Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 358 Helga's Wallet Magic: Christmas Sale (Two-in-One)

"It's done." After stuffing the compressed domain into the crystal, Rice showed a hint of joy.

At this moment, the crystal was filled with colorless liquid.

Although it is a transparent and colorless liquid, gently shaking the amethyst will cause the liquid inside to sway slightly, which can make people feel uneasy and afraid, and subconsciously want to stay away from the amethyst. This is the human instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm.

However, although the severed domain was placed inside the amethyst, the reason this part of the domain remained obediently inside the crystal was because Rice was constantly suppressing it. Without Rice's control, the domain could crush the amethyst into dust in less than a second and then expand at an astonishing speed.

Rice initially wanted to add a seal to the crystal to isolate it from the outside world and keep the internal realm in a stable state, but after much consideration, he abandoned the idea.

Because he realized that the crystal was essentially a teaching tool, rather than a refining artifact that could be passed down as a family heirloom.

If a very close friend asked him for a treasure powerful enough to ward off evil spirits, Rice would definitely cast a sealing spell on the outside, turning the crystal into a one-time devastating weapon that could unleash a domain once triggered.

But this thing is meant for Daphne and Astoria to learn from... so why add anything unnecessary? Wouldn't it be better to just use some of your energy to control the domain within the crystal? After figuring it out, Rice made another identical yellow teardrop-shaped crystal, one for each of Daphne and Astoria.

After finishing the crystal pendants, Rice estimated the time and realized that Christmas was approaching, so she could use them as Christmas gifts. Every year, thinking about what Christmas gifts to give to the younger generation is really exhausting...

Thinking about this, Rice suddenly realized something: Helga has taken on an apprentice, should he give her another gift this year?!

Rice was suddenly troubled, but then realized that Cedric didn't know his identity, so did that mean he didn't need to give him a gift?

……

With Christmas approaching, the entire British magical community has visibly become more relaxed.

Hogwarts professors began to allocate more "free time" in class, and Ministry of Magic officials also began to slack off from top to bottom. Apart from the International Department of Magical Cooperation, the entire Ministry of Magic became lazy and undisciplined.

"Minos, are the Christmas gifts for the department members ready?" The newly appointed Minister of Magic, Burns, rubbed her throbbing temples. Having just taken office, she needed to distribute some benefits to solidify her position. As the Minister of Magic elected by the Greengrass family, she had ample funds and could afford to give out some perks.

"It's ready," Burns' secretary replied, handing him the price list for the holiday gifts.

Borns glanced at the gifts on the list, which were clearly priced higher than the market value, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing—the new supplier was from the Malfoy family, so it was normal for the gift list to have a premium.

"A higher price is fine, the key is that the quality doesn't have any problems."

"We will inspect the goods upon receipt."

Bones nodded.

Minos then took out another document and handed it to his immediate supervisor.

"This is a letter from Professor White of Hogwarts. She says the doll is finished and will be delivered to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow for us to inspect," Minos said with a strange expression. "Professor White said the doll will come alone. If the Ministry sees it and decides to place an order, please send her an owl email to place the order. She will ship the dolls in the order of orders—she accepts installment payments."

Professor White is quite confident, even though he came to sell things but didn't even show up in person.

Borns raised an eyebrow: "Professor White is so sure the Ministry of Magic will place an order? And judging from her tone, she thinks the dolls will be very popular, and the Ministry of Magic should place its order before those pure-blood families?"

In Burns' mind, Smith White wasn't the kind of boastful con artist, so she was genuinely confident in her doll. Now she was really looking forward to what would happen tomorrow.

"Send invitations to those important guys, tell them they can come and witness Professor White's battle doll tomorrow," Bones ordered.

After that, she processed more than a dozen documents and held several meetings with key figures in the Ministry of Magic, including Henry Greengrass, the Director of the National Magical Cooperation Department.

Unlike his predecessor, Fudge, Borns was a pragmatist who wanted to fill his days to the brim. By the time his schedule for the day was finished, it was completely dark.

Bones stretched and exhaled a breath of stale air: Minister of Magic is no easy job, but she likes it.

The news that Professor White of Hogwarts would be sending his Automaton to the Ministry of Magic spread throughout the entire Ministry before the end of the workday. Everyone from the heads of various departments to the lowest-ranking employees who had just joined the company knew about this explosive news.

So the next day, almost everyone in the Ministry of Magic got up very early and rushed to the Ministry of Magic in order to get first-hand information about automatons.

At nine o'clock in the morning, a doll dressed in a plain black wizard's robe, wearing a pointed wizard's hat, with a smooth face devoid of any features, appeared in the Ministry of Magic's Great Hall. The Hogwarts crest on the front of its robe revealed its origin: this was Professor White's Automaton.

Its arrival caught everyone's attention in the hall, and a buzzing sound filled the hall the moment it was seen.

The wizards began to comment on the puppet, offering their opinions—some optimistic, others pessimistic. No one noticed that two figures had appeared behind the puppet.

Dexter and Kingsley exchanged a glance and nodded—the two had received instructions from Minister Burns yesterday to ambush the doll when it arrived tomorrow.

If Professor White can survive attacks from two veteran Aurors unscathed, his dolls will surely sell like hotcakes.

"Disarm you!"

"Torn apart!"

Two spells shot towards the puppet simultaneously. The event was so sudden that most of the people present did not have time to react, but the puppet nimbly turned around, skillfully dodging the spells from Dexter and Kingsley. At the same time, it raised its hand towards Dexter, who was standing on the left. The next second, Dexter was sent flying backward and crashed heavily into a fireplace, instantly losing consciousness.

Kingsley: ? ? ?

What the hell is this? Gravity magic? Magnetic field rotation? Kingsley had never seen such a bizarre attack method before.

This is not his fault; few people in the modern magic world have ever witnessed this kind of attack method originating from thousands of years ago—a simple and unadorned magical shockwave.

Kingsley was horrified to see the doll "looking" at him and immediately cast an Ironclad Charm on himself.

The doll did not continue using the same attack method as before, because the energy contained in the magic shockwave module only allowed it to launch one attack. To continue attacking, it would need to change its attack method.

[Attacked, counterattack mode activated]

[Agreement approved, Action 1: Implementation]

A neutral voice, devoid of any emotion, rang out from the doll's head.

The next moment, a three-foot-long sword blade emerged from the palm of the puppet's left hand, while its right arm exploded instantly, forming a shield half the size of a person.

call--

A raging fire erupted on the blade.

Kingsley's gaze sharpened: He really doesn't consider me a wizard? He actually dares to fight me in close combat—

His mind raced, and he was just about to unleash a powerful spell on the puppet in front of him when the puppet appeared right in front of him the next second.

Teleportation?! How is that possible?!

Kingsley was horrified.

Although he also knew this advanced magic, in battles that required a high degree of concentration, how could an ordinary wizard have the spare energy to cast teleportation?

Furthermore, how can a puppet without consciousness or a soul use teleportation?!

However, Kingsley was a seasoned veteran. Although he was surprised, he didn't stop moving his hands and directly moved the transparent magic shield summoned by the Ironclad Charm in front of him.

boom!

A deafening roar, like the tolling of a bell, echoed through the hall, making the ears of the onlookers ring.

When Kingsley and Dexter fought the puppet, the onlookers had already tacitly stepped aside, not wanting to interfere with the puppet's performance. Now, seeing the fierce battle, they all huddled in a corner of the hall to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Kingsley staggered back several steps. The armor spell he had used earlier had been broken, and a huge tear had appeared in the chest of his robe, with a few flames burning at the crack.

If the Ironclad Charm hadn't been used beforehand, that single slash would have been enough to disembowel him.

The puppet didn't hold back, but continued to close the distance, trying to deliver another blow to Kingsley.

As an experienced Auror, Kingsley was certainly not going to let the puppet have its way. He fought and retreated, using every trick in the book to stop its advance.

Seeing that he couldn't close the distance with Kingsley, the puppet raised its sword and made a feinting slash.

The flames clinging to the blade detached directly from the sword, creating a two-foot-long fire shockwave.

Kingsley: ?!

Caught off guard, he was hit directly by the fire blade, and his upper body immediately caught fire.

"Petrify them all!" A petrification spell flew from the side.

Dexter, who had just been knocked unconscious, regained consciousness and opened his eyes to see Kingsley being brutally beaten by a puppet. As a colleague sitting in the same office, he couldn't very well lie on the ground and pretend to be dead.

Smith White's promotional material for his puppet had angered the Aurors, and they were determined to teach the puppet a lesson, to show everyone that being an Auror wasn't easy. A mere puppet, trying to compare itself to a rigorously trained Auror? You must be joking!

As a result, these two Aurors, who were ready to show off their skills, made a huge mistake. One was instantly killed at the start, and the other was beaten from beginning to end, proving that Aurors are not even as good as puppets.

Thinking of the consequences of this battle, Dexter was overcome with passion and, despite the pain, stood up to help Kingsley.

Deli's sneak attack was ineffective; the puppet used its own Iron Armor Charm to deflect Deli's petrification spell and also redirected the attack target.

After locking onto Delilah, the doll's head spoke again—

[Threat escalated, Operation Two protocol approved, execution commences]

Dexter was about to show off his skills when Kingsley, still smoking, rushed to his side, threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace with his left hand, and grabbed Dexter by the collar with his right hand, pulling him into the green flames.

At the same time, he roared "Diagon Alley!" and green flames engulfed the two figures, carrying them away from the Ministry of Magic's main hall.

Unlike the unconscious Delilah, Kingsley had been beaten by the puppet for a full three minutes, and he didn't want to continue for even a second longer.

That puppet was ridiculously strong, and it showed absolutely no mercy just because the two of them were Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. Upon hearing that it had decided to activate "Action Protocol Two," Kingsley felt that continuing the fight would definitely result in someone's death, so he simply and decisively ran away.

A surge of discontent rose in Dexter's heart as he was captured by Kingsley: "If the two of us attack together, that puppet might not be a match for us. If we run away now, how will we face our colleagues in the Ministry of Magic?" Then he saw an extremely powerful spell hurtling towards him.

The spell easily turned the fireplace into dust and even rushed into the Floo Net, showing no sign of stopping until it chopped Dexter into mincemeat. Fortunately, the Floo Net had already activated and was carrying the two of them towards Diagon Alley, which saved Dexter's life. He could even feel the dust raised by the spell hitting his face!

As he fell backward to the ground, looking up at the familiar Leaky Cauldron ceiling, he thanked Kingsley from the bottom of his heart.

"Thank you, Kingsley."

After routing the two veteran Aurors, the puppet sheathed its palm sword and arm shield, and stood still, resuming its standby state. Even after such a one-sided battle, its robes remained spotless.

Seeing the composed doll, the wizards watching couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"How many Aurors do you think this puppet can take on?" "Three or five shouldn't be a problem."

"I don't think that whole office can hold up!" "Keep your voice down, Scrimgeour is right across the street..."

"I wonder how much it costs, and what the quality is like?"

"Ms. White said it's under warranty, but the price will definitely be very unfriendly; you'll never be able to afford it in your lifetime."

"Are you kidding me? I could save up six or seven hundred Galleons a year without eating or drinking. I could buy one in twenty years at most!"

The doll suddenly tilted its head and looked at the crowd of onlookers, startling the wizards who feared it might carry out an "action."

Ms. White asked me to pass on a message: Currently, due to Christmas, Automaton Fighter Dolls and upgrade accessories are on sale at a 20% discount. Prices will return to normal after the holiday. Orders will be shipped in the order they were placed.

Helga manipulated the puppets to cast a magical wallet spell on the officials of the Ministry of Magic. It seemed that in the blink of an eye, everyone's wallets were emptied and the vaults were empty.

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.

After much thought, I'll just post a combined two-part chapter instead.

Goodnight everyone, there will definitely be an update on Saturday.

(End of this chapter)