Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 434 Godric: My intuition tells me I don't need to specifically groom an heir.

"Hahaha—" A hearty laugh echoed in Rowena's garden, and Rowena couldn't help but smile.

"That's hilarious! No wonder Salazar wouldn't tell us the details!" After laughing for the last time in his life, Godric finally stopped and started complaining to Rowena about Salazar's ordeal.

What kind of nonsense is this!

A person lies in a coffin, and a pot falls from the sky.

Who would have thought that someone would actually impersonate the heir?

Godric asked himself honestly, if he were in that situation, there would be nothing he could do either, since he would already be in his grave by then! It can only be said that Salazar was just incredibly unlucky.

Huh? Could it be that Salazar did so many despicable things that he ended up with this kind of person? Godric couldn't help but have this thought pop into his head.

If Rice knew that Godric was thinking this way, he would definitely shove the Resurrection Stone ring down the toilet and flush it into the Black Lake.

This is unbelievable! What does it mean to have done too many bad things? Rowena has probably done just as many bad things as I have... maybe?

"So you see, having an 'heir' isn't necessarily a good thing. Think carefully about the legacy you'll leave for Gryffindor, and consider what might happen if you had an heir."

Godric thought for a moment, then said rather uncertainly, "Is Hogwarts full of mischievous little wizards?"

"Possibly, but Hogwarts could also turn into a war machine," Rowena sighed and said slowly.

"It can't be that bad..." Godric gave an awkward smile. "I feel that the atmosphere in Gryffindor is still quite positive."

Do you think Salazar could have foreseen Slytherin becoming what it is today before he fell into his slumber?

Rowena's question silenced Gryffindor.

After a moment, the two of them sighed in unison.

Although Salazar's ordeal sounds funny at first glance, upon reflection, Rowena and Godric both felt a deep sense of empathy.

Nobody wants to encounter something like this.

Salazar's Slytherin became a stronghold of pure-blood supremacy, a breeding ground for dark wizards. Could these three escape unscathed? Perhaps a thousand years later, Ravenclaw's pursuit of wisdom will have turned into a cult of cunning, Gryffindor's yearning for courage and bravery into a fascination with war, and Hufflepuff's kindness and tolerance will have become increasingly fanatical and insane…

These are all possibilities.

"Go back and comfort Salazar; he's not feeling well either."

Rowena blinked: Me, comfort Salazar? Don't be ridiculous.

And does Salazar need comforting? Rowena thinks he's enjoying it, pretending to be a student and going to school with the other young wizards every day. She doesn't know what he's after.

In Rowena's eyes, Salazar was wasting his time and his life. If she were Salazar, she would definitely find a place to hide away and do all sorts of novel experiments—whether or not to wake up her old friends would depend on how the experiments were progressing, because Rowena knew very well that her old friends would definitely interfere with her experimental progress if they woke up.

Godric's mind wandered. After giving instructions to Rowena, his thoughts couldn't help but drift to the topic of succession.

Salazar, Helga, and Rowena all found their ideal students, which made Godric somewhat interested as well: he also wanted to find a silly little wizard like his friends and then pass on his magical knowledge to him or her.

Watching a little guy who could only foolishly wave his wand grow into a powerful wizard who can stand on his own is incredibly satisfying.

But speaking of successors...

"Can't we really let that Dumbledore participate? He's a Gryffindor too, and I think he could be my successor." Godric even started considering Dumbledore.

He felt that Dumbledore was truly worthy of being called his successor.

Rowena: ...

"No. Stop with your ridiculous ideas." Rowena told Godric to stop being naughty—Dumbledore was actually quite a bit older than him.

"Besides, the full name of the tournament is the 'Global Young Wizarding Championship.' Whose young people are over a hundred years old? They're not immortal beings. Having Salazar participating is already enough of an environmental problem. Adding Dumbledore on top of that, are other schools even allowed to participate? Even if Hogwarts is the organizer of the tournament, they can't be so shady." Rowena couldn't contain her urge to complain and kept criticizing Godric's bizarre ideas.

"If you want an heir, then obediently crawl out of the ring, choose one yourself, and raise one yourself—don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Dumbledore may possess the fire domain, but he's definitely not your heir!" At this point, Rowena paused, indicating that if Godric wanted, she was willing to help him think of a way to see if she could make him a body.

"I feel like you can still be saved..." Rowena said.

Godric's eyes widened: So he wasn't dead after all?

However, after careful consideration, Godric declined Rowena's "invitation."

"I feel like I've been wandering all my life, and all I want now is to rest for a while," Godric confessed. "I don't feel a strong desire to return home."

"I see..." Rowena nodded. Since Godric had no objections, she wouldn't force him.

"And," Godric grumbled, "after she's resurrected, she'll definitely be dragged into doing hard labor, right? I heard Helga's under a lot of work pressure right now? And she often drags Salazar to do chores for her?"

"No, no," Rowena replied verbally, secretly alarmed: she couldn't just drop by Helga's office anymore, or she might drag her into doing her work, which would be disastrous.

"The matter of the heir..." Godric narrowed his eyes. "You just mentioned that Salazar has chosen a descendant of the Greengrass family as his student? Why is he so fixated on that family?"

"That's right. He even brought one of his students to see me before. It was a little girl named Daphne, and later her sister Astoria also became his student."

Godric raised his eyebrows: Salazar's standards for accepting disciples have remained unchanged for thousands of years.

However, when Greengrass is mentioned, one figure immediately comes to mind in Gryffindor.

A faint intuition rose within Gryffindor.

"I feel like I don't really need to train an heir directly, because whoever inherits the [Gryffindor Will] and gains the recognition of the Gryffindor sword is my heir!" Driven by his intuition, Godric said confidently.

Rowena: ...

Is this Godric's intuition as the strongest duelist? It's terrifying. He knows nothing, yet it's as if he knows everything.

As someone who had direct contact with Daphne, Rowena knew the child's true nature very well, so...

Rowena silently sympathized with Salazar.

"Alright, I had a very pleasant chat with you. Now—well, actually I don't want to see you like this again. The stone on this ring isn't anything good." Godric realized he had nothing more to say to Rowena, so he resolutely transformed into a stream of heat and disappeared into the world.

Looking at Godric disintegrating and dissipating, Rowena seemed lost in thought.

"Hmm, this is interesting..."

Then she spun the resurrection stone in her hand three more times. The next second, Godric reappeared in the same spot.

Godric: ?

He turned to Rowena, his hands outstretched, his face filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"It's alright, you can leave now," Rowena said calmly.

Godric: ? ? ?

Confused, he transformed into a stream of heat and disappeared once more.

After the heat completely dissipated, Rowena spun the resurrection stone in her hand without hesitation.

Godric then reappeared in the same spot.

Godric: ...

After he actively dissipated, although he could not feel the passage of time, his intuition told him that the time difference between his last and the last time he was summoned was no more than one minute.

"Royna Ravenclaw!!!" Godric roared, his face stern, "Don't toy with the souls of the dead!!!"

"You're nothing but a dead man," Rowena rolled her eyes at Godric.

Rowena did this not to play tricks on Godric—at least not primarily to tease him; she was conducting a very serious experiment.

She is studying the mechanism of the Resurrection Stone.

A stone that can "resurrect" the dead—that's definitely worth studying. Rowena wouldn't let it go, but it's a real hardship for Godric, who's tied to the resurrection stone.

"Um... could you demonstrate that again? You mean the process of disappearing on the spot?" Rowena looked at Godric, hoping he could continue to provide her with experimental data.

Godric understood what she was doing, and after a moment of changing expression, he chose to comply with Rowena's wishes.

It's just participating in experiments; he's very familiar with that. Back when they were all traveling together, Salazar and Rowena often invited him to participate in experiments, so he's used to it.

After witnessing Godric's entire dissipation, Rowena squinted.

This time, she did not "summon" Godric again, but instead turned to look at the grove of trees beside her.

"Teacher, are you enjoying watching?"

A voice echoed from deep within the woods.

[Little Rowena, your senses are still as sharp as ever. It seems you've obtained a very interesting little gadget.]

"It's just a smokescreen." Rowena's tone was very calm. "This thing is incredibly malicious towards its user."

In Rowena's view, the resurrection stone ring could be classified as a dark magic item, imbued with malice, and practically designed to urge its user to commit suicide.

An ordinary wizard who becomes obsessed with the resurrection stone ring will inevitably end up committing suicide—provided that Godric hasn't yet possessed the stone.

She had already realized that the Resurrection Stone ring didn't summon the true souls of the dead, or rather, not entirely the souls of the dead, but rather illusions conjured from the user's memories of the deceased. However, these illusions weren't pure; they contained the Resurrection Stone's "ulterior motives," which could induce the user to commit suicide.

Well, the magic used in it was so advanced that it didn't seem like something from their time, but it wasn't as mysterious as the legends made it out to be either.

However, Godric's case is special and not within the scope of this discussion. He became an unconscious particle wandering in the world. When the Resurrection Stone condensed an illusion of Godric based on its own impression of him, it summoned these unconscious particles, so that Godric was actually "resurrected".

After dissipating, the particles belonging to Godric recombined with the Resurrection Stone, causing Godric to be summoned regardless of whether the next person has Godric in their memories.

As for what is currently conversing with itself, that is the real creation of the Resurrection Stone.

How are you guys doing?

"We've weathered some storms, but overall things are still alright."

"Then I'm relieved."

There was no more sound in the woods; clearly, the illusion had vanished.

Rowena was momentarily dazed: So, was the teacher a phantom formed from the Resurrection Stone, or was he an existence like Godric?

She immediately suppressed the thought, forcing herself not to dwell on it. She was certain that when they first encountered their teacher, he was already dead, leaving only a phantom who bestowed upon them some legacy.

"What a terrifying alchemical creation. I wonder what the Peverell brothers were thinking when they made this," Rowena remarked as she put the resurrection stone ring into her pocket.

After that, life at Hogwarts returned to peace.

However, it couldn't be described as tranquil, because beneath the surface of peaceful life lay turbulent undercurrents. Students eagerly awaited October's arrival, while professors grew increasingly nervous.

Hogwarts Castle underwent a thorough cleaning, leaving the entire castle sparkling clean. Even the exterior walls were scrubbed, and the moss in the corners was wiped away. Inside the castle, the filthy paintings and armor that had been neglected for years were polished to a gleaming shine, ensuring that Hogwarts would not embarrass itself in the eyes of visitors from other schools.

Some changes have also quietly occurred outside the castle. A large area at the edge of the Forbidden Forest has been leveled and fenced off, preventing anyone from seeing what lies inside. It is clearly being used as the venue for the upcoming tournament.

To the students' bewilderment, the Quidditch pitch was preserved. This was strange, as the Quidditch pitch was clearly a more suitable location for playing.

The thirteen selected contestants bid farewell to their weekends. The professors seized every opportunity to tutor them, instilling in them a wealth of knowledge. Spells, potions, transmutation, herbalism... all in an effort to accelerate their growth as much as possible.

Professors White and Arius also became reclusive. Apart from still going to class, the students almost never saw them in the castle and had no idea what they were doing.

At the end of September, the tranquility of Hogwarts was finally broken: other magic schools were coming.

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~

(。-ω-)zzz

(End of this chapter)