Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 365 Helga's Sugar-Coated Bullets and Salazar's Integrity

With hearts pounding like deer, the two returned to the Slytherin common room. Even after they got back to their dormitory, their excitement hadn't subsided.

"Isn't this incredible?" Daphne's voice trembled as she spoke, for it was the pinnacle of magic, something many wizards could only dream of.

If I could awaken my own domain, that would be...so cool!

Thinking of this, Daphne sighed again: I really don't know how Rice did it. I can only say that he is worthy of being the heir of Slytherin.

"Let's open the rest of the gifts first." Astoria regained her composure earlier than her sister. She understood that a profound magic like a domain couldn't be forced out of one's control.

Many things can't be solved by rushing, like math problems or magical realms.

She walked to the small "hill" of packages and continued rummaging through them. After discarding several "ceremonial" gifts, Astoria's hand suddenly stopped.

She rubbed her eyes: Did I see that right? Why would Professor White send her a Christmas present? She didn't seem to know her well; of the three of them, only Rice was truly close to her.

Filled with curiosity, Astoria tore open Professor White's package and was astonished by what was inside.

"Sister, Professor White sent me so many clothes!" Astoria exclaimed in shock, calling out to her sister to see if she had also received a Christmas present from Professor White.

Sure enough, after rummaging through the pile of gifts for a short while, Daphne found White's large package.

Upon opening the package, she found that, like her sister, she had also received many clothes.

Daphne and Astoria had no shortage of clothes, so they were better able to discern the quality of the garments in front of them. Everything in the package, from the wizard robes and hats to the undergarments, socks, and shoes, was a high-end item that the Extraordinary Clothing Store would custom-make.

She even had a gown custom-made for each of Daphne and Astoria!

The two quickly estimated that the clothes in this package were worth no less than 500 Galleons!

"What's wrong with Professor White?" Daphne was completely bewildered, and Astoria wasn't much better off.

She could only speculate that Professor White had made a fortune and started spending money extravagantly.

"Think about it, Professor White will be earning several thousand Galleons every month just from the installment payments from various families and the Ministry of Magic. This amount of money may not really be much to her."

Daphne fell silent.

For the first time in her life, she experienced financial frustration. While the Greengrass family wasn't exactly poor, they weren't exactly extravagant either.

There are examples of pure-blood families squandering their wealth. The Gaunt family, who claim to be descendants of Salazar Slytherin, became impoverished due to their excessive pursuit of extravagance, ending up with only a dilapidated house. Therefore, ancient wizarding families are actually very concerned about the financial education of their children.

This also greatly shocked the two men with Smith White's lavish spending.

"Since the professor has already sent the gift, there's no reason for us to return it. Why don't we change into the clothes and try them on?" Daphne looked at the beautiful clothes in front of her and couldn't help but feel tempted.

Astoria was also unable to resist Helga's sweet talk. Seeing her sister take the lead, she immediately took off her clothes and began to put on the clothes that Professor White had given her.

While Daphne and Astoria were excitedly changing into the clothes Professor White had given them, Rice had already left the dormitory and run to the common room.

During Christmas, the Slytherin common room was unusually quiet; it seemed that all the other snakes, except for himself and the Greengrass sisters, had gone home.

This suited Rice perfectly. He claimed the spot closest to the fireplace, set up a string of German smoked sausages over the roaring fire, and boiled a kettle of water for tea. He even had the leisure to bury a few potatoes in the ashes; once they were cooked, he could cut them in half and spread a thick layer of salted butter inside. The whole house would smell wonderful!

As for why he didn't go to the auditorium to enjoy the ready-made breakfast, it was naturally because he was too lazy to go out.

Under the onslaught of the December chill, no normal person would want to leave a room with a warm fireplace, and it was quite a distance from the Slytherin common room to the Great Hall. Rather than braving the draft in a heavy robe to eat a cold breakfast in the empty Great Hall, Rice thought it was better to be self-sufficient in the common room.

The fire was burning brightly thanks to the house-elves, and the water quickly boiled. Rice threw in a handful of tea leaves, then cast a spell on the grill with the sausages, making it rotate automatically.

Enveloped in the aromas of food and tea, Rice felt that life had never been so wonderful...

"Damn!" As the sausages sizzled and dripped oil, Rice glanced casually into the embers and was startled, even by his many battles: a human face had emerged from the embers! Judging from the facial features, who else could it be but Hufflepuff?

"Smith White!!! This is the common room of Slytherin House, what are you doing?! Also, the fireplaces at Hogwarts are strictly prohibited from being connected to the Floo Network!" Rice was genuinely angry.

"It's nothing, Merry Christmas, Les Lint. By the way, I just connected the fireplace in my office to the fireplace here; there's no communication with the outside world, so it's not against school rules." Helga said nonchalantly, a smile etched on her face by the embers. "I hope you like my Christmas present."

These words were like ice water poured on a fire, instantly extinguishing the last bit of anger in Rice's heart.

He replied in a slightly embarrassed tone: I really like it, it's really great.

This is the legendary "he who takes a gift is bound to be obligated to give it." As the one who gave a Christmas gift and did not receive a return gift, Helga had a great moral advantage over Rice.

"I bought two nice outfits for your two apprentices. Would you like to go take a look?"

Rice: ?

Fortunately, he had taken precautions in this regard. Upon hearing this, he immediately took out a small box from his pocket and waved it in front of Hufflepuff's face.

"I've also prepared a gift for Diggory. Do you want me to deliver it to him, or should I send it to him anonymously?" Rice asked, looking at Helga by the fire.

"Oh?" Hufflepuff was now curious too; she wanted to know what gifts Salazar had prepared for his student.

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.

First update delivered, goodnight everyone~

The second update will be released shortly.

This bird always gives me the feeling that catching it will earn me 150 points.

(End of this chapter)