Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 286 The Promise Made a Thousand Years Ago

Every college has its stereotypes, and even the founders find it difficult to remove their biases when looking at the various colleges.

Helga's impression of Gryffindor was that the students were "reckless" and preferred to solve problems with fists and wands rather than verbal disputes.

Gryffindor students gather in small groups, making a ruckus, and will start a duel at the slightest disagreement, then go back to playing around as if nothing happened.

However, the current headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, seems to act like a shrewd and calculating Slytherin, judging solely from his behavior.

How could he allow the dark creatures of the Ministry of Magic to appear near Hogwarts?! Even if it's for the purpose of hunting down fugitives, this behavior is going too far.

Hufflepuff felt that Dumbledore probably hadn't inherited the spirit of Gryffindor.

"Maybe it's because he's getting old? Isn't it normal for people to become more mild-mannered as they get older?" Rhys spoke up for Dumbledore. Although he and Helga were both from a thousand years ago, in terms of actual physical age, the over-100-year-old Dumbledore was still superior.

"I'm getting old, and I don't feel like I've changed much!" Helga punched the interior wall of the carriage in dissatisfaction.

Rice: ...

No, Helga's personality did change quite a bit as she got older, but that's not something you can say.

"No matter what, Dumbledore is the current headmaster of Hogwarts. You are not the legendary wizard Helga Hufflepuff, and I am not Salazar Slytherin. I am just an ordinary student, and you are just a teacher who has not yet been hired."

Rice's words calmed Helga down.

Indeed, Dumbledore is the current headmaster, that's an indisputable fact. According to their previous agreement, they should respect the current headmaster's decision.

The four of them had indeed discussed this topic before. According to their plan, once Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was on the right track and their heirs had grown up to be capable of handling things independently, they would relinquish their responsibilities and hand over the school to their successors.

The four old guys will leave the school and enjoy the last period of their lives—a pleasant, free, and carefree time of happiness.

Although things later developed in ways that exceeded their expectations, that was indeed their initial plan. However, this approach presented them with a very real problem: the successors of Hogwarts were students they had mentored, and would the presence of the four of them have too much of an impact on the successors, to the point that they would end up "retired but not truly retired"?

Therefore, the four of them engaged in a long discussion...

"I don't want to receive work-related emails while I'm enjoying life," Godric said first.

"Yes, perhaps we can just keep the right to advise and then let the children do it themselves," Helga chimed in.

"Ridiculous! Your so-called right to advise will inevitably turn the successor principal into our puppet," Rowena retorted mercilessly. "I think we shouldn't even have the right to advise—just hand over the task to them, and then the four of us can erase our tracks and leave the school."

"The children who can't find us must learn to handle things independently; this will be a good start."

Hufflepuff asked worriedly, "But what if the children make decisions that could seriously harm the school?"

Upon hearing this, the other three founders fell silent. Finally, it was Salazar Slytherin who broke the silence.

"Even so, we shouldn't interfere. Helga, our lives aren't eternal. Even if we stop one or two wrong decisions, can we keep doing it forever? Will the children stop making mistakes after we've all turned to dust? We should let them experience and grow while we're still alive. That way, when we leave this world, they'll be mature and reliable."

In my opinion, if Hogwarts were to perish without us, it would only prove that our education system has failed, making us like deformed livestock destined for extinction.

Salazar's words plunged the room into an even longer silence. Finally, all three nodded, acknowledging Salazar's less-than-pleasant statement.

"Then it's settled, no matter what decision the principal makes next, we won't interfere?" Sarah looked around at her friends sitting next to her.

"Okay, that's settled!" Godric was the first to chime in.

"I have no objection, Salazar is right," Rowena also stated her position.

Helga didn't speak, but she nodded in agreement.

A resolution was passed just like that, and Helga never dreamed that she would actually encounter such a resolution one day...

"But..." she still hesitated—these were dark creatures, and look what they had done to that boy named Harry on the train! Should such things really be near Hogwarts?

"Alright, Helga, just consider it the Ministry of Magic hiring some watchdogs for us."

And you must trust the children. Without us, haven't they kept the school running smoothly for a thousand years? They've even allowed it to grow and become the world's number one magic school. Besides, don't underestimate Dumbledore; he's a wizard who has mastered a domain.”

Helga raised an eyebrow: To comprehend a domain without having learned magic flow is truly a prodigy.

Her opinion of Dumbledore had changed slightly, though she wouldn't admit it.

"They must have used something, otherwise it would be too outrageous," she muttered.

"By chance, he obtained the corpse of a false god, and thus comprehended the domain."

"No wonder, but where did he get that divine corpse?"

"That's another long story."

As they talked, their carriage passed through the iron gates of Hogwarts. The two Dementors guarding the gates caught a strong "human scent" from the passing carriage. The scent was so sweet that the two Dementors couldn't help but drift towards the inside of the iron gates.

Yes, the officials of the Ministry of Magic once gave an order that they were not allowed to set foot in Hogwarts, but you can't stop them from standing on the edge of the iron gate and panting, can you?

Feeling the sudden drop in temperature inside the carriage, Rice laughed. He waved his hand, and the temperature inside the carriage returned to normal.

After the carriage entered Hogwarts, the cast-iron gates slowly closed. Outside, the remains of the two Dementors gradually turned into black smoke and dissipated.

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.

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(End of this chapter)