Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 400 Godric Gryffindor

He who collects all three sacred artifacts will become the master of death.

Rice recalled that line from a wizarding legend.

The master of death? What an interesting statement. But unfortunately, in his view, he already controlled death.

On the path to immortality, no one has traveled further than himself; perhaps only his three old friends can still see his departing figure. Those wizards who use Horcruxes to obtain so-called "immortality," Rhys is even unwilling to admit that they have embarked on this truly magnificent path.

As for the origin of the Three Sacred Treasures, compared to the absurd theory of them being gifts from the God of Death, Rice prefers to believe that the Three Sacred Treasures were created by three highly skilled and powerful wizards, representing the wizards' exploration of power, life and death, and mystery.

The black gemstone ring lay quietly in a gold box, shimmering with dazzling light.

A surge of impulse welled up within Rice; he wanted to wear the ring so he could properly explore its mysteries.

But before Rice could even take a step, he sensed something was wrong.

Why am I so eager to put the ring on my finger? Something seems off.

Rice took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the pounding in his heart, and then he found the source of the problem: it was still the ring; it was covered with a filthy soul, which was naturally Riddle's masterpiece.

Riddle's fragments of soul were trying to bewitch him, attempting to secure a last glimmer of hope for his survival.

"What a cunning fellow. Anyone else would have fallen for his trick." Rice bent down and discovered that the ring was indeed afflicted with an extremely vicious curse.

Even if he were to contract this curse without activating his domain, he would have to pay a heavy price.

Rice drew his wand and gently touched the tip of the wand to the ring for a moment, thus removing the curse from the ring.

Now, the ring has been restored to an ordinary Horcrux and there is no longer much risk involved.

Rice picked up the ring that originally belonged to the Gaunt family and examined it closely. He could feel the ring trembling slightly in his hand, as if the parasitic soul inside was shivering.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you for now." Rice tried to soothe the Horcrux's emotions, but it didn't seem to be very successful.

This annoyed Rice: Voldemort was quite the opportunist; such a good thing was being wasted in his hands—using the Resurrection Stone, one of the three holy relics, as a Horcrux, how could he even think of that?

However, the purpose of the Resurrection Stone is to bring back the souls of the holder's deceased relatives. Considering the "father's death and son's joy" relationship between Voldemort and his family, it's normal that he doesn't value this thing much.

What Rhys didn't know was that Voldemort didn't really understand the concept of the Deathly Hallows; he only knew about the Elder Wand.

The ring struggled incessantly in Rice's hand, seemingly willing to expend the power of his soul to break free from the monster's grasp; anyone who didn't know better would think he was holding a golden thief in his hand.

Ugh, so annoying!

Rice poked Gaunt's ring with his wand, forcibly suppressing the restless soul within it with his magic.

After the ring returned to its quiet state, Rice was finally able to examine it closely.

It must be said that this is an excellent alchemical artifact. Even Rice doesn't know how to replicate it. The Peverell brothers are truly amazing talents.

A sense of admiration for the Peverell brothers rose in Rice's heart, but at the same time there was a trace of worry: if the Resurrection Stone had been made into a Horcrux, could it still play its original role?

Rice felt it shouldn't have any impact, especially since he had already forcibly suppressed the soul fragments in the ring.

"Should we try using it?" Rice had this thought in her mind.

His skill and audacity made him completely disregard the potential negative effects of the Resurrection Stone, and he paid no heed to Voldemort's soul fragments. To him, all obstacles had been cleared, so why not immediately explore Peverell's masterpiece?

Rice was a man of action; he held the ring in his palm and twirled the stone three times in his hand.

In an instant, Rice knew what had happened, because he heard a slight rustling sound around him, like some frail bodies slowly moving on the soil covered with withered branches and leaves.

Rice turned his head and saw some familiar faces.

So much time has passed that their faces have gradually faded from their memories, but now their faces have come back to life, like a fresh new look for their memories.

They are neither ghosts nor living, breathing people; they are more like Riddle, who escaped from the diary, memories that have almost become tangible. They lack the real, warm bodies of the living, yet they are far more real than ghosts.

One by one, everyone entered the dilapidated little house and walked towards him, all with gentle smiles on their faces.

You are the pride of House Slytherin.

Rice saw his father; he hadn't changed much and looked exactly the same as he had that day.

We've heard about what you and your friends have done, and everyone is celebrating with a toast!

"What does this have to do with you? Our relationship was severed the moment you sent me to be a sacrifice to the dragon."

The middle-aged man paused for a moment, then disappeared with a wry smile.

You look younger now, which reminds me of you when you were little, Acha. Don't blame your father...

Rice stared silently at the middle-aged woman before her, without uttering a word.

The middle-aged woman's figure also disappeared.

[Hey medicine seller, it's been so long!]

Next was a young witch whose eyes seemed to sparkle.

Rice smiled and nodded at her. Nerida, a lively Bulgarian witch, was a friend he had met on his journey.

Selling medicine...that's such an old-fashioned term...

Rice was about to fall back into her memories when Nerida spoke again.

I've done what you asked me to do!

I heard you guys built a magic school? I built one too, Durmstrang, what do you think of the name?

"It sounds nice."

Nerida smiled happily.

With Durmstrang around, the remnants of the false god can't cause any trouble.

"Thank you for your hard work." Rice's words came from the bottom of her heart.

Nerida waved her hand.

This is nothing, see you later~

Nerida's phantom also disappeared.

"Goodbye?" Rice shook his head, unsure if he would use the resurrection stone again.

【teacher!!!】

The next sound was so familiar that Rice had grown tired of it.

A man with distinctive silver hair strode in.

"Adrian..." Rice's expression became somewhat complicated.

Didn't you say the resurrection stone would only bring back friends and family? Why did it bring back my debtors from my past life?

[Teacher, why do you look like that?! Did I come at the wrong time?]

Seeing that the teacher's impatience was practically written all over his face, Adrian felt very hurt.

Rice didn't want to talk to him, but after thinking it over, he still wanted to ask Adrian something.

"Tell me the truth, did you secretly learn anything from Godric back then?"

Adrian: ...

Teacher, how are my descendants doing now? Have they sold off the ancestral property?

Rice: ...

Don't change the subject!

However, Rice understood Adrian's deadpan expression, and he said irritably that he had taken on two more Greengrass children as students.

【That's wonderful! Let them continue to serve you!】

Adrian was overjoyed, but seeing his teacher's increasingly displeased expression, he left like a gust of wind.

……

Finally, no one else came in, and Rice breathed a sigh of relief.

Resurrection Stone, that's interesting.

He now understood why many people who possessed the Resurrection Stone went mad, or even committed suicide.

Dwelling too much on past memories is no good. But such tricks won't work on me; it's time to go back to Hogwarts and get Riddle's soul fragment to heal Rowena's wounds.

Salazar, it's been a long time.

Just as Rice was about to put away the Gaunt ring and leave the Gaunt mansion, a voice that was all too familiar rang out.

Rice stood there, stunned.

That sound is...

Ok? !

A figure with fiery red hair appeared at the entrance, his tall and imposing body completely blocking out the light coming in from outside.

Godric Gryffindor.

A person that Rice could recognize even when he was reduced to ashes.

But why was he here? A sense of confusion flashed through Rice's mind. He glanced at the red-haired man again to confirm his identity once more.

Then Reston understood.

"So Godric has a twin brother? He kept that from me for so long!" Rice laughed. "What's your name? He's the Golden Griffin, so you're the Silver Chimera?"

The red-haired man stood there, saying nothing, just silently watching him.

Rice shut his mouth.

A few seconds later, he clenched his fist and grinned at an exaggerated angle.

"Good, good! Peverell, well done!" He gripped the Resurrection Stone ring. "Excellent tactic, excellent tactic! I've truly been fooled by you this time—"

"Salazar, you should understand, it didn't lie to you," the red-haired man finally spoke.

Rice froze on the spot.

Godric also pierced through that last layer of paper.

Rice felt a surge of powerful magic coursing through his body, almost boiling over.

The magic went out of control, and dark clouds suddenly filled the sky above Little Hangleton Village.

The clouds rapidly gathered and expanded, covering the entire county at an astonishing speed, and then England, the British Isles...

In an instant, the sun disappeared from the sky, which stretched for thousands of miles.

The North Sea was also trembling. The tide receded little by little, exposing large areas of beach, where tens of thousands of sea fish were stranded—even a three-year-old child could catch a full bag of fish after a stroll on the beach.

But no one was foolish; everyone was rushing inland as fast as they could, with only one thought in their minds: to get as far away from the sea as possible.

A natural disaster is about to strike.

Unable to control himself any longer, Rice picked up the Gaunt ring and held it up. The resurrection stone, engraved with the Peverell emblem, was facing Rice's eyes, and a madness was reflected on the gem's mirror-like surface.

pat!

A crack appeared on the stone, from which a piercing scream burst forth, along with wisps of black smoke.

Under the overwhelming magical impact, Voldemort's soul fragments were destroyed.

"Salazar," Godric's voice rang in Rice's ears again, "that's enough, stop now."

The magic within Rice paused for a moment, then gradually returned to calm.

The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and the sea level returned to normal, leaving behind only a large group of panicked Muggles and news that was gradually spreading in all directions.

Whether this unusual phenomenon will be noticed by those with ulterior motives remains to be seen.

Before the clouds completely dissipated, Rice remembered something, and he maintained their presence by letting a light drizzle fall.

"Forget about these things; they're not things you should know anyway," Rice thought to herself.

After dealing with these matters, Rice calmed down completely.

He turned to look at the man who had already crawled into the dilapidated house and said to him, "Long time no see, Godric."

Godric nodded to Rice.

"So, you're here because you're dead?"

"That's how it should be." Rice's words were quite blunt, but Godric wasn't angry at all—why get angry with an old friend who was stating the facts?

"That shouldn't be, it doesn't make sense, that guy Rowena managed to find a way to prolong his life—"

"But I am me, and Rowena is Rowena. We are different." Godric spread his hands, indicating that he was indeed not very good at this.

"What about the prophet's prophecy?" Rice's mind raced. "This doesn't match the prophecy—some people grow old, some leave and never return, some get tired and find a place to nap, and some die. Rowena has already taken the spot for 'death'!"

"A prophecy is just a prophecy, and I've never really believed in them—and aren't you afraid Rowena will come after you if she finds out?" Godric retorted, mocking his old friend's words.

"How did she know? Did you appear to her in a dream?" Rice laughed sarcastically. "I really don't understand how you ended up in this situation..."

"What's wrong? Am I in such a terrible state right now? I'm embracing death like an old friend," Godric stubbornly insisted.

He could not possibly back down in front of Salazar, especially after so many years of separation.

"I just went a little wrong when I was trying to comprehend the realm—I transformed myself into countless particles, smaller than the finest dust in the world, and it seems I can't turn back."

Rice: ...

"What an unexpected ending," he said, somewhat amused and exasperated.

After chatting with Gryffindor for a while, Rice's mood gradually calmed down.

Now a question arose in Rice's mind: Godric, what were you feeling when he turned the resurrection stone just now?

Godric: ? ? ?

How could things be like this, and you still want to use me as an experiment?!

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 delivered, goodnight everyone~

(End of this chapter)