Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 462 The Wisdom of Three People

Rice strode out of the Potions classroom. He moved with lightning speed, heading straight for Rowena's office.

Before rushing into Rowena's office, he slammed on the brakes, stopping abruptly, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

Even barging in like that, even causing a scene in her office and smashing up her run-down estate, wouldn't resolve his current awkward situation. So he had to use his brain to find a way out.

In just a few seconds, countless thoughts flashed through Rice's mind. Finally, after making up his mind, he knocked on Rowena's office door.

"Huh? What brings you here?" When Rowena, who was tidying up the mini-manor in the office, saw Rice after the door opened automatically, he was a little surprised because Salazar rarely came here. He preferred to go to Helga's place.

Could it be about the ball? Rowena felt she had guessed Salazar's intentions. However, Salazar's next words proved her guess wrong.

"I need your help, Rowena." There wasn't even a chair in the office, so Rice casually turned a storage cabinet into an armchair and plopped down on it.

Then he told Rowena about all the difficulties he had encountered these past few days.

Rowena frowned as she listened.

She conjured up a stool, sat opposite Rice, and began to analyze the situation for him.

The scene before them was extremely familiar to Rowena and Rice, for they had been in the same situation a thousand years ago. Whenever they encountered an insurmountable problem, the two would sit down together to discuss and devise solutions.

Upon learning that Salazar had come to her to resolve a problem, Rowena immediately put the Christmas ball behind her.

"First of all, I don't think you need to worry too much about the experiments you left behind in the alchemy world. As far as I know, any infectious disease tends to become less and less fatal. The reason is simple: if it's too toxic, it won't spread."

Rice nodded, then shook his head.

His potion was designed with this in mind from the beginning, which is why it has a long incubation period.

After hearing Rice's words, Rowena couldn't help but click her tongue: "What's the point of your experiment? The interval is so long. By the time you go in, the drug's effects will have changed so much that you won't even recognize it."

Rice sighed: Isn't this all the fault of the flow of time?

"Why not just give each student a few Antidote Fruits? If they're worried, we can also give them some corresponding potions," Rowena suggested. She found Salazar's targeted approach to developing antidotes really funny.

Even if he deciphers his own potion and creates a special remedy, will this remedy still be effective against a plague that has mutated for hundreds of years? It would be better to improve the contestants' immunity or enable them to quickly eliminate the toxins after infection.

Listening to Rowena's words, Rice fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he had to admit that Rowena was right. This made the task much easier.

"As for the development of transformation magic you mentioned, I feel it's necessary to bring Helga over as well, so she can participate in the research." Rowena understood immediately that Salazar's ideas were a bit too ambitious; it was something that required collective wisdom. Bringing Helga in to offer her insights would be excellent.

"Alright!" Rice naturally wouldn't object. If it weren't for the fact that Dumbledore's relationship with them wasn't as close as the four of them, and that ancient magic was his weakness, Rice would have invited Dumbledore as well.

Rowena waved her hand, conjuring a raven which flew out the window. A short while later, Helga entered.

Rowena briefly explained her and Salazar's ideas to her, and then invited her to join them at the manor to plan in detail.

"Hmm!" Helga couldn't help but get excited after hearing Rowena's description. With her knowledge, she naturally understood the benefits this kind of magic would bring to the magical world.

This is a spell that can rapidly boost a wizard's combat power.

Upon entering the manor, this time Rowena did not lead the two into the garden, but instead led them into her residence.

The mansion in Rowena has seven floors in total, but to Rice's surprise, apart from the top floor and the first-floor hall, the other five floors are all sealed off and inaccessible.

There isn't even a staircase leading to the second floor in the lobby! The only way to get to the top floor is by taking a device that's like a Muggle elevator.

Why did Rowena seal off the second to sixth floors? A hint of confusion flashed through Rice's mind, but then an answer came to mind.

"Royna, is this where you use the time converter?" After figuring this out, Rice immediately asked.

"Yes." This time, Rowena was exceptionally honest and admitted it directly.

Anyway, she hasn't continued studying time magic these days, so she has nothing to hide and isn't afraid of Salazar and the others investigating her closely.

When Rice saw that Rowena had admitted it, he didn't say anything, but just frowned slightly.

Although he opposed Rowena's research into time magic, he also acknowledged that Rowena was the most proficient wizard in it. Furthermore, her method of using the Time-Turner was the most correct.

The biggest taboo in using a time converter for time travel is allowing different versions of yourself from different timelines to meet, as this could trigger unpredictable crises. It's likely that Rowena completely sealed off the path to the second floor for this very reason.

"Come with me." Rowena led Rice and Helga to an oil painting in the hall.

The painting was very simple; it was just a spiral staircase leading upwards. The moment Rice saw the painting, he understood.

Rowena didn't say much, but simply pulled out her wand and poked the surface of the painting. Instantly, the staircase in the painting began to extend continuously until it broke through the boundaries of the painting and stretched out of the painting.

"Follow me." Rowena gestured for his two old friends to keep up with him, and the three of them walked down the stairs into the painting.

After climbing several flights of stairs, the three emerged from an oil painting with a similar scene and arrived at the second floor of the castle, which was normally inaccessible.

Unlike the opulent lobby on the first floor, the second floor is decorated more like the accommodation area above the Leaky Cauldron. Stepping out of the painting, you are greeted by a winding corridor with doors scattered along both sides.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, once you come out of any door, you can't see the other rooms; there's only an empty corridor in front of you.

"This is the secret room I designed using the time converter. We just need to use these rooms in sequence, and we won't run into our counterparts in other rooms if we don't wander around." Rowena led Rice and Helga into the guest room closest to the painting on the stairs, and then proudly showed off her ingenuity to her old friends.

"There are thirteen rooms on each floor, enough for us to use the time converter thirteen times. There are five such floors."

Rice and Helga fell silent: Rowena's abuse of the time-tamper was more insane than they had imagined.

"The time travel duration of a time converter is limited, but we can make good use of it through design."

Listening to Rowena's words, Rice finally understood why she was aging so quickly.

Each time time is reversed, the lifespan is consumed several times that of an ordinary person.

However, Rowena was clearly not concerned about this "minor" drawback and went straight to today's topic: the development of transformation magic.

Rice didn't join their discussion; he simply passed on the method he had obtained from Jack and the insights he had gained to them before starting to concoct the potion to remove the curse.

Rowena and Helga, who were sitting to the side, did not disturb him.

With Christmas approaching and the second stage of the competition not far off, it's normal for Salazar to feel pressured.

He must prepare the antidote potion before the match begins.

Glancing at Salazar, who was deep in thought, Helga asked in a low voice, "Once his antidote is prepared, shall we distribute it to the contestants?"

Rowena shook her head. She was very averse to this kind of unearned gift.

She'll definitely prepare a test for the contestants; those who fail the test shouldn't even think about going to the alchemy world.

Rowena's intervention split the second phase of the tournament into two parts. The contestants had to obtain the antidote potion in the first phase before entering the main tournament in the alchemy world.

After casually chatting with her best friend about the tournament's plans, Helga began studying the dragon transformation magic and insights Salazar had given her.

Time flew by, and the three spent most of December in seclusion in this mansion. Everything outside was left to the puppets that transformed into their own likenesses.

After several time travels, the things the three were researching gradually began to make progress.

While Rice and his two companions were diligently conducting research in the mansion, the atmosphere inside Hogwarts Castle was unusually lively.

Students from Hogwarts and other magic schools alike were captivated by the upcoming Christmas ball.

In previous years, only a few students stayed on campus during Christmas. Christmas is a time for family reunions, and few students would choose to stay at school to spend it. But this year is different; almost all students from fourth grade onwards will stay.

The young wizards were all ecstatic about the upcoming ball—especially the girls. They huddled together in the corridors, giggling and whispering, and would squeal with laughter whenever a boy walked by, particularly a handsome one. The girls excitedly exchanged ideas about what to wear for Christmas Eve.

The boys were no exception. They scrutinized every witch who passed by like hunters, scheming to determine who would be their dance partner. Everyone hoped their partner would be the most beautiful in the academy, or even the entire school, but beauty meant fierce competition.

Who wouldn't want to be a dance partner with girls like Daphne, Astoria, Fleur Delacour, or Cho Chang? But one should always have some self-awareness.

Those who are publicly and fiercely rejected, like Malfoy, are the negative examples.

Daphne's word "get lost" really depressed him for a long time, and in recent days he has even lost much of his interest in causing trouble for Harry.

However, Daphne herself was also upset. After that Potions class, she never saw Rais again. When Rais Lint reappeared before everyone, others couldn't tell, but she and Astoria could see clearly that it was a doll.

After realizing the doll's true identity, the two were tense for a while, fearing that someone might ask Rice to be his dance partner during this time, and that the brainless, stupid doll would agree.

Fortunately, the two soon discovered that Rice must have made arrangements in advance, as the dolls all refused the ball invitations.

This put their minds at ease.

As Christmas drew closer, Daphne and Astoria grew increasingly impatient as they failed to catch a glimpse of Rice's true form.

"Sister, do you know where he ran off to?" Astoria and Daphne followed the doll Rice into the hall. Looking at the doll walking in front of them, Astoria felt a sense of irritation.

These days, she has turned down a lot of invitations. If the real Rice comes back and chooses her sister as her dance partner, she will be in big trouble!

Where could she find a dance partner in such a hurry? She looked down on ordinary people, and Cedric, who was barely acceptable, had already been reserved.

Daphne was just as worried as Astoria. But seeing that her sister was just as anxious as she was, she immediately felt less anxious.

"Sister, why don't you find a girl in advance and settle down with her, so you won't be caught off guard at the last minute—I heard Miss Granger hasn't settled on a dance partner yet."

"If that's the case, why don't you go find Miss Granger, sister?" Astoria immediately saw through her sister's ill intentions and retorted directly.

Daphne shrugged and spread her hands.

She was genuinely thinking of her younger sister. She was very confident in her choice of dance partner; she was certain her sister wouldn't be a match for her.

Just then, Harry and Ron from Gryffindor, along with Ron's sister, walked past them, and a conversation drifted into their ears.

"It feels like it's been ages since I heard from Fred and George. How are they?"

"I don't know. Not just the two of them, I haven't heard from Percy in a long time either, I wonder what they've been up to."

"Look, the Weasleys' little sister is actually quite nice—" Daphne nudged Astoria's shoulder and pointed at Ginny's retreating figure.

Astoria ignored her completely and walked straight toward the long table in Slytherin.

……

Inside Rowena's mansion

"It's done!" Rice flicked his wand, placing hundreds of small bottles on the table, alongside a mountain of curse-repelling fruits.

Rowena, who was standing in the corner of the room writing and drawing on a whiteboard, looked up at Rice and indicated that she would contact Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic to arrange for these things to be included in the second phase of the competition.

Rice nodded and began tidying up the crucible and other equipment used for brewing potions.

Just then, Helga clapped her hands sharply and shouted, "I've figured out how to do that transformation magic!"

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)