Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 469 Snake and Eagle

"Vienna schnitzel!" Dumbledore picked up the menu in front of him and read it clearly, and a schnitzel appeared on the plate in front of him.

It was still the same ordering system, and everyone present was already used to it, so they picked up the menus and began to choose their favorite foods.

This ordering system means that the house-elves in the kitchen have to do a heavier workload, as they need to deliver the prepared dishes to the correct locations in a very short time.

With thousands of people in the Great Hall, dozens of commands were issued every second after a quick glance at the menu. This was undoubtedly a tremendous challenge, but the house-elves of Hogwarts were no pushovers either. They successfully completed the task, precisely placing one delicious dish after another onto the plates in front of the guests.

"Tuna salad, French-style baked snails, red wine braised oxtail, and bouillabaisse," Rice quickly ordered the dishes she wanted.

Four dishes appeared one after another, filling the table in front of him completely.

Rice noticed that Aries seemed a bit off. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that Aries' posture was stiff and her eyes kept glancing at the faculty seating area.

Once he saw clearly who she was looking at, Reston immediately understood.

"There's no need to be afraid. This is Hogwarts, the safest place in the world," Rice whispered, giving Aries a boost of confidence.

After calming Aries down, Rice couldn't help but complain about Rowena: "That girl is too cunning! She actually came up with this idea, and she actually managed to slip through. She didn't consider Aries' feelings at all; look how scared she was..."

Rice's reassurance worked well, and Aries quickly overcame her fear. A faint sense of anticipation even rose in her heart: if that guy attacked her here, would the guardians of Hogwarts kill him on the spot?

However, despite their thoughts, Aries wouldn't dare to provoke the other party.

The banquet began.

While enjoying his meal, Rice could also hear the chatter of the other players around him.

"Winters are much colder there than here in Durmstrang, and there aren't such big celebrations at Christmas parties. The winter nights there are very long, and you only see the sun for a short time each day. Everyone gets gloomy after a while. So almost no one chooses to stay at school during Christmas. Everyone wants to go home and vacation with their families in sunny places like the South of France." Krum clearly didn't like the Nordic climate.

"Are you feeling alright?" Hibiscus couldn't understand the pain of not being able to get any sun. She even thought that less sun exposure was quite nice. "But the South of France is indeed a great place for a vacation. The bouillabaisse there is very good, and the oysters are very fresh. You can try Spain next time; the pace of life there is more relaxed."

Krum nodded, indicating that he had remembered.

After finishing his meal, Dumbledore stood up.

"There's one more thing I need to do before the ball starts."

The students fell silent and listened attentively. As Dumbledore spoke, Mr. Henry, who was sitting next to him, took a box from under the table.

Ludo Bagman, who was standing nearby, took out his wand and tapped the lid of the box. The lid popped open automatically, revealing a golden glitter.

The box contained hundreds of golden eggs, each the size of a regular egg.

The students present craned their necks to look at the teachers' seats.

Those golden eggs instantly caught their eye.

Dumbledore drew his wand and made a half-circle in front of him. The golden eggs rose from the box and flew toward the contestants.

Each contestant received one, and Rice naturally got one too.

After the golden egg landed in front of him, Rice picked it up and examined it carefully.

The golden egg felt heavy in his hand; it was probably made of a precious metal like gold or silver. Rhys thought to himself: if this golden egg isn't recycled, the Ministry of Magic has really gone to great lengths. But knowing the Ministry of Magic's track record, it's highly unlikely they'll use pure gold.

While examining the surface of the golden egg, Rice noticed a very fine ring-shaped crack in the middle of the egg, which looked like it could be opened from the middle.

Other contestants also noticed this detail, and some were eager to open the golden egg to see its internal structure, but at that moment, Dumbledore spoke up.

"Don't rush to open them. I suggest you go back and find a secluded place before opening these golden eggs—you'll find out why when you open them." Dumbledore smiled, his eyes behind his half-moon spectacles full of kindness.

"These are relevant to your upcoming matches, and you have plenty of time to study them between the end of the party and the resumption of the matches. Now, let's enjoy the Christmas ball!"

Although Dumbledore told the contestants to enjoy the ball, after this incident, few of them were in the mood to dance. Everyone's attention was drawn to the heavy golden egg in his pocket.

Is it related to the competition? The golden egg likely contains information about the second stage of the championship. If I can decipher the information early, I can gain an advantage in the second stage of the competition.

Thinking about this, the contestants couldn't wait to go back to their dorms and unravel the secrets inside the golden egg.

Professor McGonagall gave Dumbledore a reproachful look; she felt he had completely ruined the atmosphere of the ball. The golden egg should have been distributed after the party, as she had suggested.

Dumbledore chuckled awkwardly: "This golden egg can only be given out at this point in time. We might not be able to gather everyone here by the end of the ball—many people will disappear halfway through the dance with their partners."

The students from Hogwarts are relatively easy to handle; they can simply be delivered to their bedsides by house-elves. But it's much more complicated for students from other magic schools.

To revive the atmosphere, Dumbledore waved his wand, moving some of the tables to the wall and clearing a large open space in the center of the Great Hall. A stage, set with a drum kit, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and several organs, was then conjured up by him.

Immediately afterwards, the eccentric sisters, the singing duo Dumbledore had summoned, poured into the Great Hall from the side room and hurried onto the stage. Amidst the applause of the audience, they picked up their instruments.

At this moment, the lanterns on the table went out one by one; it was time to dance.

Rice took two steps toward Aries and bowed to her.

"Honorable lady, please forgive my intrusion, would you like to dance with me?" Rice stared intently into Aries' eyes.

Even though she was talking to herself, her Aries intuition told her that it wasn't her place to answer the question.

Sure enough, Ms. Ravenclaw temporarily regained some authority and answered on her behalf, "I'm not good at dancing, so let someone who is good at it do it."

Aries really wanted to say, "Actually, I'm not good at it either," but her survival instinct made her obediently shut her mouth.

"None of us really know how," Rice blinked. "Give me a chance, the wisest lady at Hogwarts—time is running out."

The eccentric sisters had already started playing music, and if we didn't go to the dance floor soon, it would be too late.

Aries, who was being manipulated by Rowena, wanted to say something, but Rice said very seriously, "Not everyone is qualified to dance with me."

Aries wanted to respond, but suddenly everything went black, and she fell into a deep sleep, unaware of anything else.

"Okay, let's jump one." Rowena said softly.

"Just one dance." Rice nodded, stepped forward, took Rowena's hand, and walked with her toward the brightly lit dance floor.

To the slow, melancholic melody, Rice held Aries' hand in one hand and placed the other on her waist, dancing gracefully with her on the dance floor.

Helga, sitting in the shadows at a distance, smiled.

The old viper and the old raven were dancing together! She had to record this scene and show it to Godric later. Thinking this, she quickly pulled a crystal ball from her pocket, aimed it at Rice and Rowena, and started recording.

Rice noticed that among the dancers present, he and Rowena were considered to be quite proficient in the steps. Many of the other dancers weren't really dancing at all; they were more like puppets in the hands of their dance partners. If neither of them knew how to dance, they were just spinning around in circles.

Soon, the quirky sisters' opening act ended. Rice and Rowena returned to their seats together.

Then they started playing a second piece, which was much faster than the first.

Rice cast a questioning look at Rowena, who smiled and shook her head.

"It's too fast, not suitable for an old person like me."

"Nonsense, your body is still very young."

"Old-fashioned mentality".

The two of them laughed together.

"This reminds me of when we first met, you forced Godric and me to attend your family's ball..."

Rowena seemed lost in memories, a look of reminiscence on her face.

"I was in a very difficult situation back then. My family wanted to send me to a marriage alliance. I can't even remember what that marquis's son's name was. If I hadn't met you two, I might have become a reclusive marquis's wife. But it was also my duty, after all, I relied on my family to collect so many curses..."

"Isn't she a widow living alone?" Rice joked.

Rowena glanced at him.

"I probably wouldn't have done that back then, right? But who knows? If he hadn't allowed me to continue my research in magic, I might have really killed him. By the way, what did you do to him? He disappeared after that ball."

Rice smiled.

"Britain wasn't a peaceful island back then; it was teeming with Vikings—wasn't it quite normal for a nobleman to be attacked and kidnapped by barbarians on the road?"

"Vikings wielding flaming swords and poison? You really think the Marquis is a fool." Rowena waved her hand, and a glass of champagne flew into her hand. She began to sip it slowly.

"Godric's appearance, if you just dye his beard and hair black, he really does look like a Viking. But the key is to erase his tracks so that the magicians kept by those big families won't notice anything amiss." Recalling the past, Rice suddenly became smug: "I happen to know some magic with Viking characteristics."

In fact, the truth will eventually come out. Rice and Godric got into trouble because of their willfulness, but it was just a small episode in the long river of life.

Rowena didn't respond to him, and after a while, she slowly spoke.

"I initially thought that only with the help of my family could I gather all the magic in the world, but you showed me a different path... I have to thank you, otherwise I might just be sitting at home, wasting my time."

"How can you develop magic in isolation?" Rice shook his head. After two seconds, he chuckled as if he had remembered something funny.

"What are you laughing at?" Rowena narrowed her eyes, her tone becoming less friendly.

"I... saw something interesting, look—" Rice pointed to the empty center of the dance floor: Mrs. Maxim and Hagrid had just "rushed" through the crowd, creating an empty path in the otherwise packed dance floor.

Rice dared not admit to Rowena that the reason he had just laughed was to mock Rowena's original ideal of collecting all the magic in the world.

This is a very unrealistic thing, especially since Rowena was initially unwilling to even leave her family's estate.

Even though Rice didn't say it outright, Rowena knew what he was laughing about. But since he hadn't said it aloud, she didn't intend to hold it against him.

Of course, if it comes to exposing each other's dark pasts, Rowena isn't afraid.

What was the first potion Salazar Slytherin, the legendary wizard, the culprit of Ragnarok, the founder of Hogwarts Slytherin House, and one of the founders of Potions, mastered? Hint: This potion was also the one Salazar most often brewed and relied on for his livelihood in his youth.

Rowena believed that as long as she asked that question, Salazar would obediently admit defeat.

Thinking this, Rowena's initial unhappiness vanished instantly. Who hasn't had some unrealistic dreams when they were young?

Well, some people's ideals are too grand and unrealistic, while others' ideals are too down-to-earth, even seeming a bit mercenary.

Rice also made himself a glass of champagne, and halfway through, he suddenly remembered something.

"Professor White seems to be enjoying it very much," Rice said with a deep gaze. "She's really making the most of the crystal ball."

Reina acted as if she hadn't heard Rice's words, and simply continued drinking the champagne in her glass.

After she finished the entire glass of champagne, she said leisurely, "I hope she remembered to turn on the recording function."

Helga, standing not far away, had a stern face: She clearly remembered turning on the recording! How come it didn't record?!

Had she really gotten that old? Helga began to question the meaning of life.

The ball lasted until late at night.

Dumbledore was farsighted; by ten o'clock at night, the dance floor and the area around the Great Hall were almost deserted. Everyone had gone to the grottoes outside the castle to relax with their friends or dance partners. A subtle, ambiguous atmosphere hung in the air.

At times like this, trying to gather the players together is incredibly difficult and would likely offend many people.

When the clock hands broke twelve, the bells rang, and after twelve chimes, the Christmas ball finally came to an end.

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~

The next update will be at midnight.

(End of this chapter)