Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 431 Rice: I didn't sign up for alchemy? How come it's on my schedule?

Voldemort walked down the bustling street. He wrapped his head and face in cloth and bandages, making it impossible for outsiders to see his true face. But this veiled appearance practically screamed "I'm suspicious," which meant that no one in the lively Diagon Alley was willing to approach him.

This suited Voldemort's purposes perfectly.

If the Ministry of Magic's hounds caught his scent, they would surely pounce on him. In the past, Voldemort wouldn't have cared if someone came to their death, but not now. He had lost the ability to cast spells and couldn't withstand any more abuse.

Voldemort was willing to risk everything to go to Diagon Alley, naturally in order to obtain a wand.

The injuries inflicted on his body by the mysterious powerful figure had mostly healed, but the turbulent magic was still interfering with the flow of his magic, preventing Voldemort from casting spells without his wand.

But if he could get his hands on a wand, everything would be different. Voldemort, an expert in spells, naturally understood what the power of a wand meant for a wizard. It meant going from nothing to something, from zero to one; it was a qualitative leap in spellcasting ability. Spellcasting without a wand and spellcasting with a wand were completely different things.

At this moment, Voldemort naturally couldn't just swagger into Ollivander's wand shop to choose a wand, so he turned his attention to the secondhand shops in Diagon Alley, where secondhand wands were sold.

The origins of these wands are somewhat shady. After all, the importance of wands to wizards is self-evident, and the wands appearing here basically come from only two sources: broken and discarded wands that have been repaired, and wands of the dead.

"How much?" Voldemort stared intently at the secondhand wands in the corner of the shop. He used to scoff at such things, but now, looking at this junk, he almost drooled.

The shopkeeper scrutinized Voldemort for a moment before slowly saying, "Three Galleons on the left, five Galleons on the right. No bargaining."

Second-hand wands weren't much cheaper just because they were second-hand; they weren't much cheaper than new wands at Ollivander's.

Voldemort remained silent, because he had no money...

After his resurrection, he gained control of the power of death and had the Secret Order by his side, so why would he need to worry about money? In fact, after he chose to use the name Voldemort, he basically never carried any money with him—how could the master of the Death Eaters, the current Dark Lord, possibly spend money on things himself?

Upon hearing the shop owner's price, Voldemort gave a noncommittal "hmm," turned around, and took two steps into the shop. The shop owner followed him directly.

Voldemort didn't show anything unusual; he just walked around the shop, occasionally picking up an item or two to look at, and occasionally asking the shopkeeper a few seemingly foolish questions.

He was waiting for the right opportunity.

How do you get a wand if you don't have money? It's simple: either steal or rob. Voldemort, who came from an orphanage and was once the Dark Lord, was very familiar with both of these skills.

There aren't many people in the store right now, and there are a few passersby outside, so it's not the best time to make a move yet...

Suddenly, Voldemort's eyes narrowed: he had found his chance!

He nudged the shopkeeper's arm, and the man immediately became alert. Voldemort didn't say anything, but quietly pointed outside the shop. The shopkeeper turned around and saw a weasel-faced wizard secretly stuffing the goods on the stall outside the shop into his pocket while he was focused on the masked man in front of him.

Huh? I actually misunderstood this masked man? He seems like a nice guy! The shop owner had this thought in mind, and then he immediately took action.

"Hey!" the shopkeeper shouted, pulling his wand from under his robe and casting a stun spell.

The wizard nimbly ducked, and the Stunning Curse grazed his hair, hitting a passerby. Taking advantage of the moment, the wizard yanked the stall in front of him toward the shopkeeper and then ran away.

Amid the chaos, Voldemort emerged from the secondhand shop, flicked his robes, and seized the opportunity to snatch a fairly decent secondhand wand from the shelf.

The shop owner was chasing the wizard who had stolen his things and was completely unaware of Voldemort's subtle actions.

Having succeeded, Voldemort quickly left the troubled place. After turning several corners and entering a secluded alley, he began to examine his spoils, which he had risked so much to obtain that day.

The wand looks to be in decent condition, but judging from the patina on the handle, its origin is clearly not legitimate.

Voldemort snorted: "Many of the goods sold in Diagon Alley can't withstand tracing their origins!"

However, compared to Knockturn Alley, the stuff in Diagon Alley was much more normal. Voldemort chose Diagon Alley because he was worried that without a wand, he wouldn't be able to cast spells and would get himself killed in Knockturn Alley.

With a casual wave of his hand, a string of sparks immediately appeared at the tip of the newly acquired secondhand wand, and Voldemort let out a cold laugh: Great, I have finally regained a part of my power!

He could sense that even though the flow of magic was still sluggish, he was finally able to cast some simple spells.

"Hey, you seem to be in a good mood—"

Suddenly, a voice sounded behind Voldemort. He turned around and saw two people standing at the entrance of the alley, completely blocking his way out.

"Why don't you tell us why you're so happy?" Another person asked with a malicious smile, staring intently at Voldemort.

Voldemort: ...

He hadn't encountered anything like this in a long time.

The atmosphere in Fandao Alley is still the same as when he was young... a place where the strong prey on the weak, and where evil lurks everywhere.

"I only managed to get a wand..." Voldemort said softly. Before the two could react, Voldemort suddenly threw a punch, hitting the man on the left hard in the chin, instantly knocking him unconscious.

The wizard on the right raised his wand, and a spell shot out like lightning, but Voldemort easily dodged it by sidestepping. Then, a ghastly green light flashed past—

The second wizard leaned against the alley wall and slowly collapsed. He had stopped breathing as he lay on the ground, a look of panic remaining on his face, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying before he died.

Voldemort stood there, panting heavily.

The killing curse he had just cast had exhausted all his strength. After forcibly using his magic to release the curse, the magic power left in his body by the mysterious expert surged again, making a mess of his internal condition.

This is also why he initially used his fist to defeat an enemy—he only had one punch left.

Sweat quickly soaked through his robes, and Voldemort's fingers trembled incessantly; he felt extremely unwell at that moment.

"Huff...huff..." He gasped for breath, forcing himself to squat down despite the discomfort. He searched the two robbers for a while, taking all their wands and cash, and even snapped the neck of the unconscious wizard.

After doing all this, Voldemort took a few more deep breaths and forced himself to walk out of the alley. He knew very well that the position where he had just clashed with those two thugs was not good; it was right at the alley entrance, and there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't see the Killing Curse.

He had to leave as soon as possible. He was no longer capable of remaining conscious after casting the Killing Curse again.

Sure enough, the noise of the Killing Curse scared away all the wizards who had gathered around and were walking the line of the law—even in Knockturn Alley, the use of the Unforgivable Curse was extremely rare.

No one wanted to get involved in such a conflict, so they all ran as far away as possible.

However, this "window of opportunity" is short-lived. After a while, some daring wizards will surely sneak over to check the site and see if they can find anything worthwhile. Things that the bigwig dark wizards don't care about might actually be useful to these small fry.

If Voldemort doesn't leave quickly, he'll run into these "hyenas," which will only cause more trouble.

Voldemort strode quickly through the deserted streets, then disappeared around the corner at the end of the street. Now, he needed to find a quiet place to heal his wounds and let time heal the hidden injuries left by the monster inside him.

……

Hogwarts Castle became lively once again.

The selection ceremony at last night's opening ceremony remains a hot topic of conversation. Harry Potter from Gryffindor, Hermione Granger from Ravenclaw, Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff, and the Greengrass sisters from Slytherin are all figures of great interest.

Of course, there were also some unexpected contestants, such as Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Rhys Lint.

These guys were either known for their mediocre abilities or for being eccentric. Compared to Neville and Luna, Rice had a much better reputation because he was simply low-key and didn't attract attention. If you really dug deeper, you'd find that his exam scores were abysmal.

Rice didn't pay much attention to this. His purpose in participating was fundamentally different from that of the other competitors.

To put it bluntly, he's a bit like a GM in a pay-to-win browser game, and a bit like a lucky player; he's there to ensure the game runs smoothly.

Of course, he was also quite looking forward to the "uncontrollable details" that Rowena mentioned: what kind of things could make Rowena feel like he had no control over them? That was just too amazing!

After casually responding to a few words of small talk from his fellow Slytherin students, Rice sat down at the long table in Slytherin House and began to enjoy his breakfast.

Leaving aside other British meals, breakfast is quite substantial. Rice was plating various fried and grilled foods onto plates while taking out her class schedule for the semester.

Although the main task this semester is to participate in the Tournament, Hogwarts has still prepared a class schedule for the contestants, since the tournament is scheduled to start in October, and they will also have to attend classes with other students for a month.

A glance at the timetable revealed two large red squares for Saturday and Sunday. As contestants who would soon represent Hogwarts in the tournament, their weekends were completely occupied.

The Hogwarts professors will give them extra lessons during this period to enhance their emergency response capabilities and prepare them better for future competitions.

Ignoring the weekend, Rice's gaze continued to linger on the timetable.

He was looking at which classes he could skip, and then he was shocked to find that alchemy was on his schedule.

This is really weird! Rice's fork froze in mid-air: he doesn't meet the requirements for alchemy at all!

First, he had never even taken the OWLs exam—to qualify for alchemy, one needs five "excellent" grades in OWLs and an excellent grade in Charms. Second, even if he met the requirements, he wouldn't voluntarily attend Rowena's class—he wasn't that free.

So, there can only be one reason why alchemy would appear on his schedule: Rowena was behind it all.

"No way, not again?" Rice thought to himself.

Clearly, Rowena needed a teaching assistant, and she had chosen him.

However, Rice wasn't the only one to receive special treatment; others such as Daphne, Astoria, Hermione, and Cedric also had alchemy forcibly added to their schedules.

They are all key players that Rowena is focusing on developing.

Compared to being forced to participate in the championship, experiencing Rowena's alchemy is more acceptable. Rice also wants to see Rowena's methods.

She was the most skilled alchemist among the four of them. In the past, you had to pay tuition to hear her share her experience, but now you can listen in without paying any price, making Rice feel like he'd won a thousand Galleons.

The other students were the same; they all had an intense curiosity about the legendary art of alchemy.

This subject was so obscure that Hogwarts had even suspended the course for a long time. Now that it's reopened, almost no one can resist the temptation to attend.

To save time, Rowena combined all the school's class times, placing all students, regardless of grade, into one class. This was understandable, as after rigorous selection, only seventeen students in the entire Hogwarts could attend her classes.

The class was not held in any classroom, but in Rowena's office.

When Rice, Daphne, and Astoria arrived at Rowena's office, they found that there was almost no room to move.

Although there were only about a dozen students, the professors' offices were clearly not designed with so many people in mind. More importantly, most of the office space was occupied by a large platform, making the office feel extremely crowded at that moment.

"Looks like everyone's here." Rowena's voice suddenly rang out, and the next second she appeared out of nowhere, standing right in front of everyone.

"Then we can begin today's lesson. I will show you what alchemy is." Rowena waved, signaling all the students to go into her office first.

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)