Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 369 Magma and Interception (Two Chapters Combined)

The flames flowed, spreading like water to every corner of the space.

Daphne felt as if she had fallen asleep, and in her dream, she seemed to have become a flowing flame in a cave. She wandered around the cave curiously, and wherever she went, the flame spread.

At this moment, she is a flame, yet she can flow like water.

Rice, who was sitting on the side, was the first to notice something was wrong, and Astoria followed suit, noticing the changes in her sister: her body temperature was rising rapidly, and sitting next to her felt like sitting next to a fire.

Rice: !!!

He was all too familiar with this scene.

Salazar, look, I've turned into a ball of fire—

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice seemed to ring in Rice's ears, and the image of a man with red hair appeared in his mind, though the man's features were already somewhat blurry.

"Rice, what's wrong with my sister?" Astoria's voice drifted over, pulling Rice back to reality. He glanced at Daphne with a complicated look, pulled Astoria aside, and told her that Daphne seemed to have grasped something extraordinary.

Upon hearing Rice's words, Astoria's gaze towards Daphne became extremely complex. She lowered her voice and asked, "Sister, have you... awakened your domain?"

"It's hard to say." Rice shook his head. Awakening a domain is not such a simple matter. Helga provided so many conveniences to the exceptionally talented Cedric, but in the end, he only grasped a smattering of it.

Rice doesn't believe that Daphne can awaken her domain just by looking at the fireplace.

"She's touched the edge of a domain, just a few steps away from truly possessing one—steps that might take a lifetime to cross. But most people don't even qualify to touch the edge," Rice explained to Astoria, trying to elicit an explanation of her sister's current level. He chuckled at the end, "Ninety-nine percent of wizards in the magical world don't even know what a domain is."

After explaining, Rice and Astoria both shut their mouths and quietly watched Daphne staring blankly at the fireplace—the fire in the fireplace was now burning extremely brightly, even giving the impression that it was gushing out of the fireplace.

Rice's feelings were complicated. On one hand, he was genuinely happy for Daphne; this was a domain, and once awakened, it would benefit her for life. On the other hand, why did this domain have to be fire...?

I'm so angry.

It's like a weed called Godric growing in your carefully tended field.

Rice even began to doubt himself: Was it wrong of him to let his students explore the realm on their own? If he had guided Daphne like Helga had, would she have found her own path and awakened the water element?

However, after calming down and thinking about it for a moment, Rice still felt that he was right.

Although he disliked the fire-type domain, it was only because Godric had branded this type of domain, and it had nothing to do with its power.

In terms of strength, the fire element domain is a top-tier domain that is only slightly inferior to its water element domain.

The fact that Daphne could comprehend such an ability was enough to make him gratified.

Furthermore, Rice couldn't understand why everyone associated Gryffindor with fire. Did they have to write an application to Godric before using a fire-based technique?!

Rice believed that as long as Daphne was good enough, she would be the first person people thought of when talking about the fire element in the future, or Dumbledore.

By the way, Dumbledore also knows fire magic, so it might be due to his influence.

Yes, what's so strange about students resembling the principal?

Rice felt like she had figured it out.

After a while, the fireplace was finally "filled" with flames, just like a water tank being filled with water, and the flames overflowed. They crossed the fireplace threshold and spilled onto the floor, flowing everywhere like water.

Amazingly, these flames did not harm the expensive carpet on the ground; they burned in the void as if they needed no fuel.

When the flames reached Daphne's feet, they burst into flames as if they had encountered grease, engulfing Daphne's entire body and turning the girl into a giant fireball.

Rice reacted quickly, covering Astoria's mouth and silencing her gasp.

Being disturbed while comprehending a domain is dangerous and could easily lead to a missed opportunity. However, Rice was experienced, and under his watchful eye, Daphne was virtually safe.

However, what happened next surprised even Rice.

Under normal circumstances, Daphne would gradually return to her normal form after completing her elemental transformation, but the flames on her body show no signs of extinguishing; on the contrary, they are becoming increasingly raging.

"Is my sister really alright?" Astoria looked at her sister, who had turned into a fireball, with concern, feeling that her sister might have gone too far.

"It's alright, this is normal." Rice's voice was steady and calm, revealing a sense of composure, which immediately put Astoria at ease.

What happened when Godric awakened his domain back then?

Rice's brain was working at lightning speed.

He couldn't quite remember the details of that year, but it seemed to be a traditional, even somewhat clichéd, story of overcoming adversity—Godrick was just that kind of person, fitting the stereotypical image of a sunny, cheerful protagonist.

The villains brought Godric to the brink of death, putting them in a desperate situation. Then, according to Godric's own account, he recalled everything he had experienced along the way, and he got fired up and roared as he killed the enemy.

This is clearly different from Daphne's situation...

The good news is that he can still sense Daphne's life force from that fire, which is why he didn't intervene.

Daphne now is like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon; the best approach is to remain unchanged amidst all changes.

"We just need to wait," Rice said reassuringly. However, it was hard to say whether he was comforting Astoria or himself.

After waiting quietly for a few minutes, the flames on Daphne's body underwent a miraculous change.

If Rice had to find a precise adjective, it would be "reduced." The flame that Daphne had transformed into became viscous, even giving it a solid feel, like cola that had been evaporated by high temperatures, leaving only syrup.

Rice squinted and observed for a while, then realized that what his good student seemed to have comprehended was not the pure domain of fire, but a variant of fire, magma.

Her direction is related to fire, earth, and water, making it a top-tier, powerful domain.

Undoubtedly, there are different levels of power within a domain. The more fundamental the domain, the more powerful it is; this is true of Rice's water, Helga's earth, and Rowena's wind.

The domain that combines several elements is also extremely powerful, and more importantly, Rice and his group's domain has limited suppressive power against this kind of combined domain.

Variations of a single element are more easily suppressed. For example, water has a very strong suppressive effect on the realms of fog and frost.

As for those "domains" that only provide some special effects, in Rice's mind they are just curses.

After the "reduction" process was completed, the flames on Daphne's body gradually died down, leaving behind a layer of grayish-black scab.

Astoria: ...

Sister, you don't look like you're alright at all. With this stuff all over your body, even if you're still alive, you're probably disfigured, right?

Astoria shuddered.

Rice knew very well that Daphne's "transformation" was over; she had successfully reached the threshold of the domain. He was genuinely happy for Daphne, especially since she had pulled back at the last minute and avoided creating a pure fire domain.

It's truly astonishing. Some people need to face death to reach this point, while others can achieve it simply by staring blankly at the fireplace. Perhaps this is what they call "every loss has its gain"—Daphne allocated the points that should have been invested in her intelligence elsewhere—

Rice shook his head, banishing the strange thought from his mind. Daphne was, after all, his student, and he couldn't talk about her like that behind her back.

"A thousand years ago, you would have to address your sister as Your Majesty," Les said with a wink to Astoria in a good mood, cracking a joke at her.

Astoria: ...

She felt her blood pressure rising: Why? Why did her sister understand so quickly? Is it because fools are sometimes lucky?

She stared angrily at the fireplace for a long time, but even with her eyes sore, she couldn't figure it out.

Rice followed Astoria's gaze and noticed what she was staring at; he immediately gasped.

"Take a walk by the Black Lake when you have free time. Maybe one day you'll suddenly have an epiphany like your sister," Rice "slightly" guided Astoria.

He probably couldn't accept it if both of his students were in the fire element.

Click!

While Rice and Astoria were chatting, Daphne regained consciousness. As she moved her body, the scabs on Daphne's skin turned into volcanic ash-like powder and slid off her skin in a flurry.

Astoria carefully observed everything that happened to her sister, and was shocked to find that her clothes were intact and her skin was even whiter and more delicate than before.

"Elementalization is the process of transforming the body into elements and then reversing it. During this process, the body's structure is reshaped, and some impurities are expelled from the body, making the body purer." Seeing the strange look on Astoria's face, Rice took the initiative to explain the principle behind the phenomenon that appeared on Daphne's body to her.

Hearing Rice's words, Astoria's desire for the territory grew even stronger.

……

Deep within the Connaught Mountains of western Ireland, inside a rocky mountain that no Muggle detection method could find.

hiss--

A large basin of medicinal liquid was poured into a stone bathtub dug out from the ground. Immediately, wisps of white smoke rose from the murky water, emitting a nauseating, putrid stench.

The woman pouring the medicine into the pool couldn't help but frown: She is someone with a constellation title, why should she suffer like this in a place like this?

This woman is none other than Aries, who went to Azkaban to search for Voldemort's Horcruxes and attacked Gringotts. The person soaking in the "bath" is undoubtedly Voldemort himself.

After stealing Voldemort's Horcrux from Gringotts, the four of them hid in a secluded spot. They expected to be wanted by the British wizarding community, but to their surprise, the Daily Prophet the next day placed all the blame on the dragon.

They were immediately relieved and, under Taurus's guidance, began preparing for Voldemort's resurrection plan. The plan was actually quite simple, consisting of three phases. The first phase was to nurture Voldemort's Horcruxes, allowing the soul fragments within to absorb enough power to restore them to a state where they could move and cast spells.

In the second phase, they will try to reshape Voldemort's physical body and bring him back to life completely.

The third stage involves handing over some of the organization's "secret resources" to Voldemort, granting him enough power to defeat Dumbledore. These resources are too dangerous for the organization to use on its painstakingly trained elites, but they can be used freely on Voldemort, a one-time consumable. Resources used by Voldemort once might become more docile, and could then be reused.

"Everything's freshly cleaned, come on in!" Taurus walked in, his brows furrowing at the stench in the cramped space.

He cast two spells, which greatly reduced the smell in the room.

After doing all this, he carefully observed the state of Voldemort's spirit in the bathtub, and then he was delighted to find that the first phase of his plan had been achieved. Voldemort's current spirit strength was even enough to support him to act independently.

"Voldemort, you've recovered quite well," he said to the pool.

Glug glug~

A string of bubbles rose from the depths of the pool, followed by a stench that was unbearable for ordinary people. A figure that looked almost tangible emerged from the water.

Judging from his appearance, the figure was a handsome young man, but a terrifying blood-red glint flashed deep in his eyes.

This is Tom Riddle in his youth.

"Is it time to move on to the second phase?" A smile crept onto the young man Riddle's lips. "I have a brilliant idea: an ancient and mysterious magical ritual that can help me restore my physical body."

"Oh?" Taurus immediately became interested, and then Voldemort told him that he only needed "the bones of his father," "the flesh of his servants," and "the blood of his enemies" to be resurrected and regain his full power.

Taurus frowned immediately: his father's bones weren't hard to get; Voldemort should know where his father's grave was anyway. The blood of his enemies was even easier to obtain, since Voldemort had enemies all over the world. But the flesh of his servants…

Was he implying that the four of us were his servants? Taurus felt a surge of anger rising within him at this thought, and he immediately rejected Voldemort's offer.

A flicker of anger flashed deep in Voldemort's eyes as he was rejected, but he concealed it well. After suppressing his anger, he politely asked Taurus if he had any solutions.

"We can find you a living wizard's body, and then use our organization's secret techniques to let your soul possess that body. Once your soul has completed the integration with the body, you will be essentially resurrected."

Voldemort pondered for a moment, then finally agreed to Taurus's proposal.

"Remember to find a handsome guy."

"Alright." Taurus nodded, then instructed Gemini and Pisces to find a suitable body for Voldemort, a handsome wizard.

The two men, having been assigned a task, did not dare to slack off and set off immediately.

After leaving the rocky mountain, Gemini looked at Pisces and offered a suggestion.

"There seems to be a guy named Lockhart, who's quite handsome, currently being held in Azkaban. Should we use him to fill in?"

Pisces thought for a moment and agreed to Gemini's suggestion—using prisoners from the jail as Voldemort's body was a good decision, convenient, easy, and wouldn't attract attention.

After reaching an agreement, the two rode their flying brooms directly towards the North Sea.

However, on the way, they encountered a man, a handsome young man riding a broom.

Their opinions changed.

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 chapter of 4,400 words~

Good night (0`)

I'll keep writing. If I don't see an update when I wake up tomorrow morning, I'll have to wait until tonight.

(End of this chapter)