Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 452 Rice: This is magic that someone like Voldemort could come up with?!

"We need to rebuild his physical body," Rowena said first, expressing her opinion.

Rice glanced at Rowena, thinking to himself that this guy was quite enthusiastic. Normally, it would be extremely difficult to get Rowena to do anything, but if Rowena was interested in this, then it was a different story.

"I can provide a doll for Godric to use," Helga expressed her support for the matter.

Seeing Salazar frown, she quickly added, "It's just for him to use it temporarily. He'll definitely need to use his real body again in the future."

Rice simply sighed.

This isn't a question of formality or informality at all.

How could Rice, as her old friend, not understand Helga's tone just now? She thought that she would be unhappy with the suggestion of letting Godric temporarily reside in the doll, so she was in a hurry to make amends.

But Helga was wrong. Rice didn't mind letting Gryffindor stay inside the doll's body for a while; that would be more interesting and entertaining. The problem was that getting Gryffindor to possess the doll wasn't so easy.

His connection to the mortal world is now even weaker than that of a ghost, let alone someone like Rowena who left behind a contingency plan for resurrection.

"I know a very magical resurrection spell, which consists of two steps. The first step is to give the wandering soul a weak vessel, and the second step is to create a stronger physical body to house the soul, thereby achieving resurrection." Rowena explained the resurrection method she knew to Salazar and Helga.

Rice and Helga's eyes lit up as they listened: Rowena's "formula" was highly feasible and a brilliant idea; it was indeed worth considering resurrecting Gryffindor in this way.

"The only problem is that this resurrection magic is designed for wizards who possess Horcruxes." After giving a rough explanation of the resurrection process, Rowena also told the two about the flaws of the resurrection magic.

"Even Salazar didn't make a Horcrux, so Godric has even less chance."

"Royna!" Rice, as if humiliated, jumped up from his seat, pointing at Royna's nose, speechless.

"Royna, that's going too far!" Even Helga couldn't stand it anymore; those words were indeed too insulting.

No matter how depraved Salazar may be, he shouldn't have gone down this path.

Throughout history, many wizards have possessed the ability to create Horcruxes, but few have chosen to prolong their lives in this way, because once they do, there is no going back, and it is a severing and denial of their past selves.

Many people would rather die than use a Horcrux to prolong their lives. They'd rather become a ghost than create a Horcrux!

"I'm just stating a fact," Rowena defended herself. "I'm saying neither of you could possibly make Horcruxes."

Rice snorted and sat back down in his seat.

The moment he sat back down, he suddenly realized something: how did Rowena come up with such a clever idea? A flash of inspiration? After all, she did seem to have a need to be resurrected from her ghostly state.

"It wasn't my idea." Rowena is someone who respects intellectual property rights, and she wouldn't monopolize the output of other wizards.

"The person who came up with this process was Voldemort."

"Huh?" Rice couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

This answer surprised him greatly.

How could a fool like Voldemort come up with such ingenious ideas?

Rice's impression of Voldemort was so bad that it was hard to lower it. When he learned that the resurrection plan that Gryffindor was about to adopt was actually designed by Voldemort, his brain simply stopped working.

After a long pause, Rice finally said that Voldemort had twice exceeded his expectations.

He used to believe that everyone has their strengths, but after his encounters with Voldemort a few times, he changed his mind. Today, however, he's changed his mind again!

Even Voldemort has his merits.

Based on the fact that he provided a draft proposal to resurrect Gryffindor, Rice felt that he could elevate his relationship with Voldemort to the level of "disgust".

"Speaking of which, Voldemort was from Slytherin House," Helga's voice rang out softly from the side.

Rice couldn't help but slam his hand on the table.

"This is a problem with the Hogwarts Sorting House system, I—I—"

"But he is indeed very Slytherin, isn't he? He is ambitious, has an unparalleled desire for power, and will even stop at nothing to achieve what he desires—aren't these the qualities you expect your students to possess?" Helga's questions came one after another, leaving Rice somewhat speechless.

"I've studied the wizarding wars as described by modern wizards, and I've also delved into the background of Voldemort, the 'previous' Dark Lord. I feel that he merely used pure-blood supremacy as a tool. His essence is extreme selfishness, and everything he does revolves around himself."

Rice clicked his tongue.

He wanted to refute Helga, but didn't know where to begin.

"If Voldemort had won the Wizarding Wars and replaced Dumbledore as Headmaster of Hogwarts, would your attitude towards him still be the same?" Helga posed her final question. It was a rather pointed question, so pointed that Rowena almost wanted to change the subject to avoid Salazar and Helga starting a fight.

Faced with Helga's question, Rice fell into deep thought.

If Voldemort had won the Wizarding Wars, banished or even killed Dumbledore, and become the headmaster of Hogwarts, how would he view him upon awakening?

From Helga's perspective, Voldemort could even accomplish what Salazar failed to do: completely expel Muggle-born students from Hogwarts. Helga hates Voldemort now simply because he lost and, incidentally, ruined Slytherin's reputation.

"Judging from the goals and slogans he's put forward, I might support him when I first wake up." After a while, Rice slowly said, "But if I understand the changes in the modern world and his actions, I will still despise him, because times have changed."

We should look at things from a developmental perspective. The relationship between wizards and Muggles doesn't seem so tense anymore. Young wizards from Muggle families have proven their reliability over a thousand years, and Rhys also feels that Voldemort's behavior is a bit too extreme.

More importantly, Voldemort did all this for himself, to consolidate his power and keep himself at the top of the pyramid forever.

Rhys believed that once he saw Voldemort's true colors, he would definitely choose to overthrow him. Then, he would have to find a way to clean up Voldemort's mess and mend the division he had created in the wizarding world.

"It is foolish to artificially divide the wizarding community into two groups based on bloodline." Rice's voice echoed in the office.

Rowena and Helga fell silent together.

"Your actions don't quite match your words." Helga shook her head: Salazar is all talk now. But don't listen to what someone says, look at what they do. Helga felt that Salazar was still the same guy from a thousand years ago at heart: tough, domineering, and ruthless.

She hasn't changed, he hasn't changed, and none of the four of them have actually changed.

"Look beyond the surface, Helga!" Rice said, exasperated. "I'm just looking for reliability, and a thousand years ago, a young wizard from a wizarding family was far more reliable than those whose origins were unclear! For those who aren't reliable enough, stricter controls are necessary!"

"Your approach is wrong. You need to use love to influence them," Herl retorted firmly.

This is where she and Salazar disagreed, and that hasn't changed.

"Alright!" Seeing that Salazar clearly wanted to refute Helga, Rowena quickly spoke up, interrupting the argument between the two.

Once these two start debating, they'll think about not doing anything else for the day.

However, Rowena wasn't too worried about the story from a thousand years ago repeating itself.

Because Salazar was absolutely right when he said that times have changed.

The four of them haven't changed, but the times have, which will distort the timeline of their destinies. Rowena, for one, doesn't really believe that the current Salazar would do something like leaving again.

"We're not gathered here today to argue—getting Godric back is the important thing. I can't wait to call him 'Senior Godric' or 'Headmaster of Gryffindor' in front of the whole school."

Rice and Helga's attention was immediately diverted.

The headmaster of Gryffindor? That's great, that's a good idea! The slight argument they had just had was instantly forgotten by the two of them.

"I believe Voldemort's plan is feasible—but I still need to ask, Rowena, how did you learn of this magic?"

"Aries' memories show the complete process of Voldemort's resurrection." A smile appeared on Rowena's lips. "This girl has had quite a fascinating life."

Rice glanced at Rowena.

"Watch your image. You now perfectly fit the modern magical world's definition of a dark wizard."

Rowena laughed out loud.

"River water is fresh, seawater is salty. River water is drinkable, seawater can be used to make salt. What is the difference between black wizards and white wizards in this world? They are simply wizards who are good at manipulating power and wizards who are manipulated by power. Like a gust of wind, a weak breeze can turn a windmill in a mill, while a strong breeze can destroy a village. Is that the wind's fault?"

Helga covered her forehead.

She was at her wit's end with those two.

As for Aries, who was possessed by Rowena, Helga felt no sympathy for him at all, because everyone in the Secret Order was worthy of being killed!

They were just remnants of the gods. Helga felt she should forgive them after killing them and wish them to be upright people in their next life.

Rice had no intention of advocating for Aries; he simply needed to ensure that the source of the intelligence was reliable enough.

"Although Godric doesn't have a Horcrux, his condition is somewhat similar to Voldemort's, so we can use that as a reference." Rice's words were conclusive, definitively confirming Godric's method of resurrection.

"Then we should begin the first step. Voldemort said he invented a spell to concoct a potion using unicorn blood and the venom of a special snake, which would allow souls remaining in the mortal realm to possess human-like forms and be able to move. The Secret Order didn't heed his advice; they simply fed him large amounts of blood to replenish the Horcruxes' power. I don't know the specific potion recipe, Salazar, you need to handle this part."

Rice frowned.

He had a vague idea, but he needed to try it out. If only he could have a Horcrux to practice on...

"Hey, do you still have any of those Voldemort fragments I gave you before? I want to use them to practice."

Rowena shrugged, indicating that she had already used it up.

"The remnant soul possessing Quirrell, the diary, the resurrection stone ring..." Rice counted on his fingers the treasures he had obtained from Voldemort.

"The Voldemort you saw in the Quidditch World Cup final was also resurrected using a Horcrux, Helga's Golden Cup," Rowena added, sharing some information she knew.

"He also got the whereabouts of the tiara from your good daughter Helena, and that fake tiara was probably also... wait?" Rhys noticed something interesting: Voldemort seemed to be collecting the relics of the four of them.

Let's make a bold guess: Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes were also made using their "relics".

Rowena had thought of that too, but she felt it didn't seem to help.

They left behind so many things that it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Rice felt the same way.

"If that doesn't work, we'll have to find a dark wizard and force him to make a Horcrux." Rice had already figured out how to get a replacement.

"There's no need for that. You could just find someone to destroy his body and preserve his soul for experiments, wouldn't that be much easier? It's just that this method is a bit more complicated."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Rice gave Rowena a thumbs up.

Helga: ...

The conversation between these two should not be overheard by others.

"Only those who have committed heinous crimes can do it!" she quickly added.

"Of course." Rice waved his hand, indicating that he still had his bottom line.

"Does it have to be unicorn blood and snake venom?" After confirming the source of the "guinea pig," Rice began to wonder if the two main ingredients of the potion used by Voldemort were reasonable.

That's clearly not very reasonable. Snake venom seems to be replaceable, or rather, it's a good match for Voldemort but very incompatible with Godric.

Godric seems to think that anything related to fire would be better—

A glint flashed in Rice's eyes: Dumbledore seems to have a phoenix, doesn't he? Phoenixes are born from fire and can be reborn again and again. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to use phoenix materials to make resurrection potions?

As for unicorn blood, it's naturally used to provide a large amount of vitality; Rice has a more suitable option. There's still some Philosopher's Stone left over from the loan to Rowena; it can be used to make medicine for Godric.

Rice was already itching to make a move.

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)