Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 399 Resurrection Stone

Uncle Vernon was extremely shocked when he saw Sirius Black. He couldn't understand why this man was walking with Harry. However, judging from his attitude, this man was most likely another damned wizard.

Uncle Vernon took a deep breath, trying to appear a little "bigger" like a pufferfish.

As he straightened his clothes and tie to make himself look more presentable, Sirius Black led Harry up to him.

"Mr. Dursley? Hello." Sirius Black extended his hand to Uncle Vernon. "Thank you for taking care of Harry all these years."

Harry, standing behind him, struggled to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

The Dursleys' so-called "care" would be more accurately described as "keeping him alive." But now that Sirius is here, he has no intention of causing any trouble and only wants to quickly fulfill Dumbledore's request.

After recuperating at the ancestral home for six months, Sirius Black's mental state had greatly improved, restoring his carefree and handsome appearance. Coupled with his agreeable attitude, Uncle Vernon patiently shook his hand lightly. Then, as if electrocuted, he withdrew his hand.

"Who are you?" Uncle Vernon's small eyes were full of doubt.

"I am Sirius Black, Harry's godfather."

Vernon and Penny, who was standing next to him, widened their eyes immediately.

Harry has a godfather? How come they didn't know?!

"Wait a minute! You're this kid's godfather? Then why has he been living in my house for over ten years?" Uncle Vernon could barely contain his anger.

The trouble Harry has caused himself over the past decade or so is beyond what any normal person could have imagined.

Sirius Black harbored considerable guilt towards the Dursleys and gratitude for their upbringing of Harry. However, Vernon Dursley's words and attitude gradually irritated him, so he retorted curtly, "I was imprisoned in Azkaban for a long time, and I only recently escaped from there."

Uncle Vernon didn't know what Azkaban was, but he could understand the words "prison" and "escape".

His small eyes were immediately filled with terror.

In his eyes, wizards were all potential criminals who were all freaks. But the person in front of him was a criminal among wizards. Wasn't that the criminal among criminals, the freak among freaks?

He was so startled that he didn't know what to say, while Harry stood aside happily watching his uncle Vernon's antics, making no attempt to tell him that Sirius had actually been exonerated.

"You, you!" Uncle Vernon's voice trembled, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He suddenly realized that there were actually many wizards in the train station nowadays.

"Do you know there are many wizards here? You're just walking around like this—" Uncle Vernon lowered his voice, putting pressure on Sirius while trying not to attract the attention of others.

He feared that if he were discovered, Sirius, who was desperate, would take him hostage.

"I know, because I've managed to gain my freedom, and my wanted status has been lifted." Sirius Black saw through Vernon's intentions, so he deliberately changed his story. His words seemed to imply that he had obtained the warrant through improper means.

Sure enough, Vernon was frightened by Sirius.

Seeing Vernon standing there pale and deflated like a punctured balloon, Sirius was finally satisfied.

"I'm here today to tell you something: Harry is moving in with me this summer."

Vernon: !!!

These words sounded like heavenly music to him!

He never expected that this wizard, who was suspected of being a criminal, would bring him such great news.

"So he's moving out of my house?" Uncle Vernon asked impatiently.

If I could get rid of Harry, this burden, and pass it on to the man in front of me, that would be wonderful!

"Of course not." Sirius immediately shattered Uncle Vernon's illusions when he recalled what Dumbledore had told him in his letter.

"Harry will continue to consider your home as his home until he comes of age."

Sirius's words plunged Vernon into despair, but upon reflection, Uncle Vernon's mood improved somewhat: because Black had mentioned this until Harry came of age.

Doesn't that mean that once this little brat comes of age, he'll have nothing to do with him anymore? That doesn't seem so bad; he just needs to endure a few more years and he'll finally get ahead.

"Fine." Uncle Vernon shrugged and let out a loud snort.

"Will he come back this summer?" Penny, who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly asked.

"I don't think so, but he wants to go home with you guys and have a meal before he leaves."

This was undoubtedly good news for the Dursleys. Compared to Harry being away for the entire summer, inviting him to a meal was hardly a problem.

The group left King's Cross Station together in Uncle Vernon's new car and headed toward Privet Road in Devon.

They will complete Harry's "handover procedures" there.

Rice watched the sitcom featuring Harry and his aunt and uncle with great interest, then said goodbye to the Greengrass family and set off for Hangleton.

For a wizard like him, traveling doesn't take much time, and Rice found Hangleton Town without much effort.

However, as time passed, the former town of Hangerton had split into two villages: Little Hangerton and Big Hangerton. Following his hazy memories, Rice instinctively headed towards Little Hangerton.

As he reached the end of the tree-lined path and saw the hills in the distance, the gray memories in his mind began to come alive again.

Yes, this is it. After leaving Hogwarts, he chose this place to live in seclusion under an assumed name.

He was quite wealthy and owned many properties. He also adopted a little boy named Gaunt. He did not leave this secluded place until the end of his life.

Before leaving, he took most of his magical artifacts with him, but gave all his wealth and accumulated fortune to that boy Gaunt.

A series of memories flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. Standing there, lost in his past memories for a long time, he finally walked along a path toward Little Hangleton.

Little Hangerton is a pretty little village nestled between two steep hills. In the distance, the church and cemetery are clearly visible, not much different from a thousand years ago. A manor stands on the opposite hillside, surrounded by a large expanse of green meadow.

The manor looked rather dilapidated, but it was easy to see that it had once been very grand. Rice could even imagine its heyday: white walls and red tiles, spotless windows and tables, and lawns that stretched out like velvet. The manor was situated on a hill overlooking the entire Little Hangleton.

This is Rice's ideal place to live.

'This must be the ancestral home of the Gaunt family,' he thought.

From Rice's perspective, this conjecture is quite reasonable. After all, the last descendant of the Gaunt family has been imprisoned in Azkaban, so wouldn't the Gaunt family mansion be abandoned?

He never expected the Gaunt family to fall into such a state, because the "legacy" he left behind was quite substantial.

When Rice arrived at the "Gunter Ancestral House," he found that it wasn't completely abandoned; there was an old gardener tending to the yard.

The old gardener was dawdling over his work in the flowerbed. But to Rice, it was all in vain; judging from the surroundings, the old man couldn't stop the weeds from spreading around him.

Seemingly noticing Rice's gaze, the old gardener turned around and stared straight at Rice.

"What's the matter?" he asked curtly.

Rice wasn't going to argue with an old geezer; he simply asked the old gardener if this was the Gaunt family's house.

"Gunter?" The old gardener frowned, as if a long-buried memory had been stirred, but those memories were too "rusted" to be recalled for a moment.

"This isn't the Gaunt family's house. This place used to belong to the Riddle family, and it changed hands several times. Who knows whose house it is now?" Seeing that Rice wasn't there to cause trouble, the old gardener's attitude became more friendly.

He recounted some old stories to Rice in a long and drawn-out manner.

Rice wasn't interested in those trivial matters; he was only interested in the "Riddle" the old gardener had mentioned.

This rather uncommon surname reminded him of a young man named Tom Riddle, though he preferred to be called Voldemort.

"Please tell me more about the Riddle family. By the way, you can call me Henry." Rice decided to get more information from the old man in front of her.

He extended his hand to the old man, and the old gardener hesitated for a moment before extending his calloused hand to shake his.

"I'm Frank, the gardener here." Frank glanced at the garden he had only half-finished and decided to find another place to chat with "Henry" slowly.

He invited Rice to his home—a dilapidated cottage next to Riddle House.

"It all started when I was young..." Frank rambled on for over an hour before finally explaining the whole story to Rice.

Frank served in World War II when he was young. Early in the war, he lost a leg and became lame. However, this misfortune turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as he no longer had to remain in the army to fight the Germans.

After leaving the army, he found a job as a gardener in Little Hangerton and lived a quiet, unsocial life—until the Riddle family suddenly and mysteriously died. Frank, who had a key to the back door of the house, became the prime suspect, but was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

When Rice learned that the Riddles had not been harmed by poison, sharp weapons, or pistols, nor had they been suffocated, he immediately knew who was behind it all.

The family died from the Killing Curse, and Voldemort is the prime suspect.

Recalling the identity that the undulating demon had revealed to him in the secret chamber, Rice felt as if he had figured out the truth of the matter.

"Have you heard of Tom Riddle?" Rice asked, quickly estimating his age and adding, "Maybe he's this family's son or grandson or something."

The old gardener nodded, then told Les Tom Riddle that he was one of the dead.

Rice: ?

He then realized that the deceased was most likely Voldemort's biological father.

"Actually, on the day of the incident, I saw a boy I didn't recognize. He had black hair, a pale face, and was about your age," Frank said.

"The Tom Riddle you mentioned who died, he must have had a child, right?"

Frank shook his head, but then hesitated, because he vaguely remembered hearing about Tom's "affairs" before.

"He might have an illegitimate child..." Frank slowly told Rice the story of old Tom Riddle abandoning his fiancée and eloping with a crazy woman.

"Oh, right!" Frank slapped his thigh. "That crazy woman's last name is Gaunt! Not long after she eloped with Riddle, Riddle came back alone, but she disappeared and nobody cared about her."

Rice nodded, and all the clues were now connected.

The Gaunt daughter eloped with Tom Riddle Sr. and gave birth to Tom Riddle Jr., who became Voldemort.

After growing up, Voldemort managed to find out his true identity. Enraged, he killed his father's family and framed the Gaunt family, who lived in the area.

After thoroughly exposing Voldemort's true nature, Rice bid farewell to the old gardener and, following Frank's directions, began searching for the Gaunt family home.

To be honest, it's not easy to find, because Voldemort seems to have used a spell to hide Gaunt's old house.

But with Rice focusing intently and observing carefully, everything became clear.

"An ingenious spell, still working perfectly after decades." Rice stood in front of a tangled thicket of bushes, marveling at Voldemort's "masterpiece."

In his opinion, Tom Riddle's magical skills were indeed quite impressive.

However, compared to him, she still seemed a bit naive.

Rice waved his wand, easily breaking the spells left by Voldemort.

A small house covered in vines appeared before him.

Rice took two steps forward, and heard a crisp cracking sound under his feet. He looked down and saw the remains of a snake.

It seems that the descendants of House Gaunt are absolutely convinced that they are descendants of Slytherin.

Rice walked into the nearly collapsed hut, circled the rotten floor twice, and then pinpointed a spot.

He broke open the floor, and a box made of gold was revealed.

Driven by magic, the protective spell on the box vanished. The lid popped open, revealing a gold ring inlaid with a black gemstone.

A unique symbol is engraved on the black gemstone.

Looking at the pattern composed of triangles, vertical lines, and inscribed circles, Rice narrowed his eyes: he felt as if he had inadvertently found what appeared to be the Resurrection Stone, one of the Three Holy Relics of the Dead.

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! Goodnight~

(End of this chapter)