Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 410 Voldemort: I think you've misunderstood something. Let me tell you, you're the challenger.

The match between Ireland and Bulgaria was intense and exciting.

Both teams represent the highest level of Quidditch today, and the addition of the cutting-edge flying broomsticks and firebolts makes this match arguably the most exciting game of the century.

The result of the match was also quite surprising. Just as Fred had predicted, the Irish team won, but Krum caught the Golden Snitch.

The entire arena erupted the moment Krum caught the thief and ended the match. Rice felt the cheers could be heard ten miles away.

Fred and George quickly flipped over the back of their chairs, rushed to Bagman, and extended their hands to him with big smiles.

Rice slowly stood up from his chair, preparing to go to Bagman to collect his betting money. Just then, something unexpected happened.

A huge, green-glowing object suddenly flew into the air and hovered directly above the arena.

A green light flickered, and the internal pattern gradually solidified, revealing an enormous skull composed of countless emerald-green star-like objects that appeared in the night sky. Immediately afterward, a large python emerged from the skull's mouth, slowly moving. The skull glowed brightly in the shimmering green smoke, resembling a new constellation in the dark night sky.

At first, people didn't realize what it was, thinking it was an Irish celebratory firework, but most British wizards quickly recognized what it was.

Rice's face turned deathly pale as he watched the Malfoy family sitting not far in front of him. Then, Lucius Malfoy grabbed his son's arm with his left hand and his wife Narcissa's arm with his right, not even bothering to greet Minister Burns sitting nearby, and Apparated away.

The Malfoy family, like the first domino to fall, triggered a chain reaction; the entire stadium erupted in a cacophony of crackling explosions, as if a gunfight had broken out. Countless wizards chose to Apparate away from the stadium, trying to get as far away as possible from the terrifying symbol in the night sky.

"The Dark Mark, it's Tom's symbol." Rice immediately recognized the symbol in the night sky. More and more people recognized it, and even wizards who had never seen the Dark Mark before were told what it was by kind people, and panic spread.

Those who knew Apparition immediately took their families and fled the scene, while those who did not know Apparition or could not teleport away for various reasons rushed towards the exit in a panic, and the entire arena was thrown into chaos.

Voldemort made no attempt to stop the wizards from escaping. Although his emotional state had become very unstable due to the numerous splits of his soul, he still retained basic rationality and knew exactly what his purpose was tonight.

He wanted to announce his return before wizards worldwide, not to slaughter all the wizards who came to watch the competition. The killing was to establish his authority, not for the sake of killing itself.

The escapee can spread fear to every corner of the magical world, which suits him perfectly.

He did indeed wield the power of death, but Voldemort knew very well what it would mean if that power were revealed. He couldn't become the enemy of the entire world just yet; he had to exercise restraint.

He Apparated and appeared at the top of the stadium, with Taurus following behind him, appearing at the top of the stadium about half a body length behind him.

Voldemort glanced back at Taurus, signaling that he could make his move.

Taurus took a crystal ball from his pocket, filled with the emotion of "fear". He threw the crystal ball onto the court, where it shattered on the ground, releasing the fear within.

The fear, having no receptors, should have dissipated into the air, but a magical force not only forcibly maintained its existence but also caused it to spread rapidly, being inhaled by some spectators near the bottom of the stadium.

Under the influence of the Taurus domain, panic spread through the crowd, and even some Ministry of Magic staff who had initially managed to remain calm lost control. They abandoned their posts and surged towards the exits with the throng.

Aries was outside the stadium at this time. Seeing that Voldemort and Taurus had already made their move, she reluctantly led the remaining people to the top of the stadium and knelt down behind Voldemort.

The appearance of the Death Eater-dressed monks brought the panic in the stadium to another peak. Under the influence of the Taurus domain, some out-of-control wizards couldn't even wait to escape through the exits and jumped off the stands instead.

Looking at the chaotic and completely out-of-control crowd in the stadium, Voldemort smiled with satisfaction.

"Taurus, your divine domain is really suitable for use in this kind of situation!" He couldn't help but praise Taurus, genuinely believing that this guy was his greatest gain since his resurrection.

"Strikers and other personnel maintain order and guide the audience to evacuate! Aurors, puppets, get them!!!" Minister of Magic Burns, having recovered from the shock of Voldemort's first appearance, immediately began issuing orders.

However, given the already out-of-control situation, it's hard to say how effective this instruction will be.

"Our people will assist you in the fight; resisting the dark wizard is the shared responsibility of all wizards," the Bulgarian Minister of Magic beside her said with utmost seriousness.

"Thank you," Bones replied simply before immediately beginning to direct the battle.

Unbeknownst to the two Ministers of Magic as they were talking, three young wizards remained lingering in a corner of the VIP box.

"Daphne, Astoria, you must leave here immediately," Rice ordered the Greengrass sisters.

"Rice, what about you?" Daphne immediately sensed the problem with Rice's order—he only specified what she and her sister were to do, without mentioning anything about her own arrangements.

"Naturally, we'll leave him here to teach Tom a little lesson." Rice glanced up at Voldemort's location. He was determined to have a fight with this unpleasant junior.

Since you're so confident, let me test your mettle.

"I can--"

"No." Rice directly rejected Daphne's request.

Judging from the fluctuations in magical energy, Rhys was certain that Voldemort had mastered the power of a domain. Although he didn't know how Voldemort had comprehended it, Rhys could guess the general idea.

"Voldemort dared to show himself in this situation, he must possess a domain. You little wizards without domains will only cause me trouble here." Rice's attitude was also very clear: Want to join the battle? Sure, but you must possess a domain.

"I have a domain!" Daphne's fists turned dark red, demonstrating to Rice that she was qualified to participate in the war.

"You call that a domain?" Rice really wanted to give Daphne's amateurish domain such a sharp critique, but considering he wanted to save face for his child, he swallowed his words.

"Astoria has no territory, so you need to take care of her safety," Rice offered a reason that sounded plausible.

Astoria's face flushed red instantly.

She never imagined that one day she would become a burden to her sister! She truly felt that those without a domain didn't even have the right to breathe freely in front of domain wizards like Rice!

"My sister is very strong too," Daphne said, speaking up for Astoria, then continued to plead, "Let's stay and fight together! How can we improve without fighting?"

Rice considered it for a moment and felt that Daphne's words made some sense. Seeing that Voldemort wasn't alone on the stadium roof, he granted her suggestion. However, he also emphasized that the two of them must not go into the core combat zone.

Tonight, let's have Ras Lint test the waters first with Voldemort.

"If I think he's weak enough, I'll leave him for you to deal with," Rice said, leaving Daphne and Astoria speechless.

However, upon further reflection, the two were somewhat surprised: Rice had previously said that they could both handle Voldemort alone before graduation, which they had found hard to believe. But now that Voldemort had actually appeared, they didn't feel much tension; instead, their eagerness to try it out took over.

Is it because their horizons have broadened so much over the past few years? Or is it because the calm and collected Rice played a good leading role?

While Rice and Daphne were haggling, the Ministry of Magic's puppets had already rushed to the top of the stadium, followed closely by the Aurors, who engaged in battle with the dark wizards on the stadium's roof.

Voldemort sneered, and a shadow spread out from beneath his feet, looking as muddy and sticky as a swamp.

Once the shadow had covered an area spanning several dozen feet, bubbles began to rise from it. Then, accompanied by a foul stench, a pile of rotting corpses crawled out of the shadow.

Some of these corpses had rotted to the point of being nothing but bones, while others were not completely rotten and their identities could still be vaguely discerned from their grotesque faces.

The Aurors from the Ministry of Magic quickly recognized some of the familiar faces.

"Wilks? Wasn't he already killed by Moody and his men...? Is this an infernal or a zombie?"

"Evil black magic!"

"I knew it..."

The corpses emerged from the shadows, emitting eerie growls. Seconds later, fresh flesh and skin regrowed on the skeletons.

Now the Aurors recognized them all: Rozier, Wilkes, old Lestrange...

They were all Death Eaters who died during the First Wizarding War.

The Death Eaters, resurrected in Voldemort's domain, drew their wands from their chests and charged towards the Aurors and puppets with a sinister grin. Instantly, the stadium rooftop erupted like a fireworks display, with colorful spells shooting everywhere.

Aries, who had been observing everything from a short distance away, suddenly narrowed her eyes. She now roughly understood what was going on with Taurus.

The real Taurus is long dead; what stands behind Voldemort now is merely a high-level puppet materialized from his domain.

He could speak, eat, and possessed the same intelligence and magical abilities as in life, appearing no different from when he was alive. But in essence, he was a puppet controlled by Voldemort even after death.

Seeing her colleague and senior end up like this, Aries made a silent vow to survive and not become like her Taurus senior. She took two steps toward the edge of the canopy, getting as far away as possible from that repulsive-looking area.

Just then, Aries noticed three people completely covered from head to toe appearing on the canopy. She only needed one glance to know that they were not members of the Secret Order; their attire was different from that of the monks in the organization.

These three are, of course, the Rice and Greengrass sisters.

Before the operation, Rice conjured three burqas, covering them completely. In particular, he concealed Daphne and Astoria's distinctive silver hair to prevent them from revealing their identities.

Aries, as if he had found prey, excitedly ran towards Rice and his companions. Seeing this, the other secret order monks stopped entangled with the Aurors and puppets and instead joined forces with Aries.

"Get out of the way." Rice snapped his fingers, and Aries immediately felt a surge of heat, as if the blood in his body was boiling.

Aries was shocked and immediately used the power of the divine remains to stabilize the turbulent blood in her body. However, the cultivators who followed her were not so lucky. In just one encounter, Rice drained all the fluids from their bodies, leaving them drier than Egyptian mummies.

A gentle breeze blew through the summer night, and they turned into dust.

"What's going on? Is this guy also someone who possesses a domain?" A series of questions flashed through Aries' mind in an instant, but she did not hesitate at all and immediately distanced herself from Rice.

If you encounter a master of a domain, you can survive as long as you can create distance faster than the speed at which their domain expands.

Rice's behavior not only shocked Aries, but also frightened Daphne and Astoria.

The two thought that Rice would have to use a spell to deal with these people, but they didn't expect that they would be killed instantly upon first meeting.

The blood of the esoteric monks had prematurely formed a large, scarlet serpent in Rice's body. Rice turned to Daphne: "You can handle the rest of the woman. I can't be bothered with such a minor character."

Upon hearing Rice's words, Aries first breathed a sigh of relief, then his face flushed red again.

She was both relieved that she didn't have to fight a monster like Rice, and dissatisfied that she was being treated as a nobody.

But no matter what she thought, she obediently stepped aside, allowing Rice to go and cause trouble for Voldemort.

Rice walked straight over, leaving Aries to Daphne and Astoria to deal with.

While the Secret Order monks, resurrected Death Eaters, Aurors, and puppets were engaged in a fierce battle, Voldemort did nothing; he was enjoying the fear of the wizards on the field.

Suddenly, he smelled an extremely strong stench of blood.

Voldemort turned his head and found a hooded man standing behind him, silently watching him. Beside him was a large, crimson snake. Upon closer inspection, the snake was actually made of blood.

"Let me test your strength, Voldemort," Rice said calmly. "I hope your strength satisfies me; my student needs sufficiently excellent test questions."

Voldemort was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

After laughing, he stared at Rice with emotionless eyes and said coldly, "Sure, no problem. But I think you've misunderstood something. Let me tell you, you're the challenger—"

Because I am the strongest wizard of modern times!

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. There will likely be another chapter late tonight, so you guys go to sleep first~

(End of this chapter)