Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 453 is finished. It seems I've messed up too.

"Time to get busy!" Rice couldn't help but stretch.

Hopefully, I can prepare the potion before the next stage of the competition begins, then...

While contemplating the future, Rice thought of a problem: according to Rowena's description, the newly resurrected Godric should be very weak, like an infant. Who would take care of him?

After thinking it over, Rice decided to keep the question to herself and not reveal it to anyone.

Anyway, he's a student now, so the task of taking care of Gryffindor students definitely won't fall to him.

Let Rowena and Helga worry about it!

"Thank you for your hard work, Salazar," Helga said earnestly. "If there's anything we can do for you, just let us know and don't hesitate to ask."

"Dumbledore has a phoenix, right? I want some of that phoenix's blood, tears, and a few feathers too."

After hesitating for two seconds, Rice ultimately decided not to let Helga and Rowena help him collect the phoenix's droppings.

If the potion were made from phoenix droppings, Godric wouldn't let him off the hook after his resurrection.

"No problem," Helga readily agreed; it was a simple matter for her.

After thinking for a moment, if he still couldn't make a suitable potion with these materials, then he would have no choice but to consider using the venom of the Serpent King.

After asking Helga to collect materials about the phoenix, Rice felt he had nothing more to delegate to his companions. However, he still had one question that Rowena needed to answer.

"Royna, is there a difference in the flow of time inside your little world compared to the outside world?" Rice had noticed this issue before in the alchemy world.

The natives of the alchemy world seem to have a rich historical background. The last cataclysmic event seems like a distant memory to them.

This doesn't make sense. Rowena has only been awake for a few years, how could the natives have given her that much time? So it can only be a matter of the flow of time.

"It is indeed different. Sometimes I can artificially speed up the flow of time. One day outside might be a hundred years in the world. However, after the world went out of control, I could no longer speed up the flow of time in the small world at will. Only after you contestants entered and I had an anchor point could I forcibly control the flow of time to one-to-one."

Rice's eyes widened immediately.

"So, under normal circumstances, what is the proportion of time?" Rice became a little nervous.

"It's not fixed. It could be as short as one day outside and a year inside, or as long as ten years."

Rice: !

There are two full months between now and the start of the second stage of the competition, which means at least sixty years have passed! If you're unlucky, it could even be six hundred years!

"That's why I'm gradually losing control. The flow of time inside is too fast, and the frequency of powerful beings appearing is also higher." Rowena shrugged. "Even if I frequently activate the 'Great Calamity,' I can't eliminate those who are truly threatening. Moreover, after the Great Calamity, the flow of time will suddenly accelerate. This is the world's will resisting."

Only by personally intervening and seizing fragments of the world's origin, like Rice did, could this out-of-control alchemical world be truly weakened. Rowena's cataclysmic attack was merely a stopgap measure; Rice's actions were a fundamental solution.

Rice rubbed his hands together: This is getting a bit troublesome...

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." As the discussion concluded and Rice was about to leave Helga's office, he seemed to suddenly remember something and casually mentioned, "For the next competition, have the contestants bring some antidote potions! I always feel that the organizers' protective measures for the contestants aren't quite up to par."

This statement seemed nonsensical, but his two old friends, who had known him for many years, were practically mind readers of his meaning and naturally understood what he meant.

Rice knew that what he was doing was tantamount to self-destruction in the eyes of his two old friends, but he had no choice; the time flow problem that Rowena mentioned was just too bizarre.

He did a little experiment when he left the alchemy world.

If it were just a few months or even a few years, Rice would be fine with it. But the idea that a day outside of Rowena is equivalent to at least a year inside really made him uneasy. The potion he released wasn't an ordinary poison; it was a potion with the ability to slowly evolve…

Even Rice himself wasn't sure what his experiments would look like after decades or even centuries of development, but they were likely already beyond his control. If they accidentally poisoned most of the contestants, it would be a huge problem, so Rice suggested strengthening the protection of the contestants.

As long as I prepare the players in advance, there shouldn't be any problems... right?

Rowena and Helga stared intently at Rice, making Rice feel a little guilty.

But then he thought again and became even more self-righteous: This alchemical world was meant to be destroyed, so what's wrong with me doing some experiments? If you have a problem with that, then don't make me go in again!

Rice, who felt confident that he had Rowena under his control, instantly regained his composure.

"Is there anything I can help you with? If not, I'll head back to rest now."

Rowena and Helga exchanged a glance, and then Helga couldn't help but sigh.

"You should go back now." Rowena didn't have any particular opinion about what Salazar had done. This was an unspoken agreement between her and Salazar, a way of paying him for cleaning up the mess for her.

If the entrance to the Alchemy World hadn't been closed after the first stage of the competition, preventing the contestants from re-entering, she would definitely have put Salazar back in to experiment to her heart's content.

"Don't go too far," Helga earnestly advised Rice.

In the alchemical world, she tolerated any kind of reckless behavior. But if those things were brought into the real world and accidentally released, she wouldn't let even Salazar get away with it!

"I understand." Rice nodded seriously.

He was well aware of the gravity of his experiments. If they got out of control, Hogwarts could become a dead zone in an instant.

After saying goodbye to his two old friends, Rice left Helga's office and slipped back to the Slytherin common room, where a ball was indeed being held.

As Rice entered, Malfoy appeared right in front of him, carrying Pansy Parkinson in his arms.

Malfoy: ...

Rice: ...

The scene was slightly awkward.

Malfoy made his decision in about half a second: he grabbed Pansy and jumped away to the music as if he hadn't seen anything.

Rice was incredibly glad he hadn't attended the Slytherin victory celebration. He went straight to his dormitory, intending to wait until the boring celebration was over before coming out.

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.

Here comes the late-night update, hehe, didn't expect that, did you? There will be another chapter this afternoon or evening.

(End of this chapter)