Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 390 Granger, your domain is the most useless!

Hermione's understanding might not be in the realm of elements; an idea flashed through Rice's mind.

Rice knew that domains weren't entirely elemental; some wizards could indeed comprehend strange, non-elemental domains, something he had heard of in the past.

but……

Non-elemental domains are often quite useless, with their practical strength and sustainability far inferior to elemental domains. Unless the domain's special effects are exceptionally overpowered, it's essentially the same as learning a magic spell.

Rice had seen others whose domains enhanced their physical strength, and according to Rowena, he didn't feel much difference when the wind blades sliced ​​through his body. If Rowena knew that his successor had mastered such a domain, his mentality would be utterly shattered.

After figuring out what had happened, Rice stood quietly behind Hermione, waiting for her to regain her senses. At the same time, she mentally considered how to tell Rowena about it later.

After a quarter of an hour, the magical fluctuations emanating from Hermione gradually stabilized, and the girl shuddered, regaining her senses.

What happened? Hermione was a little confused.

She was looking at the notes her teacher had given her, and as she looked at them, it seemed like... she drifted off into thought? No, it didn't seem like she drifted off into thought; she seemed to have grasped something?

Is this the area Professor Spitter mentioned? Why is it different from what was described in his notes?

Just as she was feeling lost and confused, Rice appeared at the perfect moment.

"Good morning, Hermione. If you want to run into me, you must be here at the library. You've always been here." He sat down opposite Hermione with a warm smile.

When Hermione saw Rice springing up like mushrooms in a forest after the rain, a hint of joy flashed in her eyes: the knowledgeable Rice might know something.

"Good morning. I was just looking at a medieval notebook that describes a magical technique called 'domain.' Have you heard of it, Rice?"

Rice had certainly heard of it; it was practically like asking Einstein to his face if he had ever heard of relativity.

"Of course, the pinnacle of magic was considered the only threshold for becoming a top-tier wizard in the Middle Ages."

"Rice, I suspect I may have awakened a domain." Hermione thought for a moment and decided to tell Rice about what had just happened.

"Really?" Rice raised an eyebrow. He was a little surprised because, judging from Hermione's tone, she seemed to have fully awakened her domain? Unlike Daphne and Cedric, she wasn't stuck at the threshold of "half-step domain" or "pseudo-domain".

That's normal, though. Her domain isn't the elemental domain, so crossing that threshold is much easier for her than for Daphne and Cedric.

"Maybe?" As a wizard who was awakening her domain for the first time and had never seen anyone else awaken theirs before, Hermione was also confused. However, she had a gut feeling that she had awakened her own domain.

"Then why not try expanding your domain?" Rice was also eager to see Hermione's domain.

He was extremely curious about this.

"There might be quite a commotion..." Hermione was still hesitating, but Rice, sitting opposite her, kept urging her on and encouraging her.

"No problem, I can handle any unexpected situation."

Hermione was absorbed in her own transformation and didn't notice Rice's words.

"Alright then." In the end, curiosity overcame her instinct for caution, and Hermione decided to try to expand her domain.

"Activate your magic, think to yourself—" Rhys guided Hermione from the side, and the next moment, he felt a wave of magic sweep past him.

But it seems like nothing has changed.

Rice: ?

What happened? Did Hermione activate her domain?

Hermione was also a little confused, as she didn't know much about her new field.

Rice stood up from his seat and looked around carefully, trying to find any trace of Hermione's Domain.

What happened to Hermione is really unusual. Perhaps this is a characteristic of non-elemental realms—maybe these people's realms shouldn't be called realms, but rather special abilities?

While secretly criticizing Hermione's strange domain, Rice was also highly focused, scanning every corner of the library, trying to find anything unusual.

Rice quickly noticed something was wrong: the library had become too quiet.

Although it was Hogsmeade Open Day and the library was already quite deserted, Mrs. Pince, the librarian, and a few younger students should still be inside.

But at this moment, Rice could no longer sense their presence.

He walked quickly toward the library information desk.

Sure enough, the place was empty. Rice glanced towards the exit door, and immediately noticed something unusual—outside the glass of the door was nothingness.

Rice walked to the library door and tried to pull the doorknob, but the door didn't budge, as if it had been welded shut.

Rice whirled around, his gaze sweeping across the "library" before him. After a moment, he came to a conclusion: this library was Hermione's domain!

He strode forward, taking Hermione with him, and quickly circled the library. He found that this library was very similar to the Hogwarts library, but with slight differences in details.

First, all the curtains in the windows were drawn, as if they had been sealed shut by an eternal adhesive spell; second, there was no one else there except him and Hermione—not only were there no people, but there wasn't even a trace of small insects like spiders or flying gnats; finally, the bookshelves appeared to be filled with books, but some were just outlines, and when you picked them up, they were just empty notebooks with beautiful covers. Some books didn't even have titles; they were just there for show. Especially the books in the forbidden section—almost none of them had any content.

Rice also noted that the library only imitated the structure of the Hogwarts Library in terms of structure, without adding any additional buildings, and Rowena's private classroom was replaced by a study room.

"So Hermione's domain ability is to create a library?" A thought flashed through Rice's mind.

If that's the case, then it's somewhat of a dark joke.

Your teacher controls the wind and the sky, your friend controls all liquids in the world, your classmates possess the power of the earth and magma, and your ability is to build a library.

Hermione Granger, your domain is the most useless! Daphne's voice even echoed in Rice's ears.

As Rice's thoughts drifted, Hermione also noticed the pattern in the books on the bookshelf.

"The books I've read all have content, while the books I haven't read but remember the titles of are just titles without content." Hermione casually pulled a book called "Hogwarts: A History of the School" from the bookshelf, opened it, and found it filled with writing.

"It seems your domain is to open a library filled with all the books you've read—try bringing one directly to yourself? This is your domain; you can do anything."

"Really?" Hermione, unaware of the truth, was overjoyed.

The library field? Doesn't that mean she can go into the library and read books anytime? She really loves this field.

She tried it as Rice suggested, and a copy of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" flew into her hands.

Hermione: !

"It really works!" She snapped her fingers a few times, and six or seven books appeared out of thin air on the table next to her. After she got tired of this ability, she waved her hand, and all the books on the table automatically returned to their original positions.

However, when Hermione tried to conjure up some food and drink, she failed.

"Perhaps it's because eating is prohibited in the library?" she muttered to herself.

Rice was also somewhat surprised: This realm even had its own rules? It seemed quite different from ordinary non-elemental realms. Or rather, it was unlike most realms Rice had ever seen.

Hermione's Library Domain is not like an Elemental Domain, which can extend almost infinitely. Her body cannot use elementalization to evade attacks or move quickly. However, unlike ordinary non-Elemental Domains, which are only a small area, it covers a fairly large area—after all, it is as big as the library of Hogwarts and has some strange rules of its own.

This field is truly amazing.

"Wait a minute!" Hermione suddenly interrupted Rice's thoughts, took a chocolate frog from her robe pocket, and then pulled a bottle of pumpkin juice from her bag.

Rice: ? ? ?

"That's strange," Hermione said, looking equally puzzled. "I just felt this thing in my pocket. Is it because eating and drinking are prohibited in the library, but students can sneak food in?"

Rice blinked, took the Chocolate Frog from Hermione's hand, and before Hermione could stop her, she tore open the box, took out the Chocolate Frog, and swallowed it in one gulp.

Hmm, it tastes exactly the same as the chocolate frog from outside.

"This is so strange, it violates the rules—"

"Gamp's basic transformation law?" Rice anticipated what Hermione was about to say.

"Yes," the little girl nodded, her messy hair swinging back and forth, "you can't conjure up delicious food out of thin air."

"This didn't appear out of thin air." Rice shook his head. "It consumed your magic power and was conjured within your domain."

The realm is a very magical thing; all sorts of strange things can happen in it.

"Speaking of which, do you feel tired?" Rice was also curious, wanting to know how long Hermione's domain could be activated.

Her domain seems to consume her own magic power, so it's unlikely to be able to remain open for as long as an elemental domain.

After Rice said that, Hermione also felt a bit tired, but she felt she could hold on for a while longer, at least a few more hours. If she hadn't just conjured up a pot of pumpkin juice and a chocolate bar, she might have been able to last even longer.

After asking a few questions, Rice had a general understanding of Hermione's domain.

It seems possible to create a library containing the books she has read, and that the library has some strange rules that Hermione can find ways to circumvent.

It's an interesting but somewhat useless field.

"You should dispel the domain first," Rice gestured to Hermione to dispel the domain so that the two could return to the real world.

Hermione did as she was told, and in the blink of an eye, the two were back in the real Hogwarts Library.

Looking out at the clear sky, Rice was certain that he and Hermione had returned to reality.

"Let's go for a walk by the Black Lake." Rice led Hermione straight out of the library.

"Ms. Spitter must have told you about the classification of domains, right?" Rice and Hermione chatted on the way.

"I mentioned it briefly, but didn't go into details."

"I see..." Rice then explained to Hermione his understanding of the different realms, including the advantages and disadvantages of the elemental realms and the various non-elemental realms he had seen or heard of.

However, he cleverly avoided mentioning the advantages and disadvantages of the elemental and non-elemental realms, and when Hermione asked him about it, he brushed it off with a simple "each has its own strengths."

Watching Rice walking beside her, talking eloquently about his field, Hermione realized something.

"Rice, do you also possess a domain?" The fact that he knows so much about the extremely obscure concept of a domain, even more in detail than Professor Spitter wrote in his notes, suggests that he very likely also possesses a domain.

"That's right," Rice readily admitted. In his view, Hermione already had the right to know part of the truth.

"You actually have it?" Hermione's eyes widened in surprise.

"yes."

"You never mentioned it!"

"You didn't ask, did you?"

Hermione: ...

As it happened, the two arrived at the edge of Black Lake and walked side by side around the lake for a while.

Rice noticed that someone was spying on him from the castle not far away. It was Helga; it seemed Helga had already received his message.

"Would you like to try activating your domain again?" Knowing that Helga was watching, Rice asked Hermione to activate her domain once more.

This involves his conjecture about Hermione's Realm.

Although she didn't understand why, Hermione did as she was told. After activating the domain, in the blink of an eye, the two were once again in a library domain that resembled the Hogwarts Library.

"Let's test how long this field can last." Rice continued testing Hermione's field.

This fascinating field piqued his curiosity, and he decided to study it in detail.

After taking an hourglass from his pocket and placing it on the table, Rice took out the encyclopedia Hermione had given him and sat down in Hermione's domain to read.

Hermione: ...

Rice, on the other hand, didn't stand on ceremony.

She smiled and took out her books to do her homework.

Time flew by. Rice's hourglass turned once every fifteen minutes. After thirteen turns, Hermione packed the things into her bag.

"I can't hold on much longer." The girl's face was slightly pale.

After Rice was ready, she deactivated the domain, and the two returned to the shores of Black Lake.

The first thing Rice did upon returning to reality was look up at the sun's position, but the sun had not moved noticeably.

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 here~

(End of this chapter)