Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 368 Daphne: The Flames Are Flowing (Part 2)

After Harry finished writing his reply to Sirius Black, folded the letter, and put it in the envelope, he noticed that there seemed to be something written on the back of Sirius's long letter.

He turned the letter over and found that Sirius had written this sentence in halting strokes:

"Harry, your parents appointed me as your guardian in case of any misfortune befall them. Of course. I completely understand if you wish to continue living with your aunt and uncle. However, now that I've been exonerated, if you'd like a different home, you're welcome to come and stay with me for a few days. There are plenty of spare rooms in the Black family ancestral home."

Harry felt like his head had exploded. It took him a long time to process: he could move out of the Dursleys' and into Sirius's house!!!

To put it another way, even if Sirius Black were to live in a bridge hole, Harry would move there without hesitation, let alone if Sirius Black were to live in a large house.

The thought of leaving the Dursleys and living with his parents' best friend, Black, made Harry's eyes turn red, and he suddenly wrote the letter at a faster pace.

He needed to reply to Sirius as soon as possible.

Christmas is a holiday for family reunions, for everyone.

Draco Malfoy was taking a walk with his father in their garden. Lucius's wife, Narcissa, followed behind them, a happy smile on her face.

Lucius Malfoy strolled casually along the garden path, gazing at the festive Christmas decorations lining the way, his mind preoccupied with the dolls. A tingling burning sensation on his arm urged him on like a whip, a countdown forcing him to make a decision.

Lucius didn't want to make a choice; he just wanted to stand on the side of the victor after one side won. Unfortunately, neither Dumbledore nor the Dark Lord would allow him to do so.

'I wonder if these four puppets can stand up to him.' After much thought, Lucius, who was feeling restless, actually had a rebellious streak and came up with a thought that could be described as treasonous.

If Bella and the others knew about this thought, he would have to suffer several Cruciatus Curses for it.

While lost in thought, Lucius even considered inviting Dumbledore to spar with his puppets once they arrived. Knowing that Dumbledore was slightly stronger than the Dark Lord, if Dumbledore couldn't handle the four puppets, then the Dark Lord would likely be no match for them either, making his home relatively safe.

Old Malfoy felt he was increasingly unable to understand the world. A witch had appeared out of nowhere, created some puppets, and was actually able to easily defeat the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic – it was truly astonishing.

As someone who had experienced the Wizarding Wars, Lucius knew very well the true strength of Drax and Kingsley. He couldn't comment on Drax's abilities, but Kingsley was truly exceptional. Even someone like him couldn't defeat the puppet; the world had truly changed.

Thinking this, Lucius narrowed his eyes: Could that mysterious Professor White be a match for the Dark Lord? She certainly has far more puppets than he does, so wouldn't that mean…

He quickly dismissed the dangerous idea; the Malfoy family wouldn't gamble easily.

Seeing that his father seemed preoccupied, Draco Malfoy drew his wand and pointed it at a snowman, who then began to tap dance.

"Dad, look!" Draco gestured for his father to see his masterpiece, and Lucius's face indeed broke into a smile.

Seeing that his father's mood had improved, Draco seized the opportunity and made a request to his father: he wanted the Firebolt.

"Firebolt?" Lucius frowned. He had heard of this broom's reputation, but why? Didn't his son already have Nimbus 2001? It was even better than that Potter broom.

Lucius, who recently splurged on four dolls, wasn't really keen on spending any more money.

"Yes, the most advanced broom can accelerate from a standstill to 150 miles per hour in ten seconds—"

"I know, I'm asking you why you want to change your broom? You only bought the Nimbus 2001 a year ago." Lucius interrupted his son's "education," urging him to get to the point.

"I don't know who sent that Potter a Firebolt! And it's one thing if it's just Potter, but Cedric from Hufflepuff also got one. How can this be?! They're both Seekers. If I don't have a Firebolt, I'll be at a huge disadvantage during the game." Draco spoke very quickly due to nervousness.

Lucius fell silent.

He was indeed a little short on cash, but he had made a lot of money from the Ministry of Magic's Christmas gifts. If he could sell Nimbus 2001, the two sums of money might be enough to buy his son a Firebolt.

After all, without the Firebolt, his son would be overshadowed by those Potter and Hufflepuff guys, which was intolerable.

"Okay, I'll go to Diagon Alley and buy you one later—"

boom!

Before Lucius could finish speaking, he was slapped on the back of the head. He turned around and saw his wife, Narcissa, glaring angrily at him.

"Are you crazy? Didn't you hear Draco say that that broken broom can accelerate to 150 miles per hour?! That's too dangerous! Do you think you have too many sons? One mistake during the race and he'll be turned into mincemeat!" Narcissa's barrage of scolding silenced Lucius and Draco.

Seeing that the fire bolt in his hand was about to fly away, Draco gritted his teeth and insisted that his technique was fine, but Narcissa glared at him instead.

"Shut up!"

"As long as I'm still in this house, you won't be buying any more fire crossbow bolts!"

Draco and Lucius immediately shut their mouths and never mentioned the fire bolt again.

While the Malfoys were being educated by Narcissa, Daphne and Astoria also knocked on Helga's office door.

"Professor, have you had breakfast?" Daphne held up a fragrant food box and smiled sweetly.

"Not yet, come in quickly!" Helga welcomed the two sisters in, while secretly sighing that the two innocent children had no idea what was about to happen to them.

Under Rice's guidance, Helga had no idea that this behavior inadvertently revealed her advanced technology.

Daphne and Astoria entered the warm office, took off their cloaks, and hung them on the coat rack. By this time, they had changed out of their formal attire and were wearing two sweaters—their sweaters were almost identical, except that Daphne's sweater had a "D" pattern on the front, while Astoria's had an "A".

"D" and "A" are abbreviations of the first letters of their names.

Rice took the food box from their hands with a smile.

He hurriedly summoned several plates and took out the sausages and roasted potatoes from the food box to share with Helga and the other two.

After eating and drinking his fill, Rice told the Greengrass sisters why he had come here.

"Professor White is a good person; she's willing to teach us how to make the puppet parts. To be honest, I actually participated in some of the puppet's design as well. Professor White and I hope you two can master the parts-making method as soon as possible."

Daphne and Astoria exchanged a glance, both seeing the excitement in each other's eyes.

Making doll parts? That's an extremely practical skill! Not to mention, they won't need to bother Professor White with the maintenance of their own dolls; they can fix any broken parts themselves.

Astoria thought a little deeper. She figured that once the two of them could make all the parts, their father would only need to buy a bare puppet. They could make the parts for future upgrades themselves, saving a lot of money.

Seeing the sisters' excited expressions, Helga felt even more pity for the two students chosen by Salazar. After a soft sigh, she began to explain to the sisters how to make doll parts.

The creation of doll parts requires a high level of magical control, as well as a thorough understanding of the spells imprinted on the parts. Fortunately, Daphne and Astoria both met these requirements, so their progress was not slow. They only ruined six or seven pieces of material before successfully creating the simple parts.

"Great start." Rice stood to the side watching the two working hard, her smile impossible to hide.

Helga glared at him, shoved a pile of materials into his arms, and dragged him to a corner to make parts.

Next, Rice began immersing herself in the production of parts, while Helga stared blankly at the Greengrass sisters, whose movements became increasingly skilled.

After a moment, she made a decision and wrote a letter to her student Cedric, asking him if he had any plans for the holidays. As for Rowena's other student, she and Salazar tacitly avoided mentioning her name, trusting that Rowena would teach her well.

Time always flies when you're focused on work. In the blink of an eye, the sky outside the window had darkened. The four people in the office also stopped what they were doing and stretched.

Rice pulled out several bottles of energy potions from his pocket and handed them to Daphne and Astoria.

"Drinking these will relieve your physical and mental fatigue." Rice casually tossed a bottle of potion to Helga as well.

Looking at the stack of boxes piled up in the office, Rice suddenly felt a strange sense of satisfaction: these were all the fruits of their labor!

Helga didn't rush to assemble the dolls. Instead, she tallied the exact number of each part needed based on the order and then assigned the work to specific people. She and Salazar worked on the more difficult parts, while Daphne and Astoria practiced on the simpler ones.

After a day of intense practice, the Daphne sisters mastered the methods for making several parts. Normally, it would take them a week to achieve this level of proficiency.

"You can go back now. Tomorrow morning I'll teach you how to make the more complex parts. Don't bother with the simple parts yet; Cedric will come over to help tomorrow." After tidying up the messy office, Helga asked Rice and the other two to leave.

She received Cedric's reply in the afternoon. He had no plans for the holidays and clearly stated in his letter that he was bored out of his mind at home. If the teacher needed any help, he could come over from home immediately. However, he wanted to travel by broom, so he wouldn't arrive until tomorrow—he was eager to try out his newly acquired fire crossbow.

Since the student had said so, regardless of whether Cedric's words were sincere or not, Helga decided to call him out of his house to come to her place to broaden his horizons and help her make some doll accessories.

As for not being able to get to school until tomorrow, that's not a big deal; Helga could understand Cedric's feelings.

Professor White's mention of Cedric piqued Astoria's interest, and she keenly noticed some issues from various details.

Rice seems to be very familiar with this Professor White, so familiar that it goes beyond their public relationship—he and Professor White must have had private exchanges that no one else knows about.

Professor White's tone when he mentioned Cedric Diggory gave Astoria a sense of familiarity. After a moment's thought, it dawned on her: Wasn't this the kind of feeling between her sister and Rice?

With this in mind, she immediately deduced everything: Professor White, like Rice, was an heir to a certain founder!

Considering Cedric's House, Astoria was ninety percent certain that Professor White was Hufflepuff's successor.

Smith White is Helga Hufflepuff's successor! And considering her background and the magic she is skilled in, she is very likely Hufflepuff's own apprentice or grand-apprentice, making her incredibly senior.

Astoria felt she had discovered a shocking secret.

Now everything makes sense. As fellow heirs, it's normal for them to have a closer relationship. As for the old grudges between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, please, Rhys and Professor White aren't Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff themselves. Where do all these conflicts come from? How could a senior like Professor White possibly hold a grudge against a junior like Rhys from a thousand years in the future? There's a cause for every effect, why take it out on a junior? Go and confront Slytherin if you dare.

Astoria felt she knew everything.

She glanced quickly at her sister's expression and found that she was still the same. Astoria immediately realized that her sister hadn't noticed anything.

Astoria: ...

That's fine too; knowing too much can sometimes be painful. For example, she's under a lot of pressure right now. According to Rice, Cedric has probably already grasped the Domain, or is close to doing so, which means she and her sister probably don't have much time left.

She didn't want to fall behind in this regard. If Cedric awakened his domain first, Rice would probably be very disappointed. This was a competition between the Slytherin and Hufflepuff lineages; falling behind would be a loss of face for Lord Slytherin.

Back in the lounge, the three of them didn't rush back to their dorm room—the dorm was empty, and going back would only mean sleeping—they sat around the fireplace, enjoying a moment of leisure after a busy day.

Daphne was facing the fireplace when a wave of drowsiness washed over her. She was getting sleepy, and the firelight in front of her became blurry.

Daphne vaguely sensed that the flames had undergone a magical change: they seemed to be flowing like the puddle of water she had seen that morning!

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.

A combined 4,000-word chapter!

Goodnight everyone

Tomorrow's update will definitely be at night.

(End of this chapter)