Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 464 The Snake Fruit, Phoenix Fruit, and Dragon Fruit

The dark underground that Hogwarts cannot detect

Rice entered the secret room, with a live pig floating behind him.

This was a whole pig he had obtained from the Hogwarts kitchens. The house-elves, though extremely puzzled, still complied with his request, handing over a large, fat pig that was originally intended to be butchered and served at the dinner table to Rice.

Rice threw the pig to the ground and then summoned the Snake King.

When the snake king came out, he saw the fat pig on the ground and was overjoyed: This time, he finally called me out to eat!

Good heavens, every time the Serpent King was summoned before, whether it was Salazar Slytherin, the descendants of House Gaunt, or Tom Riddle, they all used it as a free henchman; very few people actually called it out for a meal.

The basilisk stretched its neck out and grabbed the fat pig in its mouth. Then, it opened its jaws wide and sucked the pig's head into its mouth.

Then, the fat pig was swallowed by the basilisk bit by bit. While the basilisk was enjoying its meal, Rice went around behind it, snapped his fingers, and a spurt of blood gushed out from the gaps in its back scales.

After collecting two bottles of snake blood, Rice stopped drawing blood and even thoughtfully applied some ointment to the snake monster's wounds.

From beginning to end, the basilisk was unaware that its blood had been drawn.

After leaving the secret room, Rice went straight to Rowena's office, where he encountered Helga, who was also carrying a small crystal vial filled with blood. Considering that Fox wasn't as large as the Basilisk, providing so much blood was quite generous.

Unlike the basilisk blood in Rice's hand, which faintly glowed with green light, Phoenix Fox's blood felt warm and clean at first glance, even a little sacred.

"Use your basilisk blood first," Helga said modestly. The main reason was that basilisk blood was practically inexhaustible; even if the experiment failed, it wouldn't be a waste—how much blood could Fox extract? In terms of sheer volume of blood, Salazar's basilisk was the best; even Rowena's dragon blood cost money!

The thrifty and hardworking Helga invited Rice to her tree and watched Salazar pour an entire bottle of basilisk blood at the base of the fruit tree.

A few minutes later, blood-red streaks appeared on the tree bark.

"Once the patterns on the bark disappear, we can pour in the next type of blood," Helga explained from the side.

Rice nodded and stood in front of the potted plant, lost in thought.

About half an hour later, the fruit on the tree changed: several fruits turned into a red color with specks of green light, just like the blood of the basilisk.

The fruit can now be called the Snake King Fruit.

"The basilisk's blood has been absorbed into the fruit. Would you like to try one?"

Even if Helga hadn't said that, Rice would have still tried one.

As he reached out to the potted plant, preparing to pluck a king fruit, a magical scene unfolded: a king fruit fell from the branch and landed perfectly in Rice's palm.

"Salazar, this fruit is destined for you," Helga said with a smile. This was the compatibility she had mentioned earlier. Clearly, Salazar's compatibility with the Basilisk Fruit was extremely high, to the point that the fruit was actively drawn to him.

Rice smiled upon hearing this: That's right, the snake kings that provide blood are all raised by ourselves.

"What happens if the compatibility isn't good enough?"

"The fruit is difficult to pick; the greater the force used, the heavier the backlash will be, and it may even be life-threatening."

Rice nodded and swallowed the fruit he had picked.

The fruit entered his mouth and instantly turned into a slurry, which then transformed into a magical force that lingered in Rice's stomach.

Rice's features immediately scrunched up.

It's not that this fruit has any severe side effects, but rather that it's so bitter that it feels like eating a whole snake gallbladder raw.

"Come, do as I do." Seeing Salazar eat the fruit, Helga passed on the spell incantation she had developed to him.

For those who understand the flow of magic, transformation can be achieved simply by using their own magic to manipulate the magic from the fruit. However, Helga also considered that most wizards do not understand the science of magic flow, so she created a set of hand gestures and incantations based on modern wizarding spells to ensure that wizards who cannot manipulate magic can also transform.

"The magic to become the snake king!" With the incantation and gestures, Rice felt the magic in his abdomen being driven to his limbs and bones, and his skin became itchy as a result.

A few seconds later, his body was covered in snake scales, and his eyes turned into snake pupils.

"Not bad, the legs haven't changed much, so it won't have too much of an impact." Under the influence of the Snake King Fruit, Rice's legs have become much thinner, but they haven't merged into one and turned into a snake's tail.

"I wonder how much of the Serpent King's power this Serpent Transformation Magic will allow me to retain?" A thought flashed through Rice's mind.

"We'll find out soon enough." Helga was prepared; she took a small white mouse from her bosom and tossed it to Rice from behind.

Rice picked up the white mouse, placed it in front of him, and looked it in the eye.

The next moment, Rice felt the rat in his hand stiffen and become unable to move. However, it was not dead, but petrified, and could be awakened with a potion made from mandrake.

Although he didn't inherit the Basilisk's Death Perception magic, Rice was still quite satisfied.

In battle, there's little difference between petrification and death by instinct. The Snake King's weaknesses also apply; the Snake Transformation Magic remains, and as long as you don't look directly into its eyes, you won't be petrified.

Thinking about this, Rice had another idea.

He asked Helga for another white mouse. This time, instead of looking directly at it, he conjured a smooth icicle and looked at the mouse through it.

This time, the mice only stiffened for a moment before regaining their vitality.

"The power of the magic diminishes with each reflection, just as I expected." Rice completed his experiment.

About three minutes later, Rice returned to human form.

"It's a bit too short." Rice was slightly dissatisfied with the duration of the transformation magic.

Three minutes is enough time to determine the winner in a one-on-one fight, but it's not enough for a large-scale team battle.

Hearing Salazar's words, Helga couldn't help but roll her eyes: The old viper makes it sound so easy, how could he know the hardships behind the research and development?

How difficult is it to turn a living person into an animal, especially a top-tier magical creature like a basilisk? Salazar's ability to last three minutes was already beyond Helga's expectations.

After Rice's attempt succeeded, Helga also poured Phoenix Blood at the base of the tree. This time, several more Phoenix Fruits appeared on the sapling.

Unfortunately, neither the Phoenix Fruit nor the Basilisk Fruit is compatible with Helga.

"It's alright, we still have Rowena's dragon blood," Rice comforted her. "Maybe dragon fruit will be a good match for you then?"

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.

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(End of this chapter)