Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 429 Rowena: When did you get the illusion that the selection ceremony was over?

Perhaps he had misunderstood Rowena; she might not have meant him any harm. Besides, Helga was an honest person; she wouldn't target him for no reason. Rice analyzed this in his mind as he walked out of the restroom.

At the same time, a smile curved the corners of Rowena's mouth as she sat in the teachers' seat.

"Why are you so happy?" Helga noticed that her old friend seemed to be in a pretty good mood, and her curiosity was immediately piqued.

"A molting snake has taken the bait." Rowena narrowed his eyes slightly. "The easiest people to deal with in the world are intelligent people, because they are always very confident and overly self-assured."

Then, in a voice only she could hear, she said, "Salazar, when did you get the idea that the selection ceremony was over?"

Helga frowned slightly.

Her gaze swept across the young wizards in the audience, and she found that Salazar had indeed vanished. However, she remained calm, because according to Rowena, Salazar was already under her control.

She cast a distraction spell, preventing those around her from hearing her conversation with Rowena.

"Salazar is missing. He probably sensed something was wrong. That guy, always as cunning as a snake."

"It doesn't matter. No matter how cunning a snake is, it can't escape the eyes of a raven soaring in the sky."

Rowena told Helga what she had done.

After realizing Salazar had left early, Rowena became more vigilant. She believed that, given Salazar's personality, he would definitely use magic to monitor the situation inside the Great Hall, and that would be her opportunity.

Sure enough, she quickly caught Salazar's little trick—he was still the same as always, liking to conjure up a "receiver" in an inconspicuous corner of the room to transmit sound to her ears.

So she slightly interfered with the time flow on the receiver, so that Salazar actually heard the voice of the future.

This is far more sophisticated than fake voice manipulation; it's a trick only Rowena Ravenclaw could pull off!

She disdains those mundane tricks; she'll play with high-difficulty maneuvers.

Rowena knew that her best friend was skilled at making puppets. She could create a lifelike Salazar puppet in just a few minutes and then have the puppet participate in and pass the selection process.

But what's the point of doing this?

What's the point of all this if you can't see the look of surprise on Salazar's face? It's so unpleasant.

Salazar, you'll be quite surprised, won't you? The situation you thought you had completely under control has been reversed...

"Royna!" Helga's face immediately darkened. "Don't play games with time! This is the agreement you made with us back then!"

"Hmm, hmm." Rowena nodded absentmindedly, indicating that she hadn't been playing with time, it was just a very simple time displacement spell.

She made it sound so easy, but the difficulty involved was unimaginable. Even among the founders, only she possessed such ability. Moreover, this was her limit; Rowena couldn't truly manipulate time either.

Helga frowned. Rowena was making a lot of noise, but she felt like something was off.

"Royna..." Standing outside the auditorium, Rice couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

"Has she lost her mind in the dungeon, or has she become stupid because she's possessed by Aries? How could she come up with such a foolish idea?" Rice couldn't help but mutter to herself.

To be fair, Rowena really fooled me in the bathroom. The voice was so realistic; I don't know how Rowena did it—wait, did she use time magic?

Rice's face twisted in pain: if Rowena was going to use time magic for something so trivial, he really needed to reconsider whether he should send her back to the dungeon.

She's too uncontrollable! She lacks any reverence for magic.

As for Rowena's flaw, it's actually very simple. Rhys can find it as soon as he steps out of the bathroom: Since Headmaster Dumbledore announced that everyone could go back to their dormitories to sleep, why can't we see a single wizard in the hallway? And why can't we hear any wizards walking heavily up the stairs?

You know, in the past, the noise the students made when they walked out of the auditorium could be heard from two floors away!

Rice thus instantly saw through Rowena's scheme.

Even though he saw through everything, Rice still walked to the door of the auditorium and stepped into it with his head held high.

"Hey, now that you've announced the disbandment, did you recreate the scene of the students leaving the Great Hall?" Helga quickly found the source of the strange feeling, and then she immediately threw this sharp question into Ravenclaw's hands.

Rowena fell silent.

"You don't think you can fool Salazar with this?!" Helga exclaimed in astonishment.

In her view, Rowena's carefully crafted lie would be exposed the moment Salazar arrived outside the auditorium.

Rowena's face began to twitch uncontrollably, and Helga couldn't help but worry.

"I hope Rowena doesn't lose control," Helga thought to herself.

Just then, Helga saw Salazar, in disguise as Rice, walk in through the entrance of the Great Hall.

Helga felt an even greater sense of astonishment.

If her initial shock came from discovering her friend was fishing with an unbaited hook, her current astonishment is that this lousy hook actually caught a fish!

Rice paused noticeably as he entered the auditorium, looking as if he were pondering, "Why are there so many people here?"

However, when Professor White and Professor Arius on the faculty desk fixed their gazes on him, all the surprise on his face vanished like frost under the sun, replaced by a faint smile.

He raised his head, his lips forming a shape.

Helga didn't understand at first, but Rowena did—Salarza meant "good boy/girl".

In an instant, Rowena crushed the gold cup in her hand into a lump of scrap copper.

At that moment, she felt that everything she had done had vanished into thin air.

Salazar did return, but his scheme had been completely seen through. Then, with the air of someone trying to soothe a child, he strode confidently into his own "trap," which was truly...

Rice knew that Rowena knew what she was thinking, and Rowena knew that Salazar knew she knew what he was thinking; the two were communicating as if they had transparent brains. But the more this was the case, the more intense Rowena's resentment became, even to the point that she felt dizzy and her vision blurred.

Helga watched their back-and-forth "attacks and defenses" unfold, and now only one thought occupied her mind: how much would she have to pay to see such a spectacular performance every day? Was this really something she could see without spending a penny?

She silently took out a new gold cup from her bosom, filled it with strong liquor, and handed it to Rowena.

Rice ignored the small theater on the faculty bench and went straight back to his seat. The students around him didn't notice anything amiss; Daphne even thought he had really gone to the restroom.

Only Astoria frowned, sensing that something seemed amiss.

From Rice's few words, she could tell that he didn't want to participate in the Global Young Wizards Championship. When he said he was going to the restroom, she thought he wouldn't come back; she had even packed some food for him so he wouldn't miss his favorite desserts. But he actually came back? Why?

Astoria racked her brains but couldn't figure it out.

Rice, on the other hand, remained completely calm. After a series of tests, he had figured it out: Rowena and Helga both wanted him to participate in the championship.

As the founder, it's indeed a bit embarrassing to personally compete with the children, but he can give his two old friends face and let him dabble in a bit. He can just act as a safety officer for the kids.

But Rowena and Helga must be paid enough.

Rice's mindset has changed; he has gone from not wanting to participate in the championship to wanting to participate but having to pay an appearance fee.

If Astoria could guess the complex thought process behind this, it would only prove that her mind-reading skills were highly developed.

One student after another was called to the faculty area to participate in the selection ceremony. The Slytherin students, however, did not look too pleased.

The reason for their grim expressions was simple: Slytherin students were generally scoring low, and some were already secretly wondering if the Sorting Hat was deliberately targeting Slytherin.

If Rice could hear their murmurs, he would have shaken that student's hand and called him a kindred spirit. He had long felt that the Sorting Hat was undermining the college he had founded.

If he were to take over the academy now, he would definitely expel half of the students as soon as he takes office, and keep the other half on probation.

Is Slytherin Hogwarts's dumping ground? Why do they throw all sorts of weirdos into it? Rice really wanted to yell that at the Sorting Hat.

The academy's decline was only reversed when Daphne was called up.

"Ninety-nine points!" The Sorting Hat's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall, and thunderous applause erupted around the Slytherin table.

With a score of 99, becoming one of the thirteen is a foregone conclusion; Slytherin House finally has its own representative.

After Daphne, Astoria also went up.

Like her sister, the magic crystal ball in her hand also shone with a bright color, as red as blood.

The Sorting Hat whispered in her ear: "Good child, you will represent Hogwarts and fight for the honor that rightfully belongs to this ancient school. Now—"

"Please wait a moment," Astoria murmured to herself, interrupting the Sorting Hat.

Sorting Hat: ?

"My score must not be lower than my sister's. If you dare to call out a number lower than ninety-nine, you'd better think carefully about the consequences."

Sorting Hat: ? ? ?

"I am Lord Godric Gryffindor—"

"But you're still just a hat, aren't you? Tear to pieces, blazing flames, shatter to pieces—those spells should all work on you, right? Of course, I wouldn't mind trying Avada Kedavra..." Astoria's tone was chilling.

She asked herself honestly, and she had no way of being inferior to her sister. If the Sorting Hat gave her a lower score than her sister, she would not be able to accept it.

Sorting Hat: ...

"I'm just an ordinary hat, and I only tell the truth." With that, the Sorting Hat raised its voice: "Astoria Greengrass, one hundred points!!!"

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

One hundred points? ??? That little girl from Slytherin got a perfect score?

Everyone was stunned by the number, and even as Les casually walked to the front of the stage, the audience was still discussing Astoria's score intensely.

Rice walked up to the faculty section with a half-smile on his face.

He couldn't wait to see what his two old friends were capable of.

Although he has already decided to participate, he shouldn't blame himself if his two old friends fail to pass his "test".

With these thoughts in mind, Rice put on the Sorting Hat.

"Ah, Lord Slytherin, you've arrived." As soon as he put on the hat, the Sorting Hat's voice rang in Rice's ears.

Rice grunted in response, but instead of immediately replying to the Sorting Hat, he picked up Helga's crystal ball.

Magic, minimum power input!

Logically speaking, such a weak magical fluctuation should have made the crystal ball less bright than a candle, but before Rice could react, the crystal ball emitted a dazzling light.

In his hands, the crystal ball resembled an incandescent lamp emitting a blue light.

Rice: ...

It's alright, I didn't go too far with myself... I just met the standard of 99 points, which is not much different from Cedric and Hermione before.

Rowena, sitting on the faculty bench, glanced at Helga, and Helga's lips curled up in a smile.

The brightness of the crystal ball can actually be adjusted manually. The moment Salazar arrived, Helga switched the crystal ball to manual mode.

She also thoughtfully adjusted the brightness for Salazar to avoid causing a commotion among the students.

Of course, Slytherin's "three consecutive bad grades" had already caused a stir, and the students in the audience were stunned.

"I suppose you've already been given a heads-up, right? I'm sure I'll get a high score, aren't I?" Rice chatted with the Sorting Hat.

The Sorting Hat shifted its body, its color appearing darker, as if it had been wet.

It stammered in response, "Sir, I... I had no choice... I'm just an honest hat..."

"But the strength I've demonstrated clearly doesn't meet the requirements, does it?"

The Sorting Hat stopped talking.

Damn it! It's just a hat!

Finally, it announced in a emotionless voice, "Rice Lint, ninety-five points!"

This was an extremely difficult decision for the Sorting Hat.

Rice took it off his head, placed it on the stool, and calmly walked back to his seat amidst applause and cheers.

The selection ceremony quickly came to an end, and the thirteen participants to represent Hogwarts were chosen, finally bringing this long opening ceremony to a close.

As Rice left the auditorium, he deliberately lagged behind the crowd, eventually falling completely behind.

He stood quietly in the empty corridor, waiting for the two people to arrive.

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 it is ︿

Goodnight everyone~

(End of this chapter)