Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 363 Exploring the New Domain

"Is it really that amazing?" Astoria, kneeling to the side, also saw the contents of the letter and couldn't help but feel a little doubtful. After saying that, she suddenly became alert and hurriedly reminded her sister not to try using that brooch in the dormitory.

"I'm not stupid!" Daphne glared at Astoria.

"Yes, that's right, so whatever you do, don't trigger it! We're at the bottom of the lake!"

Daphne glared at her sister again, while simultaneously recalling the "image" that Rice had shown her when she first entered the Chamber of Secrets. In the image, Salazar Slytherin, the founder of the House, was engaged in a fierce battle with the World Serpent.

The reason he was able to maintain a firm advantage and eventually kill Jormungandr was because of his "Domain" ability, and the brooch that Rice gave him could actually summon that kind of thing.

Daphne was a little skeptical, and she wanted to hurry up and try it out in the secret room.

When Astoria saw that her sister had received such a wonderful Christmas gift, she quickly opened her own little package and received a brooch as well.

This brooch looks exactly like her sister's, except that the crystal on it is yellow. Similarly, this crystal also exudes a dangerous aura.

Astoria breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that she had one too. Although her sister had received an extra necklace, it didn't matter much, as it was considered "compensation." If her own bracelet had broken in Egypt, Astoria believed she could have received one today as well.

Similarly, Rice's advice to Astoria was to try it in the secret room.

How could the two young girls resist such temptation? They didn't even have time to unwrap the remaining gifts. They put on their robes and shoes and hurriedly headed for the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin.

Upon arriving at the secret room, the two exchanged a glance, and then Daphne suggested that she go first.

"Okay." Astoria didn't stand on ceremony and floated into the air.

Daphne stood on the ground and, following the instructions in the letter, infused a trace of her own magic into the crystal brooch. The next second, an extremely strong magical fluctuation was generated at the teardrop-shaped amethyst.

Snapped!

The amethyst shattered into powder, and water droplets splashed out. While flying in the air, the droplets rapidly expanded, forming a large puddle when they landed on the ground.

After that, Daphne witnessed the water stains rapidly expanding, swallowing up all the magic in the surrounding air.

To avoid getting her feet wet, Daphne quickly flew into the air like her sister.

Under their watchful eyes, the puddle, which was originally only a little over a meter in diameter, occupied more than a third of the secret room hall in just a few minutes and was spreading outwards at an alarming rate.

"Sister, where's your crystal?"

Daphne's face darkened: "It's broken."

Astoria: ?

Could this thing be a one-time use item? But how could that be? If it were a one-time use item, why wouldn't Rice have reminded them, and why would she have let them try it in the secret room?

"How about trying the Restoration Charm?" Astoria remembered a simple spell that Professor Flitwick had taught them in class, which could be used to repair small gadgets that had been accidentally damaged.

Daphne pursed her lips. The crystal was shattered to dust; how could it possibly be restored with a Restoration Charm? Restoration Charms have their limits!

However, on a whim, she tried using a restoration spell on the brooch, but it had no effect whatsoever.

The two sisters fell silent. Daphne felt her breathing become rapid, while Astoria secretly rejoiced that her older sister had tried first.

"Tell Rice when we get back to the lounge," Astoria suggested.

"Hmm." Daphne nodded helplessly; that was all she could do.

However, the thought of telling Rice that she had ruined the Christmas present he gave her before she could even enjoy it made her feel extremely bad.

In an awkward atmosphere, the two looked down at the expanding water. After a while, Astoria suddenly frowned: she felt that the water beneath her seemed to be "alive".

It was like a living being, "feeding," and what it ate was the magic in the surrounding air. By constantly absorbing magic, its size was gradually expanding.

A strange thought crossed Astoria's mind: if it were allowed to devour everything, would this body of water eventually cover the entire world? Or was it like a human, with a limit to its size, growing to a certain size and then ceasing to grow larger?

She wanted to observe it.

To verify her previous deduction, Astoria drew her wand and cast a "Thunder Explosion" spell on the water on the floor. The explosion spell struck the water, splashing up a spray of water.

Astoria raised an eyebrow: the spell was less powerful than she had imagined.

Daphne was startled by her sister's actions and asked her what she was doing. Astoria then told her sister her guesses and speculations.

Daphne narrowed her eyes: after hearing her sister's description, she also felt that the water beneath her feet was alive.

Huh? She suddenly remembered the scene from her first year when the mysterious young man fought Quirrell, who was possessed by Voldemort. The swamp that the young man conjured back then seemed to have this characteristic as well. Could this be a common trait of these strange things? By extension, if she could make something have this characteristic, could she also conjure up something like that?

In Daphne's mind, she was 90% certain that the young man from back then was Rice, so that swamp and the water beneath her now were both created by Rice.

Why did he give me such a brooch? Was he trying to inspire me to understand this kind of magic?

While Daphne was lost in thought, Astoria continued her experiment. She was now quite certain that the water beneath her was absorbing the magic contained in her spell. However, since the rate of increase in surface area was not significant, she couldn't be sure whether her magic had helped the water expand.

She felt she wanted to go for something big.

Astoria activated her bracelet, unleashing an attack spell towards the ground. This spell pierced the water's surface and shattered several floor tiles.

"Watch out, Rice might get angry with you," Daphne said sarcastically.

"I'll make it up to you," Astoria replied absentmindedly to her sister, noticing that the water's expansion had suddenly accelerated after the attack spell was cast.

"This body of water can devour magic," Astoria said with certainty, "including the magic within spells; it assimilates everything!"

"Should we go find Rice? Just in case this thing gets completely out of control." Daphne was also worried, fearing that the water would expand indefinitely.

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 first update. I'll update the next one after I get home from get off work tonight.

By the way, I wish everyone a happy 520, whether you're single or not!

(End of this chapter)