Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 302 Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw (Part 2)

Life in the dungeon is dull and tedious.

Before Rowena regained her sanity, she could still patrol the dungeon tirelessly, driven by instinct. But after regaining her sanity, those days became incredibly boring. Sometimes, even encountering an escaped dark creature was quite amusing.

After holding back for a while, Ravenclaw finally started finding ways to amuse himself.

Using the active clay that Rice gave her, she expanded the entrance space into a flat area the size of a football field, then built many castles and markets on the ground, and then used transmutation magic to create many small dolls inside.

With her profound magical skills, the castle and market in the open space were almost indistinguishable from the real medieval world outside. She even went so far as to conjure a multitude of magical creatures in the forest and actually create lords in the castle, then have them wage war against each other…

What's truly outrageous is that these little dolls seem to be beyond Rowena's control, possessing their own set of behavioral logic, and it's a mystery how Ravenclaw manages to do it. It involves an extremely sophisticated form of Transfiguration.

When Rice and Helga broke the seal and saw this scene, they were both stunned.

Rice: I must say, Rowena, your sand table looks pretty fun...

Helga: What was I feeling guilty about just now?!

Upon hearing the sound, Ravenclaw, who was engrossed in looking at the sand table, simply waved his hand, telling Salazar not to spoil his fun.

Rice wanted to say something, but Helga stopped her. She concealed her presence, quietly walked to Ravenclaw's side, and craned her neck to look at the scene in the sand table.

Because Helga deliberately concealed her presence, Ravenclaw assumed the person approaching was Salazar. So, without turning around, she explained to "Salazar."

"I've divided this sand table into more than a dozen areas, each with its own lord, and under each lord are minor lords, making it almost indistinguishable from the outside world—and now one lord is about to unify this sand table. This isn't uncommon, and once this happens, I'll start 'shuffling' the deck." Ravenclaw was in high spirits, seemingly completely immersed in the sand table he had created.

Just as Ravenclaw was introducing his sand table to Salazar, something strange happened within it: the lord, whom Ravenclaw had just praised as someone who could "unify the sand table," was inspecting his territory when he passed through a small town and was then ambushed and killed by the town's armed forces.

Ravenclaw's eyes lit up, and he kept exclaiming, "Interesting, interesting!"

"So these little figures in the sand table have their own independent thoughts?" Hufflepuff whispered. She felt this "plot" seemed a bit far-fetched; was Rowena directing and acting out something?

"Yes, this is the most important part! The entire model—hoo!!" Ravenclaw let out a strange cry—it wasn't until Hufflepuff spoke that she realized something was wrong, and when she turned her head, she was so frightened that she almost jumped up.

"Helga, what are you doing—?!" Ravenclaw's usually sharp mind seemed to stop working at this moment. She never dreamed that her long-lost close friend would suddenly appear in front of her.

"It's a very long story..." Helga sighed and told Rowena about what happened after she left school.

"These years have been so hard on you, Rowena." As she finished speaking, her emotions became complicated again.

Rowena appears happy, but isn't the root of the problem simply the utter boredom within the seal? For Rowena, what difference is there between this and torture?

Rowena remains down.

It took her a long time to realize: "So I can say that the root cause of all this can be attributed to—"

Rice: ? ? ! !

Without hesitation, he turned and walked away, but the next second, a spell bound his ankles.

"Salazar, I have something to discuss with you," Ravenclaw's voice rang in Rice's ear.

……

The sand table at the entrance to the seal was mostly destroyed. It had just been hit by an apocalyptic natural disaster: gales, floods, and earthquakes, which destroyed most of the sand table, along with the castle, buildings, and small figurines on it. The areas that were not destroyed were also affected, and almost none of the figurines on them were still functioning properly.

Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff were sitting by the ruins. Helga had conjured two stools and a table out of mud, and the two sat facing each other, chatting.

In the very center of the table, there was an inconspicuous puddle of water.

"This sand table is just destroyed like that? That's such a pity." Helga looked at the ruins of the sand table with great heartache.

"It's alright, I'll just spend some time making another one." For Ravenclaw, creating a sand table is already a familiar task. Perhaps in ten days or half a month, the sand table will be back to normal operation.

"It would be really interesting to shrink people down and put them in the sandbox—we could let students come in and train. I think I just saw a miniature dragon?" Helga realized that Rowena's sandbox seemed to serve more than just entertaining her.

Ravenclaw thought for a moment and realized that Helga was right; this could indeed be used as a training tool for inexperienced young wizards.

Although the various miniature figures have their own behavioral logic, Ravenclaw can also personally control them, which would be perfect for training students.

"I think it's okay to take this out, right?"

"No problem, but it's best not to stray too far from the seal..."

The two of them excitedly discussed their future experiences.

The magical world has enjoyed a long period of peace, creating a significant barrier between it and the non-magical worlds, leaving students with virtually no opportunity for practical experience. This cannot continue; it would be better to send them all to the sandbox to hone their spellcasting skills.

"By the way, have you found a student you like?" Rowena asked casually during their conversation.

"No, but I have a new idea. Do you think it will work?" Hufflepuff shook his head and shared his idea of ​​testing young wizards' talent for controlling magic with his friend.

"Feeling—" Before Ravenclaw could finish speaking, the puddle on the table rippled a few times, then quickly expanded, revealing Rice's face in it.

He opened his eyes, looked at the two people at the table, and smiled. "Sorry, I think I just passed out. What were you two talking about?"

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.

This is the second update; the next update will be later, probably in the evening.

(End of this chapter)