Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 4 Rowena Ravenclaw, who can't drive

Stan Sampark, a bus conductor, suffered a major setback on his very first day of work.

Not being able to sleep while on night shift is already incredibly frustrating, but when he opened the door just now, he was almost cut in half. After regaining his senses, Sampak was already considering revising his resume and running away with his bucket.

Looking at the two men who walked up to him, Sampak really wanted to grab them by the collar and ask them what was wrong with them, but after seeing the size of the chasm in the ground, he decided to pretend nothing had happened.

Sampark cleared his throat. "Welcome aboard the Knight Bus, an emergency passenger service for witches or wizards in distress (you guys actually in distress? That's a miracle!), just stick out your wand and get on board, and we'll take you wherever you want to go (I'd love to refuse you if I could). My name is Stan Sampark, and I'm your ticket seller tonight (I'm really having a run of bad luck)—so where do you want to go?"

While mentally complaining, Sampak completed the opening remarks outlined in the work manual, then looked at the two and asked about their destination.

Rice gave him a meaningful look and told Stan that he and Lupert were going to Diagon Alley.

Sampak immediately began calculating the fare for the two based on their destination. Because he wasn't very skilled at the job and his math wasn't great, it took him a while to figure out that the total fare for the two of them was one gallon and one sisco.

"But if you pay an extra six scoops, you can get two chocolates; if you pay an extra eight, you can get a thermos and a toothbrush of any color you like," Stan enthusiastically promoted the small items on the truck.

Galleons? Sickles? These seem to be the currencies used by wizards today. He was very interested in this because in his time, the currencies used by wizards were extremely chaotic. Some used precious metals directly, some used Muggle coins, and some even used the leaves of the Magical Grass as money... Galleons and Sickles sounded much more reliable than these things.

Similarly, Rice was also interested in the chocolate, toothbrush, and hot water bottle that Stan mentioned, but Lupert simply said that two train tickets would suffice.

There was no other way; the werewolves were terrified of being poor, and they dared not spend a single nut more than necessary.

Lupert glanced at Rice and, seeing him standing there motionless, sighed inwardly: Sure enough, expecting him to pay for the ticket was unrealistic.

She pulled out a shrunken purse and emptied out all the coins inside.

Rice: ...

Stan Sampak and the curious gazes coming from the back of the carriage made his face burn. He quickly reached into his purse and pulled out two gold coins.

"Here, that's more than enough." Sly tossed the gold coins into Stan's hand, and he and Rupert boarded the Knight Bus.

Stan stared at the gold coins in his hand, momentarily stunned. He knew of travelers paying with foreign currency, but why didn't he recognize this money? It wasn't an American coin, nor a French Galleon; could it be some currency from Central Asia or Africa? But it was still two gold coins, enough to cover their fare.

Upon entering the carriage, Rice couldn't help but take in the interior: the layout was completely different from a horse-drawn carriage; there were no seats, only six beds with curtains. Some of the curtains were drawn, and from behind them, one could hear the occasional loud snore.

Stan didn't intend to settle the two on the first floor; instead, he led Rice and Lupert up the narrow staircase to the third floor. It was completely deserted and quiet, and the two could choose any spot they preferred to sleep.

Not only did Stan arrange a place for them to sleep, but he also brought them chocolates, toothbrushes, and hot water bottles—he believed Rice had paid enough.

After Stan quickly left, only Rice and Lupet remained in the carriage. Watching Stan's departing figure, Lupet whispered, "He seemed quite afraid of you."

Rice's lips curled up slightly: "Of course."

Before they could exchange more than a few words, the car slammed open again with a loud bang, causing them both to stumble and nearly fall over from the sudden start. Rice grabbed the brass pillar beside the bed and looked out the dark window, discovering that the car had left Dean Forest and was now traveling steadily and quickly along a flat road.

To Rice's surprise, there was a pillar standing at regular intervals on both sides of the road, and each pillar was lit at the top! Looking around, these pillars stretched all the way to the horizon, and there must have been thousands upon thousands of them.

How much lamp oil or candles must have been burned that night! Rice clicked her tongue inwardly: This is just a deserted road with hardly anyone around, how can the Queen be so extravagant?

He admitted that he was somewhat particular about appearances, but he couldn't actually go to that extent.

After sharing his shock with Lupert, Lupert looked at Rice with a strange expression.

"It's not so bad, actually. I heard that Muggles use 'electricity' for lighting, which doesn't cost much." Although Lupert only had a superficial understanding of Muggles, he still knew some common sense, so he was able to give Rice a brief explanation.

Rice: Electric lighting?

He wasn't entirely clear on the underlying principles, only that the world had changed so much that he really needed to catch up.

The driver of the car seemed to be not very good at steering, and kept crashing into the streetlights, fences and even oncoming trucks, but in the end he didn't hit anything, because those "obstacles" jumped and avoided the car when it came, and only returned to their original positions after it passed.

"An interesting spell. I remember Ravenclaw used a similar spell before."

Looking at this familiar scene, memories that had been dormant deep in my mind began to surface.

"Let me drive next time, please." Godric's face was pale—just now, while he was wiping his sword, Rowena drove the car straight into a big tree by the roadside, and the longsword in his hand almost pierced through him.

"This carriage is very expensive, Rowena!" Salazar Slytherin's face darkened after getting out of the carriage and glancing at its condition.

"I'll fix it!" Rowena blushed and assured him that she could fix Salazar's car in the blink of an eye.

"Even if it's repaired, it's still a car that's been in an accident! And my horse is lame!!!"

"I'll heal it, but Rowena, you're really not suited to driving," Ravenclaw's good friend, Helga Hufflepuff, stepped in to smooth things over and began treating the injured horse.

After being deprived of her driving privileges for two days, Rowena suddenly became "shaky" again. After casting a spell on the carriage, she forcefully snatched the reins from Gryffindor and started speeding as usual.

But this time, just as the car was about to crash into the tree, the tree seemed to have grown legs and jumped away on its own.

Rowena laughed triumphantly.

"If I can't avoid the tree, then can't I just make the tree avoid me?"

"I think your spell could be improved," Salazar couldn't help but complain, looking at the tree that had grown into the middle of the road.

"I've been too busy these past few days, let's talk about it later," Ravenclaw said casually, and sped up.

Until the day Salazar left, he never saw Rowena optimize his spell.

Watching the obstacles automatically avoid them and then return to their original positions, Rice smiled with relief: "Royna, someone has improved this spell for you."

(End of this chapter)