Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 35 Teaching Venue

After hearing what Rice and Daphne said, Hermione's interest in Lockhart as an author also ignited. She decided to find some of his works to read later.

After a short break, the three of them went back to their own work.

Once a person starts doing something seriously, time flies by, and in the blink of an eye, it's time for the library to close.

It wasn't until Mrs. Pince, the librarian, passed by the three-person table carrying a stack of books and told them that the library would close in fifteen minutes that they were shocked to realize how late it was.

Hermione shoved the ink bottle, parchment, and textbooks off the table into her bag, then looked up to see Daphne handing Rice her completed Potions class paper.

Hermione: !

"Rice, you should do your homework yourself!" she said in a low voice, glaring at Rice angrily.

"I just asked Rice to check it for me!" Daphne jumped in to cover for Rice without even needing Rice's response.

"You—" Hermione was speechless. In her view, Rice was just a lazy student who copied his friend's homework. But the person being copied didn't seem to care at all, which left her helpless.

"You have no idea how amazing Rice was in Potions class today. Even Professor Snape praised him..." Seeing Hermione's disbelieving look, Daphne proudly told her about Rice's amazing performance that day.

Hermione listened with skepticism, finding it hard to believe that someone her age could be so skilled. But when she thought about the level of spells he had demonstrated on the Hogwarts Express, she felt that Daphne's words were not unfounded.

While the two were chatting, Rice had already helped Daphne revise her paper.

"Let's go." Rice shoved the revised paper into Daphne's hands, then gently tapped the book "Walking with a Ghost" with his wand. The thick, hardcover book floated up and flew back to its original place on the bookshelf.

Daphne's paper is really well written. If only I could persuade her to write one for me—he meant to say, to convince her to write one for him.

Back in his dorm room, Rice lay down on his bed, drew the curtains, and became "isolated" from the outside world. It was truly isolated, because Rice had cast a spell on his curtains to block out noise, and they could only be opened from the inside by himself.

The dormitory atmosphere varies from house to house, and among the first-year Slytherin students, there's a general sense of estrangement. Malfoy and his two underlings usually stick together and are hostile to Rice, but intimidated by Rice's formidable strength, none of the three dare to act rashly, and they rarely even speak to Rice.

The other two Slytherin freshmen were rather aloof and, not wanting to get involved in the four's disputes, usually kept to themselves.

The atmosphere in the dormitory was quite quiet, but there was an odd feeling to it. Rice, however, quite liked the atmosphere and hoped that Malfoy would always be so sensible.

Rice and Daphne had arranged for the lesson to be on Saturday, but Rice was still undecided about where to hold it.

Although the spells he can teach at this stage are only simple little spells that can be used in any classroom, as Daphne grows older and her body matures, the power and influence of the spells will increase, making it less convenient to teach in an empty classroom.

After a moment's thought, Rice chose a location—the very place where he taught his graduates at Hogwarts a thousand years ago, his own private classroom.

When Hogwarts was founded, the four founders had a discussion about the purpose of the school. At first, they only wanted to take in a group of disciples to pass on their knowledge and will. Later, they found that the wizards who came to them had varying levels of basic skills, so they started teaching young wizards who had just shown magical talent.

Young wizards who haven't learned magic yet are like blank canvases, making it easier for the founders to create their own designs on them.

However, seven years is still a bit short. Compared to the vast knowledge reserves of the four, the young wizard can only learn a little bit. Therefore, some students will stay at Hogwarts for a period of time after graduation to assist the professors in teaching and incidentally learn some extremely advanced magic.

Each of the four founders had their own private classroom for teaching advanced spells, and Rice was no exception.

On Saturday morning, Rice left her dorm room early and saw Daphne sitting quietly in the common room waiting.

"Good morning." After a brief greeting, he led Daphne to her private classroom.

"I remember the entrance was on the second floor." Rice led Daphne around the second floor of the castle twice, and then he became a little confused: where was the entrance to his private classroom?

Rice deduced that the castle had undergone several major renovations over the past thousand years, which had obscured the entrance; he needed to search more carefully.

Finally, Rice arrived at the outside of a women's restroom.

Rice: ?

Based on my memory, it should be here...

But this is the women's restroom!

No, he needs to look again carefully.

A moment later, Rice returned to the girls' restroom. He stared at the nameplate above the restroom, his face gradually turning red.

Which bastard built a women's restroom above my sacred, private classroom?!

This was the angrier he had been since he woke up.

However, there was some good news: the bathroom looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, otherwise he really couldn't stand it.

Daphne looked at Rice, her heart filled with deep doubt: Rice said he would take her to a secret base to teach her magic, but instead they were just wandering around on the second floor of the castle. Why was that?

Her confusion reached its peak when Rice led her twice to an abandoned girls' restroom.

"Is he going to teach me magic in an abandoned women's restroom?!" Daphne was startled by the thought that popped into her head.

This is really a bit... If others find out, my reputation and the honor of the Greengrass family will be completely ruined.

Then she saw Rice step into the bathroom with a serious expression.

Daphne: ...

She was stunned, as if struck by lightning. After hesitating for a moment, she followed Rice inside, her face pale.

"Actually...we should go somewhere else. This place is quite cramped, there's not enough space..." Daphne stammered as she tried to persuade Rice, but Rice only responded with silence.

Do you think I wanted this, Miss Greengrass?

At this moment, Rice hated the person who was building the toilet in his private classroom, but he was powerless to do anything about it—because according to the time it was built, that person was already dead.

Ignoring Daphne's words, Rice carefully observed every corner of the bathroom. Finally, on the side of a bronze faucet, he discovered a small snake carving with faint magical fluctuations.

Finally found it. Rice breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the mark, he knew what to do next.

"Open it," he said in a Parsleyan accent.

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)