, there were no convenient means of transportation like express trains, so young wizards at Hogwarts had to use all their unique skills to get to school.

Some rode on various flying magical creatures, some traveled in flying alchemical creations, and others came to school in the traditional way, riding horses or carriages. However, considering the poor security situation in rural Britain at that time, most young wizards traveled in groups or with a group of servants from their homes.

Adrian was the most unique among them. While other students risked their lives to get to school, fearing any unexpected trouble, he part-timed bandit hunters on his way to school, deliberately causing mischief, and always succeeding. Eventually, many younger students liked to follow behind him, lagging behind by half a day.

He single-handedly transformed the security situation along the route from Greengrass Manor to Hogwarts Castle.

Daphne was speechless at Rice's words. Then she suddenly realized what those pumpkin-sized white bags next to the saddle in the portrait of her ancestor Adrian when he was young contained—as a child, she had thought they were rations and game that her ancestor had brought with him!

"You stay here and don't wander around. I'll be right back." Rice glanced at Daphne and Astoria, signaling them to take good care of Neville, then opened the carriage door and got out.

He wanted to see who dared to stop the Hogwarts train. If the train crew couldn't handle it, he'd take care of this little problem himself.

The corridor was also dark, so Rice raised the flames above his head to let the firelight illuminate his way.

Rice noticed that the young wizards in the other carriages were also taking action. Some opened the carriage doors and peeked out, trying to figure out what was happening, while others used glow charms to restore their vision. He also heard faint shouts in the distance such as "I am the guild master," "Stay calm," and "Prefects, move out!"

The person who shouted must be Percy; that guy is quite responsible, Rice thought.

At that moment, a chill swept over them, carrying with it an extremely malevolent aura. Rice was certain that this was the very group that had intercepted and invaded the Hogwarts Express.

Rice took a deep breath, preparing to head to the front of the train to deal with the guy, when he felt a chill run down his spine: an intruder had appeared at the rear of the train as well!

Attack from both ends, distracting the train staff and making them unable to attend to one thing at a time? Rice narrowed his eyes: These intruders came prepared.

However, it wasn't a big problem, because Rice knew Hufflepuff had also boarded the vehicle. Sure enough, a familiar magical fluctuation came from the rear of the car, and Rice walked towards the front of the car with peace of mind.

He believed Hufflepuff would perfectly solve the problems behind him.

The closer they got to the front of the train, the more pronounced the chill in the air became, and the sounds from the surrounding carriages gradually faded away. What surged into the train wasn't ordinary cold air, but an evil energy that the naive young wizards were utterly powerless to resist.

Rice frowned slightly and quickened his pace. When the surrounding environment had cooled enough for him to exhale white vapor, Rice saw the creatures that had invaded the train: three monsters, each clad in tattered cloaks and reaching the ceiling in height. Their faces were completely hidden beneath their headscarves, and the limbs protruding from their cloaks were bluish-gray, thin, and covered in scabs, like corpses rotting in water.

The three monsters stood in front of separate, open boxes, staring at the young wizard inside. Their headscarves fluttered slowly, and the monsters hidden beneath them appeared to be slowly inhaling something. Rice was certain they weren't breathing air, but rather drawing in something else entirely.

Rice's arrival attracted the attention of the three monsters. They turned around and looked at Rice directly, and then the headscarves of the three monsters simultaneously bulged inward.

A bone-chilling cold swept through Rice's body; he felt the water vapor in his breath condense into frost on his nostrils. The cold penetrated his skin, spreading towards his chest, seemingly trying to freeze his heart as well.

Rice let the chill rage within her body for a while, then used magic to expel it.

"An interesting dark creature, a new species." He carefully examined the monster before him. He had never seen a monster like this before; it seemed to be a new species that had emerged in the last thousand years, similar to the eight-eyed giant spider. However, he had seen and dealt with similar dark creatures a few times before, so he wasn't particularly surprised.

After observing for a while, Rice realized that the monsters in front of him seemed to feed on emotions, so it was not surprising that they chose to attack the train—the emotions here were indeed very "intense".

He waited a moment and found that no train staff came forward to solve the problem; they had likely been dealt with when the monster boarded the train.

While Rice was pondering, the three monsters were also puzzled: why couldn't they draw happiness from the little thing standing right in front of them? It was like a pie that had been bitten three times but still hadn't gotten any filling.

Just as they were deciding to take further action, Rice spoke.

"Leave now and you will not be harmed; otherwise, I will send you all into the cycle of reincarnation." Rhys, inside the train, didn't have a strong desire to attack; he only wanted to "coax" the monsters off the train first, and then deal with them.

The three-headed monsters looked at each other, showing no intention of leaving the train, and instead floated towards Rice.

In their eyes, he was just an ordinary little wizard, and they didn't take him seriously at all. Besides, they were carrying out orders from the Ministry of Magic's search train!

If this little thing doesn't know what's good for it, then teach it a lesson. Anyway, as long as it doesn't get a "kiss," there won't be any problem. That's what the monsters think.

Seeing that the three dark creatures were unwilling to back down, Rice sighed. He waved his hands, and the doors of the open private rooms closed simultaneously. The fog on the windows turned into thick frost, cutting off the view inside and outside.

At the same time, he no longer concealed his magical fluctuations.

The three-headed monster froze on the spot. The "ordinary little wizard" it had sensed vanished, replaced by...

Monsters that are even more monstrous than them!

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 coming soon.

(End of this chapter)