Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 437 Godric Gryffindor of the Secret Order arrives to participate in the competition with seven young monks from the order.

Miss Granger's casual remark made Rice's first impression of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry extremely bad.

What's wrong? Does Slytherin House make you feel ashamed?

If Iphamoni's teachers and students heard Rice's thoughts, they would definitely reply: Yes, it's very embarrassing.

The reason why there is no Slytherin-like house among the four houses of Ivermony is certainly related to the fact that North America does not have the same prevalence of pure-blood doctrine and the emergence of a number of pure-blood families that have been passed down for hundreds of years as the British magical world. However, the source of all this is indeed closely related to Slytherin House.

Isolde Thayer, the founder of Ilfermonny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was a graduate of Hogwarts. She had an aunt named Gomley Gaunt. The very surname "Gaunt" is enough to suggest that Gomley was a staunch pure-blood supremacist. However, her husband, James Stewart, who co-founded Ilfermonny with her, was a Muggle. When she left her aunt's house, she also took the Gaunt family heirloom, supposedly Salazar Slytherin's wand.

It is easy to imagine the fierce conflict that would erupt between the two.

That was the closest the Ilhamoni School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came to destruction, but in the end, Isolde Thayer defeated and killed her aunt.

Given this background, it would be a miracle if Ivermony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had any goodwill towards Slytherin! This school rejects pure-blood supremacy from the very beginning and is widely recognized as one of the most democratic and inclusive great magic schools. Naturally, it would not have a school with a similar setting to Slytherin.

Rice was unaware of these stories; he only knew that Rowena and Helga had heard about Iphamoni's situation.

Watching the two figures trembling as they tried to suppress their laughter, Rice felt completely awful.

Ilvermorny's headmistress, Seraphina Picqueri, was a witch who looked even older than Dumbledore. After exchanging a few words with Dumbledore, she led her group of students, dressed in blue and red robes, to join the ranks of the other schools.

Thus, the eight most prestigious schools in the world have come together to participate in a grand event in the magical world.

Seeing that the last magic school had arrived, Karkaroff stepped forward and flashed a warm smile.

"Dumbledore, my dear old friend, it looks like everyone's here!" he said in his smooth, sweet voice. "Shall we go in now? Viktor is getting a little hungry."

As he spoke, he beckoned Viktor Krum to stand at the front of the Durmstrang formation.

Karkaroff did it on purpose; he wanted to take the opportunity to make Krum shine and give the other schools a little Durmstrang shock.

Look! The legendary Seeker, Viktor Krum, is a student at Durmstrang! Do you have such outstanding students?

When the teacher standing not far away heard the term "old pal," his eyebrows twitched violently: "Wait, who are you? How can you call Dumbledore 'old pal'? Are you that close to him?"

After carefully observing Karkaroff's expression and posture, Rice felt that he was deliberately calling out like that to try and get on Dumbledore's good side. Using an affectionate address to indirectly elevate one's status is a common tactic—after all, Dumbledore wouldn't actually say "Hey buddy, who are you?" in this situation, so he could only play along.

"Of course," Dumbledore replied gently, while maintaining a polite but distant demeanor. "We do indeed have a lavish feast prepared."

"That's great." Karkaroff said no more and gestured for his students to walk into the castle.

Dumbledore, however, stopped them with a smile.

"Let's enter in order of distance from the gate, otherwise the line will become a complete mess." Dumbledore said, waving to Seraphina Piccolo, who was standing at the very edge, gesturing for her to enter.

Serafina Picqueli smiled and, without refusing, led Ilfamoni's students directly into Hogwarts Castle.

Having lived a long time, she knew Karkaroff's background all too well, so naturally she couldn't stand him. At the same time, she secretly lamented that Durmstrang, who had once suppressed Northern Europe and nurtured ruthless figures like Grindelwald, had ultimately declined.

After his request to cut in line was politely declined, Karkaroff's smile faltered. He strode back to Durmstrang's line, no longer bothering to "reminisce" with Dumbledore.

Each school entered Hogwarts Castle in turn.

Rice smiled broadly as he watched the exclamations of wonder erupt from the students from other schools as they entered the castle.

Hogwarts Castle, with its thousand-year history, is undoubtedly a jewel in the wizarding world. Those wizards from other schools fortunate enough to witness its splendor are truly blessed.

Of course, the students of Hogwarts will prove that they are worthy of such a beautiful school.

The phalanxes of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang were adjacent, so the three schools entered the castle one after the other.

As the students marched through the foyer toward the Great Hall, Karkaroff quickened his pace, subtly catching up with the Hogwarts faculty and chatting with Snape at the back of the line.

After chatting for a while, he reached out and affectionately pinched Snape's left arm before going back to fuss over Krum.

Snape's expression darkened noticeably as Karkaroff pinched his arm.

Although there were seven more teachers and students from different schools, since each magic school could only have a maximum of thirteen participants, the total number of participants, including the professors leading each school, was less than one hundred.

For Hogwarts Great Hall, accommodating a hundred or so more people is quite easy.

When Rice and his group entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts, they found that students from the other schools had already found their seats. Ilfamoni and the students from Castorbash chose the Gryffindor table at the very end, the Vargado students chose the Hufflepuff table, Beauxbatons and the Ravenclaw students sat together, and Durmstrang, who was following behind the Hogwarts group, chose the Slytherin table.

The people from Cordosdoriz and the Magic Institute sat wherever there were empty seats, instead of gathering around a single academy table.

Durmstrang's choice brought smiles to the faces of the Slytherin students: because Krum was sitting with them! And if you look deeper, it's also because Slytherin and Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry share similar philosophies.

Looking at the Durmstrang students clad in heavy fur cloaks, Rice couldn't help but think of an old friend from his past. Because it was a school founded by his friend, his first impression of the Durmstrang students was quite positive.

"We also live in a castle, but our castle isn't as grand as Hogwarts, though our campus is very spacious..." A Durmstrang student had already started chatting with a Slytherin student.

Listening to the Durmstrang students' comments, Rice couldn't help but smile: Durmstrang would definitely choose to build a castle. In the extremely cold Nordic wilderness, the thick walls of a castle can effectively block the cold winds from the Arctic Circle.

As for why the castle wasn't built taller, that was a suggestion he gave to Nerida Vokanova. Years ago, the little witch had seen Hogwarts Castle and wanted to build a castle as big as Hogwarts as her own magic school, but Rice dissuaded her.

Because the construction of Hogwarts was quite massive, and Nerida Vocanova didn't have a helper like Godric, she might not be able to complete the castle even in half a lifetime. Furthermore, an excessively large castle would consume a huge amount of energy for lighting and heating, putting Durmstrang's finances in a very precarious situation. Therefore, a smaller castle was more practical.

Nerida Vokanova took Rice's advice and completed Durmstrang's castle in less than a year. She later wanted to invite Rice to teach her students, but Rice was busy teaching at Hogwarts and declined her invitation, only providing Durmstrang with some teaching materials and spellbooks.

"Hello, may I ask your name? I'm Polyako Hawthorne, a seventh-grade student at Durmstrang." A Durmstrang boy craned his neck and struck up a conversation with Astoria.

"Astoria Greengrass." Astoria wasn't very interested in the conversation, but simply introduced herself out of politeness.

When my ancestors followed Lord Salazar Slytherin to establish Hogwarts, Durmstrang didn't even exist yet. You're already being very kind by telling you my name.

"Oh, the ancient and sacred Greenfield family! My ancestors, like yours, studied magic under Lord Slytherin, but after graduating, they moved to Northern Europe and settled in Scandinavia." Upon learning that Astoria was a descendant of the Greengrass family, Poliaco's eyes widened, and he immediately began to befriend Astoria.

Clearly, Astoria’s bloodline was highly regarded by the students at Durmstrang School.

Durmstrang, like a larger version of Slytherin, has high requirements for lineage while being quite tolerant of dark magic—a principle established from the school's founding. After all, the school's primary goal was to monitor the Norse and ensure that the worship of the gods would not resurface in this land. Therefore, they needed reliable students and considerable power.

Astoria responded with a polite smile: Since you went to Northern Europe after graduation, it shows that your level is limited and cannot be compared with your ancestor, Adrian the Dragonheart.

She was wrong, because the ancestors of the Hawthorne family really were sent by Rice to Northern Europe to support Nerida Vocanova.

When Poliaco gave his surname, Rice was immediately reminded of his student.

"The hawthorn tree...such distant memories." Rice did indeed have a student named Hawthorne, but he wasn't as fully appreciated as Adrian. After Hawthorne graduated, Rice thought the guy was quite capable, so he wrote a letter to an old friend recommending him for a job at her place.

Unexpectedly, I ran into an old friend again, which was a pleasant surprise.

Just as Poliaco was about to continue his conversation with Astoria, Dumbledore arrived at the faculty seating area with the other school principals.

The headmasters from other schools took their seats in turn, while Dumbledore remained standing, and the hall gradually quieted down.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and distinguished guests," Dumbledore said with a smile, looking at the students below the stage. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope and believe that you will have a comfortable and enjoyable year here."

"The tournament will officially begin at the end of the banquet, but before everyone enjoys the dinner, I would like to welcome a group of special guests: individual contestants from outside the eight great magic schools who still aspire to participate in the World Young Wizards Championship!"

As he spoke, Dumbledore drew his wand and waved it gently. A long table, the same length as the other four houses, appeared out of thin air in the Great Hall. It was set with gold cutlery and candlesticks, and hundreds of chairs were neatly arranged around the table.

Compared to the fierce competition within major magic schools, the standards for participating as an individual or a member of a magical organization are much more lenient. One only needs to register with the British Ministry of Magic in advance and pass a simple magical proficiency test to prove they are a wizard.

Therefore, some students from other schools who were not selected would even try to exploit loopholes to get their schools expelled, and then register for the competition individually or through a magical organization—and some people actually succeeded in doing so.

Even if such individuals exist, the number of independent participants does not exceed one hundred, which is not much different from the number of participants from magic schools.

After setting up the long table, Dumbledore announced loudly, "Independent contestants, please enter!"

Footsteps echoed from the side hall previously used for sorting houses. Mr. Henry, the representative of the Ministry of Magic, and Ludo Bagman appeared first, followed by a large group of people.

"Please come to the front and introduce yourselves..." Dumbledore certainly wouldn't let the independent contestants sit down directly; that would be too impolite.

The contestants entered the auditorium one by one, standing in front of the faculty section either individually or in groups, and announcing the faction they belonged to.

"Heraklion-Patrelle Joint Magic School..." "Mahabodhi Temple..." "Longhu Mountain..."

Individual contestants entered the venue one by one, and the lines in the side hall gradually shortened.

Finally, a burly red-haired man led seven young wizards into the hall; they were the last group of independent contestants.

After seeing the person's face clearly, the smile that had been on Rice's face disappeared.

The red-haired wizard stood before the faculty bench, surveying the students before him, a slight smile playing on his lips. He spoke loudly in a booming voice:

"The Secret Order—Godric Gryffindor—has brought seven young monks to the competition!"

The auditorium fell silent.

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)