Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 398 Rice: It's time to go see the Gaunt family.

Watching Neville walk away happily, Rice's eyes narrowed slightly: This guy is interesting.

His perception of the round-faced boy changed slightly; he believed that such a person would one day reap rich rewards.

After lunch, Daphne and Astoria found Rice and invited him to take a walk by the Black Lake.

"Finally some free time! How about we go for a walk by the lake and relax?" Daphne waved a food box she was carrying and invited Rice to join her.

After Daphne and her classmates finished their final exams, Professor White dragged them into doing hard labor. They even caused a minor accident along the way, and it wasn't until now that they could finally relax.

Rice blinked: Isn't the best way to relax the most to lie on a soft bed in the dorm and take a nap that no one will wake you up?

However, considering that the children had worked hard all semester and were still restless after the final exams, Rice decided to go along with their wishes and grant their trivial request.

Constant admonitions will only breed resentment among students. Let them have the harmless little pleasures they want.

A few minutes later, Rice and his two companions appeared on the shore of Black Lake.

Although it is already summer, the temperature in the Scottish Highlands remains below 20 degrees Celsius, making the weather extremely comfortable and pleasant.

Walking along the shore of Black Lake, a cool breeze caressed my face, and even Rice, who hadn't really wanted to come out, felt a sense of exhilaration.

"The four founders back then really chose a great location," Daphne remarked sincerely.

Indeed, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with a lush forest nearby, Hogwarts' location is truly exceptional. So much so that the four of them fell in love with this treasure the moment they saw it.

"That's right," Rice chimed in with a smile. "I've read in ancient texts that the Muggle lords around Hogwarts once tried to seize the land from the founders."

As he spoke, he picked out a few interesting stories from when the school was founded and told them to the two girls.

"It's unbelievable that there are so many stories behind the founding of Hogwarts," Daphne exclaimed.

In her mind, the establishment of Hogwarts was just a simple sentence: "Four founders established Hogwarts in 990 AD," but she never expected that there were so many stories behind it.

It is these stories that make everything seem so real.

While Daphne was filled with emotion, Astoria wondered: How did Rice know about these things that weren't even recorded in "Hogwarts: A History of the School"? Could one really find so many secrets by reading the letters between ancient wizards?

However, she didn't bother to delve into the matter further.

Rice and the two little girls found a shady spot by the lake and sat down.

Sitting on the ground, feeling the gentle breeze blowing from the lake, Rice felt more comfortable than ever before.

Looking back, his youth was spent traveling with Godric and his friends, collecting spells and comprehending the mysteries of magic; his middle age was spent clashing with the Norse gods; and his later years were spent building Hogwarts and teaching. Such leisurely and carefree times in his life were few and far between.

If only time could stand still at this moment.

Rice closed her eyes, and then she heard Daphne whisper beside her, "The fish in the Black Lake must be quite plump, right?"

Astoria, Rice: ...

This is a good question.

However, the students and professors at the school don't seem to eat fish much; the fish that usually appear on their tables are salmon and other similar species.

Even Hagrid only hunts in the Forbidden Forest and rarely fishes in the Black Lake.

"Big fish aren't necessarily good," Rice said, drawing on his experience.

However, he didn't rule out the possibility entirely, because he knew that some fish in the sea are very large, but have thick layers of intramuscular fat, making them very flavorful when you bite into them.

"I'll know once I try," Daphne said, eager to give it a go.

She stood up, looked around, and then broke off a branch from a nearby tree.

With the branches in hand, she casually took out a ribbon and turned them into the shape of a fishing rod.

Watching Daphne bustling around, Rhys initially considered using a Summoning Charm to catch the fish directly, but quickly changed his mind—Daphne wasn't enjoying the fish, but rather the process of fishing, so he let her be.

Daphne went fishing by the lake, while Rice and Astoria sat in the shade of a tree not far away watching her fish.

"My sister..." Astoria looked at Daphne's retreating figure, her expression complicated.

"Let her be." Rice rolled her eyes: Daphne wasn't so much a child when she was little, but as she's grown up, she's becoming more and more like Gryffindor—oops, I mean her ancestor Adrian.

"What are your plans for the holiday?" Astoria asked softly.

If possible, she would also like to bring Rice to Greengrass Manor. She knew Rice was an extraordinary person, and perhaps spending more time with him would allow her to comprehend the Domain?

Rice looked up and glanced at her.

"I heard the Quidditch World Cup finals will be held in the UK this summer? That's definitely worth checking out."

Although Rice wasn't particularly interested in Quidditch, based on his knowledge of the game, he knew it must be the premier event in the magical world.

Along with the grand event, there will inevitably be gatherings of wizards. Such "gatherings" are quite attractive to Rice.

He could go and see for himself what life is like for wizards outside of Britain.

"Great! Dad will definitely be able to get tickets. We can go see it together!" Astoria extended an invitation to Rice very naturally.

Lestan accepted Astoria's offer without hesitation.

In his view, this is a normal behavior for students to reciprocate their teachers' kindness, and he should not refuse their good intentions.

However, besides going to watch the World Cup, there was another thing he wanted to do. He had wanted to do it for a long time, but various things had kept delaying it, so he hadn't been able to go yet.

Rice wanted to go to the Gaunt's house. Not for any other reason than to see the traces left by the descendants of her disgraceful adopted son.

"Does the Gaunt family still have any descendants? I mean, direct descendants," Rice asked Astoria.

Because pure-blood families frequently intermarry, each family has some degree of blood from other families. Based on bloodlines, the Gaunt family certainly still exists extensively, but Rice was asking about their direct descendants.

"There should be more, right?" Astoria wasn't very confident either. She recalled the few words her father had once uttered and then compiled them together.

"There is more, but they are about to die out. The Gaunt family... my father said they all have some mental issues, and by the beginning of this century they had fallen into ruin. The last descendant of the Gaunt family was imprisoned in Azkaban for allegedly murdering Muggles."

"I see." Rice's face showed no emotion.

This is perhaps the retribution for misusing the Slytherin name. It is precisely this family, along with a group of pure-blood advocates, that has ruined their reputation so badly.

"Do the Gaunt family live in Hangleton?"

"I don't know about that." Astoria shook her head, then asked with a hint of curiosity, "Are you going to find the Gaunt family?"

She recalled that Rice seemed to dislike the Gaunt family because he believed they were impersonating Slytherin. As the rightful heir to Slytherin, he could not tolerate such blasphemy.

"No, just going there for a look around," Rice replied vaguely.

Astoria blinked, about to ask for more details, but was interrupted by Daphne's cheers.

The girl's simple fishing rod was now bent into an arc, clearly indicating that she had caught a big one from the lake.

Rice raised an eyebrow: Daphne's luck is pretty good.

Fishing is a mysterious thing. Sometimes you can catch a fish just by standing on the shore and casting your line casually, while other times you can prepare carefully for a long time and not even catch a single fish scale.

After struggling with the fish for a while, the fish finally gave in and was dragged to the shore by Daphne.

Rice glanced at it and thought it was a foot-long trout.

After the fish was pulled to the shore, Daphne waded over to it, grabbed it, and brought it to Rice to show off her achievement.

"Look, I caught a big fish!" The girl's face was full of excitement.

"Not bad, this trout is big enough. This kind of fish tastes pretty good, and the texture is somewhat similar to salmon, but it can't be eaten raw," Lesqua praised.

Daphne was even happier.

However, the three of them, having finished their meal, did not eat the fish that Daphne had caught, but instead chose to release it back into the wild.

After Daphne used a spell to clean the water stains off her body, she sat down next to Rice and started chatting with him about their holiday plans.

Rice: You two are really something...

As he shared his holiday plans with Daphne and Astoria, he opened Daphne's food box, which was filled with his favorite desserts: pudding, cream puffs, ice cream...

Amidst eating, drinking, and lively conversation, this most relaxing and enjoyable day came to an end.

The graduation ceremony arrived in the blink of an eye.

Hogwarts students and teachers gathered in the Great Hall to spend the last day of the school year with the graduating seventh-year students.

Rice looked at the seventh-grade students, overwhelmed with emotion. These students were about to step into the adult world, and he sincerely hoped they would have a bright future.

In more official and formal terms, the hope is that they will become useful members of the magical world.

Rhys's gaze swept across the Gryffindor long table. He noticed that Percy Weasley looked rather unwell, as if he had overexerted himself. Considering the potions Weasley had bought from Hogsmeade, Rhys wasn't surprised and simply advised him to be a little more restrained.

The students of Hufflepuff are exceptionally excited this year because it's an unprecedented achievement that Hufflepuff House has won the House Cup!

Originally, Hufflepuff students didn't have much interest in the House Cup, displaying a rather indifferent attitude.

But when Cedric led the Hufflepuff Quidditch team to consecutive victories against two formidable rivals, Gryffindor and Slytherin, everyone's opinion suddenly changed.

They seem to have a chance?

Once this idea appeared, it burned like wildfire in the hearts of the Hufflepuff students, and it became unstoppable.

In the days that followed, the Hufflepuff students displayed remarkable unity. Ultimately, they actually won the House Cup!

When Dumbledore officially announced Hufflepuff as the winner of this year's House Cup, the Great Hall erupted in cheers. Even Helga in the faculty section clapped enthusiastically, her lips curving into a wide smile.

Looking at Helga, who was extremely pleased on stage, Rice suddenly remembered the so-called "curse".

So, will Helga stay on as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for another year? Rice realized he'd been forgetting to ask his old friend.

"I'll ask her about it during the holidays," Rice thought to herself.

The school year came to an end amidst a lively ceremony and celebration.

The students packed their bags in just one night and then boarded the Hogwarts Express for their return journey.

Following the flow of people, he slowly squeezed out of the platform and entered King's Cross Station, where he saw Mr. Henry standing outside the platform waiting for his two daughters.

The moment Daphne and Astoria saw their father, they rushed toward him.

Harry, following behind the group, looked on with envy: he had only ever dreamed of such a scene.

Even worse than seeing his classmates' families reunited was seeing the Dursleys...

But just then, a handsome middle-aged man suddenly appeared in front of Harry.

"Harry, is that you?" The middle-aged man looked at Harry with a smile, his eyes filled with tenderness.

"Yes..." Harry hesitated for a moment, then looked around and saw that the corner of the station was full of Hogwarts students and their parents, and the Weasleys were not far away. Only then did he feel relieved.

"Who are you……?"

"I am Sirius Black."

Harry's eyes widened immediately upon hearing the name.

After Christmas, he exchanged no fewer than a hundred letters with Sirius Black, and to his surprise, Sirius Black actually came to see him at King's Cross Station in person!

Thinking of this, Harry suddenly realized a startling possibility, and his heart began to pound.

"So you came here to..." Harry stopped mid-sentence, afraid that his guess was wrong and he would be disappointed.

"I remember telling you I hoped you could stay at my place for a while, but of course, if you can't bear to leave your aunt, I won't—"

"Absolutely no problem!" Harry interrupted Sirius directly. "How long can I stay? Uh, I mean..."

Sirius Black laughed heartily upon hearing Harry's words. He told Harry that he could stay as long as he wanted, but Dumbledore had mentioned that Harry was going to stay at the Dursleys' house for a while, perhaps for a meal or something.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that he wouldn't have to live with the Dursleys anymore.

"Then let's go back together, have a meal, and then leave, how about that?" he asked in a pleading tone.

"Okay, let's go." Sirius Black took Harry's suitcase and walked with him toward the Dursleys.

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.

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(End of this chapter)