Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 417 Law-Abiding Rhys Lint

"Would you like some hot soup?"

"The croissants are freshly baked!"

As soon as Rice returned to the camp, Daphne and Astoria greeted him with smiles, welcoming him back and celebrating his triumphant return.

Looking at the steaming soup on her left and the croissant with its rich buttery aroma on her right, Rice instantly felt that all the hardships she had endured over the years had been worthwhile.

Unsurprisingly, Hermione and Cedric were also there. Aries, on the other hand, quietly huddled in a corner of the camp, secretly peeking at him.

Rice followed her gaze and startled Aries: this person looked exactly like the phantom in the library realm!

"I'm really surprised you guys managed to catch her." Rice glanced at Daphne and Astoria, whose faces turned red at a visible speed.

After a series of exchanges, even Daphne had to admit that there was still a gap in strength between the two of them and Aries, especially Astoria, who was even knocked unconscious.

"Hermione was a great help," Daphne said matter-of-factly. At this moment, Astoria, who was usually quick-witted, lowered her head and began to study the texture of the croissant in her hand.

Rice nodded. He certainly knew how these kids, who hadn't even awakened their elemental domains yet, had managed to take down a domain cultivator.

He walked up to Aries and carefully examined the captured zodiac monk.

Like most other esoteric monks, Aries has very distinct Eastern European features in his facial features.

That makes perfect sense. Because that's the only region in the world lacking a sufficiently powerful magic school, making it ideal for the Secret Order to secretly recruit talent. As for why that area specifically lacks a strong magic school, Rice thinks it might be closely related to the Secret Order.

Aside from Hogwarts, other magic schools all have a development process to some extent. If they are nipped in the bud before they can develop, then naturally no famous magic schools will emerge.

"I think she should be handed over to the Ministry of Magic or Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said after a moment's hesitation.

Rice turned his head and glanced in the direction of the stadium. He sensed an extremely powerful magical energy emanating from there, and even from this distance, he could feel a slight heat; clearly, Dumbledore had arrived.

"It might be a good idea to hand her over to Dumbledore," Rhys thought.

"Is it really a good idea to hand her over to the Ministry of Magic? She could even knock Astoria unconscious; she's incredibly strong." Daphne suddenly blurted out something out of the blue. Astoria jerked her head up and gently punched her sister's back twice.

That's too much! How could she expose her shameful secrets in front of Rice? Sure enough, Daphne's words piqued Rice's interest, and he turned to look at Astoria.

Astoria felt her ears burning, but she immediately said it was just a superficial injury.

"If the bones are broken, is it still considered a superficial injury?"

"Yes!" Astoria said decisively. Even though she had been beaten to the point of near death in the library, she only admitted to suffering minor superficial injuries in front of Rice.

Please! It's already shameful enough that she's the only one out of the four to be knocked unconscious. If she admits now that she's been seriously injured, how will she ever be able to stay in this little circle again?

Rice raised an eyebrow. He had changed his mind about how to deal with Aries.

"We can't hand her over to the Ministry of Magic; she's too dangerous," Rice concluded.

"Should we hand her over to Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione felt that one of the two options had been eliminated, leaving only one.

"I don't think that's appropriate," Cedric said, this time expressing his opposition.

He remembered his teacher saying that they shouldn't publicize her identity and that he should keep a low profile. But if Professor Dumbledore knew that they had captured a domain wizard from the Secret Order, it would be too high-profile and would go against his teacher's instructions.

Hermione: ?

"What should we do then? We can't just send her back, can we?"

"No way!" Before anyone else could voice their opinion, Aries was the first to jump out and object.

The young wizards dared to release her, but she wouldn't dare go back. Putting aside Voldemort's threat, surrendering to outsiders was already an unforgivable betrayal. The best outcome of returning would be having her divine remains stripped away and being demoted to a lowly monk.

"Leave it to me, I have a pretty good solution." Rice had already figured out how to deal with Aries: send him straight to the dungeon to keep Rowena company.

Aries is a little uneasy, but as a prisoner, she has no choice.

"Alright, let me try your cooking." Having decided how to deal with Aries, Rice finally had time to eat something to fill her stomach.

After his fight with Voldemort, Rice was also a little hungry.

I must say, Daphne's tomato soup was delicious, with plenty of beans in it. Astoria's croissants were absolutely amazing. Add some bacon, sausage, and luncheon meat roasted over the fire, and you have a hearty post-war supper.

"If I could eat this stuff every time I beat Voldemort, I'd beat him every day from now on," Rice exclaimed with satisfaction.

"The Mysterious Man—"

"Call him by his name, Voldemort, or Tom Riddle," Rice corrected.

How could Cedric, as Helga's student, not even have the courage to call Voldemort by his name?

"Okay..." Cedric blinked.

The thought that his classmates could stand up to the mysterious man made his fear of Voldemort vanish instantly.

"How's Voldemort doing?"

"After I severely injured him, he escaped. I estimate he won't be able to use the power of his domain for several years. Ha, don't even mention domains, in my opinion, he'll have a hard time even casting spells."

The young wizards present were all taken aback: they never expected that the infamous Dark Lord would be defeated so soon after announcing his return. Even more unexpected was that the one who brought down the Dark Lord was their classmate, with whom they spent every day.

Aries, on the other hand, is overjoyed: the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads is finally gone!

"You're taking him too seriously. He's really nothing special." Rice took a sip of soup, indicating that the little Voldemort was insignificant.

Of course, it's best not to provoke him if you haven't awakened your domain. Even if you have one, don't be careless; Voldemort's domain potential is actually very high. But as long as you proceed step by step, a wizard like Daphne can definitely take on Voldemort one-on-one before graduating.

Astoria lowered her head silently.

As the only person present who hadn't even scratched the surface of the field, she felt like she was being targeted at every turn.

"I also took the opportunity to vindicate Slytherin House," Rice said proudly after expressing his contempt for Voldemort.

"Oh?"

"How is it correct?"

Daphne and Astoria were both intrigued by Rice.

"You'll find out tomorrow when you read the Daily Prophet," Rice said, not revealing his actions directly, but telling them to read the newspaper the next day.

"Wandering around—mouth—"

As the group began sharing soup, bread, and grilled sausages, the Weasleys from next door returned, instantly enlivening the small campsite.

After greeting Mr. Weasley and exchanging a few pleasantries with Harry, who was huddled in the crowd, Rice noticed Fred and George, who were beaming with excitement.

Even the major event of Voldemort's resurrection did not dampen their good mood.

"You two seem to be in a good mood?" Rice glanced at them.

"Rice, if your dream is about to come true, you'll be just as happy as we are." Fred pulled a bulging money bag from his pocket and waved it in front of Rice, making a pleasant clinking sound of gold coins.

"Luckily, Bagman settled the money with us before Mystic appeared." George, standing beside him, also broke into a bright smile. "The longer we wait, the more things can go wrong. It's always better to have the money in our pockets sooner rather than later."

"Congratulations!" Rice was genuinely happy for the Weasley brothers, seeing them achieve their dream. Then he remembered that he seemed to have won some money from Bagman as well.

"What do you plan to do with this money?"

"Let's open a prank toy store," Fred and George said in unison.

This answer wasn't really surprising. In Rice's opinion, Fred and George had endless clever ideas and excellent practical skills, making them perfect for this job.

"By the way, did you check the gold coins he gave you?" Rice asked casually, remembering something.

"No, what's wrong?"

"During the opening ceremony, the goblins scattered quite a few goblin coins. Some of the goblin coins might accidentally be mixed in with the coins Bagman gives you."

Fred and George's smiles suddenly weren't as bright anymore.

The two opened the package, but neither could distinguish between Galleons and Goblin coins. However, Kress noticed the problem the moment the package was opened.

He took the package from the twins, turned it upside down, and scattered the gold coins inside all over the ground.

"It's all the work of the goblins." Rice said in a normal tone, but it sent chills down Fred and George's spines.

The two men froze on the spot. Several minutes later, Fred managed a smile and said that Bagman must have made a mistake, and that he and George only needed to send a letter to Bagman to get their money back.

Rice wasn't optimistic about them. If it were just a few or even dozens of goblin coins mixed in, it could be an accident. But such a large sum of money, all counterfeit coins, could only be considered intentional.

After hearing Rice's analysis, Fred and George's spirits collapsed immediately.

"We need to find him immediately." Fred understood that every second they delayed, the chances of getting the money back decreased.

"I'll accept it even if I only get my principal back." George has already begun to lower his expectations.

"Let me help you." Rice silently chanted a spell, conjuring a group of small snakes that slithered into the woods to search for Ludo Bagman.

He was betting that Bagman hadn't used Apparition to escape.

Rice felt that Bagman, as the Ministry of Magic's sporting official, was likely still there at this time, so it was worth a try.

He received feedback shortly afterward.

"Follow me," Rice called to Fred and George, then turned and disappeared into the shadows of the woods. Without hesitation, Fred and George gathered the gold coins on the ground into their bags and followed.

The three wandered around in the dark forest for a while, and then found Ludo Bagman in a slightly more open area.

He was surrounded by several demons at this moment, and he looked flustered.

Upon seeing Rice and his two companions, Bagman's expression changed, and the fairies also frowned.

"Bagman, if you're counting on these little wizards—"

"Mr. Bagman, you just gave me the wrong money!" Fred shouted immediately. "You gave me goblin coins!"

He quickly walked up to Bagman and showed him the gold coins in the package.

"What dwarf gold coins? You must be..." Bagman's attempt to argue failed him as the gold coins in his bag began to disappear!

"Now you should believe me, right?" Fred pushed aside a goblin and laid the money bag out in front of Bagman.

"And my money," Rice chimed in from the side.

A look of displeasure flashed across the faces of several fairies, and one of them turned to Rice and said, "We were the ones who went first—"

Before it could finish speaking, it flew away and crashed into a nearby thicket.

Rice acted as if he hadn't heard anything and continued to urge Bagman to settle the money.

The other fairies were immediately enraged, and the strongest fairy even pulled out a longsword almost as long as its body from its bosom.

"Oh? So you're going to fight me?" Rice chuckled. "If fairies show hostility towards wizards, that should be considered rebellion; it's stipulated in the convention."

A look of confusion flashed in the fairies' eyes: What kind of code stipulates this?

"The Convention on Extraordinary Species, promulgated in the 10th century AD, was drafted by Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, the founders of Hogwarts." Rice thoughtfully cited the source of the law for the goblins.

"A thousand years ago—"

"The convention is still in effect, so it has legal force." Rice raised a finger and pointed at the goblin holding a longsword. "The rebellious goblin should be executed."

As soon as she finished speaking, the fairy turned into a pile of minced meat.

The other fairies: !!!

"According to the treaty, as a wizard, I attacked the fairy, but I did not kill her. I should pay three silver coins as compensation. Here you go." He took out three silver coins from his pocket and threw them at the feet of the fairies.

The fairies' faces instantly filled with anger.

"Boy, you'll pay for this!" a fairy said viciously, but before he could finish speaking, he too turned into a pile of minced meat.

"Showing hostility is considered treason and is punishable by death." Rice's voice gradually lost its emotional fluctuation. He clearly told the remaining fairies that they could continue, and he would definitely act in accordance with the law.

At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh at how much better his temper had become. In the past, he would have wiped out all these demons long ago.

But we live in a society governed by the rule of law, so he has to abide by the law.

The fairies eventually left, and because Rice had made his words very clear, they didn't even dare to show any emotion.

Fred couldn't help but ask a question: Does the convention mention any punishment for a wizard who intentionally causes the death of a goblin?

"You'll have to pay with a hunting dog or a guard dog," Rice shrugged.

Fred, George, and Bagman all fell silent.

Rice looked at their expressions and felt genuinely puzzled.

"What's wrong? This is a consensus among all extraordinary species; it's written in the covenant. King Legnak of the fairies was present when the covenant was signed." He blinked. "It might be a little unfair, but the wizards were the ultimate winners of that war!"

After giving the modern wizards a brief history lesson, Rice turned to Bagman and said, "Mr. Bagman, it's time to settle our issues."

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)