Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 455 Rice: We're going to beat up the principal!

"Iphamoni possesses Salazar's relics? Really?" Rice was quite surprised when he heard this news.

I don't think I have any connection with Evamori, right? Why would they claim to have my relics? Could they just be using something like "a chair Slytherin sat in" to make up the story?

Then he became alert, because he remembered that Voldemort seemed to be collecting the "relics" of the four of them. Could it be that Voldemort found his item in advance and turned it into a Horcrux?

The thought flashed through Rice's mind, but he judged it to be unlikely.

Even if Voldemort were incredibly magnanimous, he wouldn't leave his Horcruxes in Evamori, would he? That would be incredibly disrespectful to Evamori's teaching staff.

Imagine this: one day you bring out the school's prized possession, only to find that it has transformed into a Soul Weapon. That scene would be incredibly exciting.

However, just to be on the safe side, Rice felt he should still take a look at the so-called "Slytherin relic." Firstly, to confirm that it wasn't Voldemort's Horcrux; secondly, to see what Eva Morney's Salazar relic was; and thirdly…

Rice had a very bad impression of Ilfamoni, so when he learned that Ilfamoni had kept Salazar's relics, he always felt that Ilfamoni was trying to humiliate Hogwarts.

Look, your founder's belongings are in a display case at our school!

Just thinking about it made his blood boil, and Rice's expression gradually turned cold.

"Hey, Slytherin House might lose a lot of points today." Halfway there, Rice suddenly stopped and turned to Daphne.

Rice stopped abruptly, and Daphne almost bumped into him.

After hearing Rice's words, Daphne blinked: Is it really that serious that the academy lost so many points? Does anyone really care who will win the academy cup this year? Aren't they all concerned about the championship?

"I might get locked up, so you can go back to your dorm and rest for a while to avoid dragging you down with me." Rice had already prepared for the worst.

How things will develop today depends on whether Ilfamoni's students know what's good for them. They'd better sincerely return Salazar Slytherin's "relics" to Hogwarts.

Upon hearing the word "solitary confinement," Daphne immediately perked up.

"That's absolutely impossible! Even if we're put in solitary confinement, we'll both be put in solitary confinement together!" Daphne's tone was extremely firm, with an air of determination that she would arrive at the auditorium with Rice even if there were storms and hail on the way.

After staring at Daphne for a few seconds, Rice smiled happily.

He wouldn't have blamed Daphne for choosing to return to the Slytherin common room, because that would have been the most Slytherin choice. But following one's own path is the choice that makes one happiest.

Perhaps this is the charm passed down through generations of the Greengrass family.

"Wait a moment." Rhys drew his wand, waved it at Daphne, and tidied her clothes and combed her hair to make sure it was smooth and neat.

"You need to be mindful of your personal image." A barely perceptible smile appeared on Rice's lips.

"Okay!" Daphne perked up and couldn't wait to cause a ruckus.

She was furious when she learned that the Slytherin relic had ended up in Evamony. Unfortunately, the treasure wasn't with the Evamony student she encountered, and even beating him up didn't help.

Of course, it was still very satisfying.

Rice led Daphne into the hall with great strides.

As two contestants who had passed the first stage of the competition, and with Daphne possessing a striking appearance, the two were already somewhat well-known. Their joint entrance into the hall was certainly eye-catching.

What intrigued the onlookers even more was the expression on the two men's faces... they looked like they were about to cause trouble!

Entering the auditorium and looking around, Rice quickly located the area occupied by the Ifamoni students—these out-of-school students liked to sit together with their own students, forming small groups, which made it easy for Rice to find them.

Rice walked straight to the vicinity of the Iphamoni student group and stopped a few feet away from them.

Rice's unusual behavior attracted the attention of the Iphamoni students, who put down their knives and forks and looked at Rice and Daphne standing beside him.

They knew both of them. Especially the silver-haired girl, whom they considered one of their biggest rivals.

"Hey, I heard you have one of Salazar Slytherin's relics?" Rice suppressed his emotions and asked in a calm tone.

Rice felt that her attitude couldn't have been better.

The contestants selected by the Ivermony Magic School were mostly seventh-year graduates, while Rice was only a fourth-year student, still considered a child in their eyes. Therefore, his remarks were quite harsh and arrogant to the Ivermony students.

"What's it to you?"

"This is a private matter for our Iphamoni Magic School; it's none of your business!"

"Heh, you can tell from the color of his clothes that this guy is a Slytherin."

"No wonder—"

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

Several extremely loud slaps echoed throughout the auditorium.

Rice remained standing there, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his robe, as if he had done nothing, but the faces of the few Iphamoni students who had just spoken all bore a white and red handprint.

"You might not understand perfect English, no problem, I'll repeat myself. I heard you have a relic of Salazar Slytherin? Show it to me, I'll check if it's genuine." A mocking smile crept across Rice's lips. "Don't worry, it's free."

Faced with Rice's "provocation," Ifamoni's students could not tolerate it. They all stood up from their seats, and those who had been slapped even reached into their robes, ready to teach this arrogant little brat a lesson.

The conflict between Rice and Iphamoni students attracted a lot of attention. However, the incident broke out so suddenly that few people in the auditorium were able to react in time.

They only vaguely heard that the two sides were arguing about "Slytherin's relics" before they started fighting.

For Hogwarts students, supporting one house is hardly an issue. Although Slytherin House isn't particularly popular at the school, it is, after all, one of the four inseparable houses of Hogwarts, and Salazar Slytherin, as the school's founder, enjoys a special status within Hogwarts.

At this moment, the Hogwarts students all supported Rice's decision to ask Ephemoni's students for Salazar Slytherin's belongings.

Needless to say, the Slytherin students, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw students wouldn't object either. And Gryffindor, the house most likely to object, saw no one cause trouble for their sake after learning what Rhys Lint was doing.

Rice's relatively good personal image also played a significant role. If Malfoy had been in charge, most of the students would probably have reacted with a dog-eat-dog mentality.

Seeing that the two sides looked like they were about to fight, many Gryffindor students sitting around reached for their wands.

Even if a conflict arises between Slytherin students and students from other schools, the Gryffindor lions will always step in to help!

"Sit down!" Rice shouted, and the students of Iphamoni actually sat back down obediently, just like well-behaved students.

The surrounding Hogwarts students: ?

Iphamoni student: ? ? ?

They sat back down and realized something was amiss: why had they obediently followed orders?

This is, of course, the power of magic.

Some people tried to get up again, but Rice released more than a dozen streams of magic, pressing down on their shoulders and making it impossible for them to get up.

The students of Ilfamoni were shocked and furious. They never expected that they would be unable to even stand up in front of this unknown Hogwarts student.

This caused a slight crack in the worldviews of the group.

"If you don't understand English, then I'll have to use magic to search you myself." Rhys's icy voice rang in Ilvermorny and the others: "Hand over Salazar Slytherin's belongings! Now, immediately!!!"

The final, sharp cry made everyone's ears ring, leaving them dizzy and disoriented.

In a daze, a student pulled a magic wand from his pocket.

Without hesitation, Rice pulled his hand out of his robe, pointed his wand at the student, and the wand flew into his hand.

Rice recognized the wand when the student pulled it out, but just to be on the safe side, he took it into his own hands and examined it carefully.

The student from Ilfamoni, after handing over the wand in a daze, immediately came to his senses. He knew very well the wand's importance to the school, so he immediately tried to get up and retrieve it from Rice.

The other students also realized that they had made a huge fool of themselves and began to scold them.

"Shh!" Rice stuck out an index finger, wiped it on his lips, and made a zipping motion. The students of Ifamoni immediately fell silent. They were shocked to find that they could not make a sound, as if their vocal cords had been removed.

If he hadn't been truly provoked, he wouldn't have bothered arguing with these students; he could have simply sent Daphne or Astoria to give them a little punishment.

Unfortunately, these people are really clueless.

Rice examined the wand in his hand carefully. The moment he held the wand, a sense of familiarity washed over him: this wand was the one he had used before, the one he had given to the child he had adopted before he was about to fall into a deep sleep, the ancestor of the Gaunt family.

He didn't know why the wand had fallen into the hands of Ilfamoni, a magic school that hated Slytherin, but he imagined the process must have been bloody and turbulent.

Rice casually waved the wand, and a hissing sound like a snake's call immediately filled the air.

"A serpentwood staff, a basilisk horn core, thirteen inches long, it's Salazar Slytherin's favorite material and number, naturally imbued with magic, only Parsleyans can awaken this staff—so you're a Parsleyan, huh?" Rice glanced at the boy whose face was full of defiance.

The boy made two soft sobs, and Rice then remembered that she had muted him.

Just as he was about to lift the silencing spell on the boy and have a proper chat with him about the Parseltongue, an accident occurred.

"Expelliarmus!" A spell flashing red light shot over, but Rice countered with an Ironclad Spell, sending it flying.

Rice turned to look at the person who had attacked him, and then saw that Serafina Picqueri, the headmistress of the Ilvarmoni Magic School, was pointing her wand at him.

She woke up earlier than the other headmasters today, only to find her students being completely outmatched by a Hogwarts contestant after just two days, with even the school's prized possession being stolen. Without time to scold her disappointing students, Seraphina decided to first use a disarming charm to retrieve the Slytherin Staff, and then slowly negotiate a solution.

She actually failed.

Looking at Serafina, Rice couldn't help but laugh: A principal-level person had taken the initiative to help? That's great, I really don't want to get entangled with children.

"Old man, are you tired of living?" he shouted directly.

After those words echoed through the auditorium, the hall, which had been noisy due to the conflict between Rice and Iphamoni students, suddenly fell silent, becoming as quiet as a library study room.

Serafina was clearly taken aback; she even wondered if she had misheard.

"I've had enough. It's time for Ilvermorny to stop offending Hogwarts. If this continues, he's just asking for trouble." Rice stared intently at the man who had once served as a leader of the Magical Congress of the United States and was later rehired as the headmaster of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and said, word by word.

Serafina's eyebrows gradually rose, and her face turned ashen.

How many years has it been? How many years has it been since anyone dared to speak to me in such a tone?

"Do you know who I am?" Considering that the boy in front of her was probably less than a fraction of her age, she forcibly suppressed her anger and offered him one last way out.

"I know, you're just a fool who got completely fooled by the Dark Lord Grindelwald. If it weren't for Headmaster Dumbledore dealing with Grindelwald, you'd be a skeleton in a grave by now!"

"Of course, I must admit, you are the Minister of Magic who has worked with Grindelwald the longest." Rice smiled, reopening Seraphina's deepest wound.

Rice completely ignited Serafina's fury; the witch wouldn't allow anyone to humiliate her. After being publicly and brutally humiliated by Rice, she completely disregarded the age difference between them and launched a direct attack on him.

Two flashes of light collided in mid-air in the auditorium, producing a deafening roar.

Rhys's spell shattered Serafina's magic, and with the support of his magic, its momentum did not wane, striking the tip of her wand directly.

Serafina had no time to react before her wand was shattered by Rice's spell, and her palm was bleeding profusely from the wand fragments.

The auditorium fell silent once again.

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~

There's an event on Qidian (the website's online platform) that they made three images for me for free. Here they are for you to see!

(End of this chapter)