Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 375 Helga Tells Stories: The Prophet Trelawney

It was Daphne who urged them to enter; she didn't quite understand why Rice and Professor White were suddenly standing motionless at the auditorium entrance.

After gently calling their names, Rice and Helga quickly snapped out of their reverie and strode into the chapel, which was decorated with Christmas ornaments.

Many people had already taken their seats. Rice glanced around and saw that there were probably four or five people from each house. The number of people missing from Slytherin House had been filled by him and the Greengrass sisters.

Like an unspoken rule, students sit as far away from the teachers as possible. At rectangular tables, if the teachers choose a particular side to sit on, the students will choose a seat on the opposite side or diagonally.

Rice, naturally unwilling to break the rules, led Daphne and Astoria to a spot as far away from the professors as possible.

As for Helga, she'll just have to sit with her colleagues, haha! Rice thought gleefully.

After mentally cursing the old viper for acting young countless times, Helga walked toward the table occupied by the professors who stayed on campus.

Perhaps due to the immense work pressure, most of the professors at Hogwarts are solitary figures, so quite a few professors chose to stay at school for Christmas, including McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick, as well as Dumbledore.

Sprout noticed there were two empty seats next to Dumbledore and was about to randomly pick one to sit down when Professor Trelawney suddenly appeared.

She wore a dress covered in green sequins, which made her look a bit like a green cloth beetle.

"Sybil, it's a pleasure to have you here!" Dumbledore was a little surprised: Trelawney usually kept to herself and rarely left her West Tower, so he didn't expect her to come to the Great Hall for the Christmas party today.

Dumbledore was fully aware of Trelawney's motives, so he even stood up to welcome her.

He understood the intricacies of divination, so he didn't have high expectations of Trelawney. Dumbledore simply hoped she would get along well with her colleagues.

"Headmaster, I saw my future in the crystal ball," Trelawney replied in her most indistinct and distant voice. "I saw myself sharing delicious food and drinks with everyone. How could I refuse the urging of fate? So I immediately changed into a new dress and rushed here. Luckily, I wasn't late."

Trelawney's reason for being there was very simple: she wanted to get some information out of Professor White.

Herbal recipes used by ancient prophets for divination!

She had been eyeing this for a long time.

Professor White had prepared it in front of her before. Although she fell asleep after smelling the herbs, she is said to have made a very successful prophecy, which even earned her a raise from Headmaster Dumbledore.

After that, Trelawney made obtaining the herbal formula her top priority. After all, who would want to be a useless person if they had no other choice?

She also tried to recreate the herbal formula herself, but it had no effect other than making her eyes water.

After several failed attempts, Trelawney realized that the only way to obtain the herbal formula was to get it from Professor White.

So she found an excuse to show up during the Christmas party.

After Trelawney finished her cryptic explanation, Dumbledore nodded and invited her to sit down.

Trelawney immediately chose a seat a little further away from Dumbledore. Since Trelawney made her choice first, Helga sat down right next to Dumbledore.

A few minutes later, Cedric also peeked out from the auditorium doorway.

Sprout: ?

Other professors: ?

The professors were extremely surprised by his arrival, because Cedric had previously selected spending Christmas at home on the questionnaire.

Suddenly being stared at by a large group of people, Cedric felt a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say for a moment. He couldn't very well say, "I'm here to work for Professor White," could he? That would instantly ruin the professor's reputation.

Asking students to come home from their homes to do freelance work for them during Christmas—is that something a human being would do?

Helga was unaware that she was on the verge of complete disgrace, but Dumbledore instantly realized: Cedric was the "little badger" that Professor White had mentioned last night.

He felt a sense of both surprise and premonition. Yes, if he had to choose a student from Hufflepuff to train, he might have made the same choice. However, his range of choices was broader, because there was another candidate…

"Diggory? Looks like your stomach hasn't forgotten the Great Hall," Dumbledore joked, standing up to lighten the mood in the Great Hall. "Here, let me get you a chair—"

He used his wand to pull a chair into the air, which spun twice before landing with a dull thud between two Hufflepuff students.

With Dumbledore offering a way out, Cedric readily accepted and joined the banquet.

Others, such as Professor Sprout, still harbored doubts, but their attention was quickly diverted by the lavish dinner that had appeared out of nowhere.

To liven things up, Helga brought out a giant glass that could be filled with an endless supply of port, which could be switched to Scotch whisky, tequila, or cognac brandy according to preference. (Note)

Daphne and Astoria were both eager to try a few drinks, but under Rice's stern gaze, they both gave up the idea of ​​indulging—Professor White provided unlimited juice and tea, as well as fermented drinks with negligible alcohol content, for the underage wizards.

Suddenly, Rice noticed that Helga winked at him almost imperceptibly. He looked down and found a silver wine jug in front of him.

Oh? !

Rice knew this was a "gift" from Helga, so he poured the liquid from the silver pot into his goblet.

The wine in the pot had a deep amber color that conveyed a sense of age and weight. Looking at the liquid in the glass, Rice raised an eyebrow: his intuition told him that this wine was no ordinary drink.

Rice poured the drink into his mouth and drank it all in one gulp. Instantly, an extremely intense burning sensation spread from his throat all the way to his stomach, as if a venomous snake had slithered into his mouth.

In that instant, Rice seemed to see the sun rising over the distant American continent, and he instantly fell in love with this strong-tasting, uniquely aromatic spirit.

He remembered seeing a cocktail called "Tequila Sunrise" in the encyclopedia Hermione had given him.

Rice's gaze swept across the long table. Fortunately, all the ingredients were available, so he immediately got to work.

First, tequila is added to a stemmed glass, and then a simple freezing spell is applied, causing the entire glass to enter a low-temperature state, and the spirit turns into a gel-like block.

Rice then added a large amount of orange juice to the glass, and with the help of the stirring spell, the orange juice and tequila were thoroughly mixed.

Finally, Rice took a pomegranate from the fruit basket, snapped his fingers, and the pomegranate seeds fell out automatically. Rice took out a small crucible, conjured a ball of magical flame, and extracted the juice from the pomegranate seeds, concentrating it into a spoonful of hot, bright red pomegranate syrup.

Rice scooped up the scalding hot pomegranate syrup with a spoon, then gently tapped the spoon against the bottom of the wine glass, instantly transferring the syrup into the glass.

The scalding hot, nearly boiling syrup collides violently with the ice-cold liquid, creating a visual effect reminiscent of the rising sun illuminating the sky and dispelling darkness.

Rice recalled the encyclopedia's description of the agave sunrise: on the Mexican plains dotted with cacti, a bright red sun rises, illuminating the plains in a brilliant glow.

He really liked this feeling.

After taking a sip of his homemade magical Tequila Sunrise, Rice experienced the fruity aroma of fresh juice and the unique fiery heat of tequila. The richness of the taste was as if a sun was truly rising in his mouth, leaving a lingering and unforgettable impression.

Rice's actions had already left the surrounding young wizards dumbfounded: they were all just drinking something, but how could he come up with so many fancy tricks? And this thing looked so beautiful!

"Can I have a drink?" Daphne was the first to break the ice and "order" from Rice. Immediately, all the students around her perked up their ears, and even many of the professors sitting opposite seemed quite interested.

The expectant looks from those around him filled Rice with satisfaction, so without hesitation, he flicked his wand to clear a space on the table in front of him, and then lined up a dozen or so wine glasses in a row.

With practiced ease, he crafted twelve Tequila Sunrise cocktails in one go, each infused with his own interpretation of the spirit. Upon completion, he snapped his fingers, and flames erupted from the surface of each of the twelve cocktails. The flames consumed all the alcohol in the liquid, but left the flavor compounds within the glass.

Rice distributed the non-alcoholic cocktails he had made to the little wizards whose eyes were practically burning with excitement, watching them happily as they tasted the drinks he had mixed.

Helga, who had been watching the whole thing, learned how to make the cocktail almost instantly and immediately made a copy.

Rice: Stare~

Helga: Hehe!

Helga's cocktail incorporated more tequila and replaced grenadine syrup with ruby ​​port. The professors clearly preferred this stronger version to Rice's original.

After downing two of Professor White's signature cocktails, Professor Trelawney's inner fire was instantly ignited by the strong liquor. She moved closer to Helga with a glass full of brandy, so nervous that she didn't even notice the brandy spilling onto the front of her robe.

"Professor White..." Trelawney began, but a sudden tension gripped her, and her mouth went dry. She quickly gulped down a large mouthful of brandy to "recharge."

"Could you tell me the story of my ancestor? The prophet you once met?" Her eyes were full of expectation—Trelawney had prepared a speech beforehand, but after a few drinks, she had completely forgotten it and started to speak her mind.

After being called by name, Helga listened attentively to the needs of this "descendant of the prophet," and when she learned that Trelawney wanted to know about the deeds of her ancestors, she naturally did not refuse.

"Of course, no problem. But I need to clarify one thing with you: it wasn't me who encountered the prophet, but rather the four founders of Hogwarts back then—this story was quite widespread in our time, and I just borrowed it that day. I didn't expect that now no one has ever heard of this legend at all."

Upon learning that it was the story of the four founders, all the professors present perked up their ears, and even Dumbledore silently put down his wine glass and knife and fork.

Professor White's "retelling" of the founder's anecdotes is definitely worth listening to.

Seeing that her colleagues seemed quite interested, Helga sat up straight and began telling bedtime stories.

Once upon a time, four young wizards embarked on a journey together. They came from desolate swamps, tranquil riverbanks, open valleys, and filthy mud pits.

Rice: ? ? ?

He looked up at Helga: "Trying to insert your own ideas into the legend right in front of me, huh?!"

Helga chuckled mischievously: It would be so amusing to tease Salazar in such a harmless place and watch him get furious!

They hurried along a secluded, narrow path; dusk was approaching.

Dumbledore looked up and glanced at Professor White: Did the beginning of this story borrow from something?

Finally, they arrived at a remote village before it got completely dark, where a bonfire party seemed to be taking place in the center.

But as they approached, they discovered it wasn't a bonfire party or a witch trial, but a group of Normans who had invaded from across the sea! They slaughtered all the villagers, sparing only one wretched woman. The savage Norman pirates bound her to a cross, preparing to throw her into the raging fire!

The righteous Gryffindors, unwilling to witness this tragedy, disregarded Slytherin's objections and decided to rescue the woman. Ultimately, with the help of a longsword and a staff, the four rescued her.

After rescuing the woman from danger, she told the young people that she was a prophet who could see the future—it was this identity that saved her from the Norman massacre.

Helga paused here, not in a hurry to continue.

She looked around and saw that almost everyone had stopped eating and was listening intently to her story. She nodded with satisfaction.

Helga took a big gulp of his cocktail to moisten his throat before lowering his voice and saying, "That woman who survived that ordeal was Professor Trelawney's ancestor, the Prophet Trelawney, also known as Puffett Trelawney!"

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.

Update is here!

Note: These four types of wine represent the founders of the four major academies!

(End of this chapter)