Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 319 Burial

boom!

Thousands of tons of soil were thrown high into the air like waves crashing on the sea, enveloping the Dementors whose bodies were covered in frost and unable to move, and shoving them into the ground.

Then, the ground within a radius of several kilometers began to shake, carrying the Dementor and a large amount of mud and sand into the ground. The hail and ice spikes in the sky turned back into rain, which was swept into the ground along with the shaking soil.

During this process, the magic of Rais and Helga mixed together, forming a strong protective layer on the ground to ensure that no evil aura would rebound.

After using the power of her domain to send the Dementors a hundred meters underground, Hufflepuff still wasn't satisfied. She took a deep breath, flipped her hand over, palm facing the ground, and pressed down lightly. The ground where the Dementors were buried immediately caved in by nearly fifty meters. Now, the ground was extremely solidified, difficult to break even with an Explosive Charm.

After this process, a giant crater nearly 100 meters in diameter suddenly appeared on the edge of Black Lake. A force pulled the lake water into the crater. Soon, the crater became part of Black Lake.

As for the Dementors, they acted as if they had never existed.

After a tacit agreement with his old friend, Rice let out a long sigh of relief: finally, he could vent the anger that had been building up inside him. He felt that keeping that resentment inside would drive him crazy, crazier than Ravenclaw.

He gave a soft hum, gauged the state of the Dementors outside the stadium, and found that their emotions were all stable. A slight smile appeared on his lips.

He cannot kill dark creatures, but that doesn't mean he's helpless against them. Dementors, which still retain a physical form, are the easiest to deal with; they can be sealed away using physical means.

The immense pressure underground is a natural cage; even a fire dragon cannot move under its oppressive force.

Upon seeing the smile on Rice's face, Daphne and Astoria both breathed a sigh of relief: judging from Rice's expression, the problem must have been solved, that's great!

The commotion caused by Rice and Helga was astonishing. The students in the stadium weren't deaf; they all heard the deafening roar from not far away and felt the stadium vibrate.

"Ouch—"

"Be careful!"

"What happened?"

A slight commotion broke out on the field, and the two teams playing in the sky also stopped and looked towards the source of the sound. However, the weather was so bad that they couldn't see clearly what was happening from their high altitude.

Cedric spurred his broom and flew towards the source of the sound, intending to risk everything to investigate. However, after flying only a dozen feet, something golden flashed past him. Cedric instinctively raised his hand, and something hard shot into his palm.

The Golden Snitch!

Cedric was completely stunned. He never expected the Golden Snitch to fall into his hands in such a dramatic way!

On the stands, Dumbledore's expression turned extremely serious. He looked around, cast an amplification spell on himself, and loudly commanded the students to calm down.

"Students of each house, led by their Heads and Prefects, return to the Castle," Dumbledore said in an unquestionable tone. He intended to announce a pause in the game, but Lady Hooch's whistle blew instead.

He glanced at the scoreboard that had started flipping automatically and immediately understood what had happened.

"Well, Mr. Cedric Diggory has captured the Golden Snitch. Congratulations, Hufflepuff School—but please return to the castle for the celebration!"

Upon hearing the whistle and Professor Dumbledore's words, the entire Gryffindor team was stunned.

A look of disbelief crossed Wood's face. Just moments ago, when his team was behind, he had believed Harry could turn things around, but the game was already over in the blink of an eye!

Was he dreaming? Was the cold weather causing him to hallucinate? But the cheers coming from around him were real.

He landed on the ground, looking dejected, and watched as the Hufflepuff team members landed one after another, their faces full of joy but forced to suppress their celebratory impulses due to Professor Dumbledore's orders—their solution was to run wildly with their flying brooms, jumping and running, and nothing, no strange noises or torrential rain, could extinguish the excitement in their hearts.

Only when he got closer did Wood notice the unusual nature of the robes worn by the Hufflepuff team members.

"So that's how it is!" He slapped his thigh in frustration, wondering why he hadn't thought of a waterproof spell!

They didn't lose unjustly; Cedric and his team were indeed better prepared.

The students were leaving one after another, and everyone was excited, with so much to say.

Rice also stood up from the stool. Looking at the unabated rain and feeling the vast amount of magic around him that would eventually be wasted, he made a decision.

He held up a finger and pointed to the sky. Instantly, all the magic shot upwards like boiling steam. It surged into the clouds, mingling with the rain clouds and forcibly stopping the rain. However, Rice didn't move the clouds away. Once his magic dissipated, the rain would continue, and it would likely be even heavier, but by then the children would surely have returned to the castle.

"It's a pity Rowena isn't here, otherwise the wind could have stopped." Rice pouted with a hint of regret, and followed the crowd away from the Slytherin House stands.

Seeing that the rain had suddenly stopped, the students, though unaware of the effort Rice had put in, knew that this was a rare opportunity. They quickened their pace and rushed toward the castle—dark clouds filled the sky, and heavy rain could fall at any moment. If they didn't seize the opportunity to go back while the rain was still down, would they be left soaked to the bone?

However, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall couldn't rush back to school like ordinary students. After arranging the students' evacuation, Dumbledore led Professor McGonagall to the place where the loud noise had just occurred.

After leaving the court, both of them were stunned.

Looking at the black lake a few dozen meters away, Dumbledore asked with a slightly hesitant tone, "Minerva, if I'm not senile, I remember this used to be a meadow, didn't I?"

Professor McGonagall was even more shocked than Dumbledore. She now understood the source of the loud noise—a large section of the ground beside the Black Lake had collapsed!

"Was it an earthquake?" she asked, choosing the most likely cause.

Dumbledore's eyes flickered, and he muttered to himself, "If it's just an earthquake, that would be wonderful."

"What do you mean?" Professor McGonagall didn't understand Dumbledore's words for a moment.

Dumbledore took a deep breath and turned to Professor McGonagall: "Minerva, a group of Dementors just broke into Hogwarts. They were attracted by the joy in the Quidditch pitch, but now..."

He looked at the extra patch of black lake and remained silent.

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)