Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 338 Helga: That old viper ruined my plans!

Sirius: Huh?

Daphne: ?

Both of them were stunned. Rice's actions were too sudden and too unexpected.

Rice, however, remained calm. In his view, it was better to erase the memory Harry shouldn't have heard than to let Harry suffer pointlessly here. Everything would be alright once Sirius was exonerated.

Sirius Black paused for a moment, then a surge of anger rose within him: Rice! How dare you lay a hand on Harry!

But before he could lash out, Harry turned away. Considering that Harry was still there, Sirius could only use his remaining rationality to control his anger and planned to settle the score with Rice after Harry left.

"Oh no, I forgot to bring Ron some butterbeer back!" Harry slapped his forehead, realizing he'd forgotten to pack a serving for Ron to try. He'd been blown away by the drink when he first tasted it at the shop and had been thinking of getting some for Ron, but he'd been in such a rush that he'd completely forgotten.

"Are you alright? Ron has a permit to enter Hogsmeade, he can just buy it himself, right?" Rice's tone was full of confusion and bewilderment.

Harry was taken aback, then realized: Yes, Ron is different from me, he can get into Hogsmeade!

"I must have drunk too much butterbeer and my head's not working properly. Isn't this kind of beer supposed to have almost no alcohol content?" Harry laughed awkwardly and continued walking towards Hogwarts Castle.

"Maybe you really can't hold your liquor?" Rice quickly caught up with Harry, came to his side, and chatted and laughed with him.

Looking at Harry's smiling face, Sirius seemed thoughtful: It seems that Rice's approach wasn't bad either?

Harry will have to wait a long time to clear his name, and during that time he will likely remain immersed in the pain of his godfather betraying his parents. Rather than letting him suffer like this, it would be better to temporarily erase his memories and let him live a happier life.

Daphne, holding Sirius's hand, was also reflecting on Rice's actions. She increasingly felt that Rice had done the right thing, and that she should learn from him and practice the Oblivion Charm diligently when she got back. Speaking of the Oblivion Charm, she wondered how Lockhart was doing now; hopefully, he had adapted to Azkaban's cells.

With different thoughts in mind, the group returned to Hogwarts and then went their separate ways.

Harry was heading back to his Gryffindor common room, Rice and Daphne were going to the library, and Sirius planned to stay at the Shrieking Shack—ever since he bumped into Lupin and Hagrid at the Three Broomsticks and learned that they had been working together recently, Sirius had decided to stop going to Hagrid's hut for free meals, because it was too dangerous, and he would be in big trouble if he ran into Lupin.

I don't know if my old friend will be willing to listen to my explanation then.

If Rice knew Sirius's inner turmoil, he would surely scoff at it: he knew this all too well, and it was best not to overestimate his old friends' rationality; they wouldn't listen to him unless they gave him a good beating.

Whether Sirius Black has a chance to clear his name depends on how resilient he is.

Rice has extensive experience in this area.

When Rice entered the library, she was surprised to find Helga there as well. Helga was sitting opposite Hermione, with a stack of books beside her.

Clearly, Hermione was not quite comfortable with having a real professor sitting across from her.

"May I see your Transfiguration notes?"

"Of course, no problem!" Hermione quickly took out a leather-covered notebook from her bag and respectfully handed it to Helga.

Helga took the notebook, opened it, and saw rows of neat, beautiful, and concise class notes. Helga's eyes were quickly filled with admiration.

"Well written."

"Thank you for your compliment."

"Granger, you're from a Muggle family, right?"

Hermione nodded, puzzled, while Helga sighed.

"What a pity you went to Ravenclaw. I wish you were a Hufflepuff."

Hermione: ? ? ?

Listening to their conversation, Rice curled his lip: "That shameless old man Helga, is he eyeing Rowena's student? Have some shame! She's a Ravenclaw student!!!"

He nervously tugged at Daphne's sleeve, pulling her towards a corner of the library to avoid being seen by Hufflepuff. Helga was so desperate for apprentices that he didn't even care about saving face; he had to make sure Daphne and the other girl kept their distance from this guy.

They didn't explicitly stipulate that the successor had to be chosen from their own college—who would have thought? Just as some countries don't explicitly state in their constitutions that "criminals cannot be presidents," they also didn't anticipate that their founders would later try to abduct students from other colleges as their successors!

Helga, where has your status and demeanor as a grandmaster gone?

Rice underestimated Hermione's appeal to Helga. In Helga's view, Hermione was actually a better fit for Hufflepuff's admissions criteria.

First, this girl has no background whatsoever; her Muggle family background predetermined her inability to join Slytherin. Her strong adherence to school rules clashes with the Gryffindor school's atmosphere. Finally, while her grades seem excellent, suggesting she should go to Ravenclaw, her good grades are the result of hard work, and her core values ​​perfectly align with Hufflepuff.

Therefore, in Helga's view, Hermione was a student who was sorted into the wrong house by the Sorting Hat.

Faced with Professor White's bizarre question, although she didn't seem to need an answer, Hermione hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "Actually, I initially wanted to go to Gryffindor."

Helga: ? ? ?

This answer really surprised her. Weren't Gryffindor and Slytherin the first options you would have ruled out?

"Because at that time everyone said that Gryffindor was the best house—Professor Dumbledore graduated from Gryffindor, so I initially really wanted to go to Gryffindor. However, after Rice explained to me the true nature of the admissions process for the four houses, I changed my mind."

"Oh?" Helga raised an eyebrow. "So Rice is involved in this?"

"Yes." Hermione told Professor White about the types of students that the four houses were looking for, as Rice had told her years ago.

"After hearing it, I realized that I might be more suited to Ravenclaw."

Helga remained silent.

"That old viper has ruined everything!" she thought angrily to herself. "Couldn't you have used some nicer words to describe Hufflepuff School?!"

But it's too late to regret it now. Hermione Granger is already a Ravenclaw, and she can only look on with envy. Fortunately, there are also promising talents in Hufflepuff.

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.

Here's the first update of the day!

The second update will be at night, so please read it after you get up.

(End of this chapter)