Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 47 Malfoy Wants a Substitute

People's fates are all different. While Harry and Malfoy accepted Madam Hooch's "verdict" with gloomy expressions, Daphne was in the spotlight.

Her feat of flying directly into the sky had already spread throughout the academy, and everyone was eager to know how she did it. Perhaps they could ask the young girl and maybe even learn the spell themselves?

You can fly with a flying broom, but it's a broom that's about the same height as you, so it's not suitable to carry around. It would be so cool to learn flying magic—classes like astronomy and divination, which are held in towers, could be taken directly by flying up there.

After parting ways with Professor McGonagall, Daphne encountered Rice waiting for her in a corner. Recalling the words Rice had taught her, Daphne explained that the spell came from a scroll she had found in her attic. Miraculously, after reading the contents of the scroll, it automatically destroyed itself, and Daphne automatically mastered the spell.

Because Daphne's lineage and background are among the best in Slytherin, everyone would believe her even if she said that the spell was taught to her by a portrait of Slytherin.

An ancient magical family has some collections that people don't understand or have never heard of. Isn't that normal?

Some knowledgeable students also chimed in, suggesting that in ancient times, even before the Middle Ages, ancient wizards did indeed use this method to pass down their invented spells. The scroll Daphne mentioned is most likely the flying magic passed down from an ancient wizard. The ancestors of the Greengrass family, by chance, obtained a scroll of inheritance, but for various reasons, it was never used, and its existence was forgotten by later generations. It was passed down through generations until it was finally opened by Daphne, a person destined to find it.

Listening to the young wizards' clear and logical analysis, Rice couldn't help but scratch his head: the performance of these little guys made him suspect that even if Daphne said that the spell was taught to her by Slytherin, they could find a reasonable explanation.

Slytherins possess extraordinary magical abilities, so these feats are quite common for them.

Isn't it perfectly normal for a pure-blood family like the Greengrass to be favored by Slytherin?

[If Gryffindor is allowed to keep the Sorting Hat, why can't Slytherin keep the legacy of spells?]

……

"That's how it is, Albus." Professor McGonagall, sitting on the faculty table, recounted everything she had witnessed that afternoon to Dumbledore.

"Oh? I didn't expect Harry to have such Quidditch talent." After hearing Professor McGonagall's words, Dumbledore immediately put down his spoon, his expression serious. "I think we can recruit him into the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

McGonagall fell silent.

She hadn't expected Dumbledore's focus to be so unusual, and besides, his serious expression was clearly out of place with the topic he was discussing!

"I've already made up my mind, Albus. Daphne, that child—"

"Everyone has their own secrets, including myself. I don't think it's necessary to pry into everyone's secrets. Besides, isn't it normal for the Greengrass children to know some special magic?"

Professor McGonagall sighed. Since Dumbledore was willing to think that way, she was willing to trust his judgment. It was enough that he knew about it.

However, there is one last question.

"Where are the brooms? I don't understand why they all went out of control."

"I tend to think this was a magical outburst from a young wizard. Minerva, you should know that there are many kinds of magical outbursts," Dumbledore's eyes briefly lost their sparkle, but then returned to normal, so much so that McGonagall, sitting next to him, didn't even notice the change in his expression. "Some young wizards cause a great commotion, while others just quietly make glass disappear or withered flowers bloom. Perhaps this incident was caused by one of the children. They've only been in school for less than two weeks, which is quite normal."

This isn't a bad thing. We can ask the school board to allocate funds to replace those flying brooms that haven't been replaced in decades.

Professor McGonagall scoffed. "That's going to be difficult. I think they're more likely to find a broom 'expert' and issue a quality certificate for these brooms, proving that they're still safe to use."

The incident during flight class was put to rest. The culprit of the accident successfully hid itself in the shadows beneath Daphne, like a snake waiting to strike, its tracks impossible to detect.

……

"Accept him." Upon hearing Malfoy's challenge to a duel, Ron made the decision for Harry without a second's hesitation.

"A true man cannot refuse a duel; I will be your assistant."

Harry nodded. Even without Ron's persuasion, he would have agreed, because he didn't want to miss the chance to beat Malfoy up—he didn't understand wizard duels, but he knew a lot about them.

"What is a wizard duel? What are the rules?"

Harry frowned after hearing Ron's explanation.

"You can only use a wand? You'll have to take over the fight after I die?"

"Don't panic. You two know too little magic to really hurt each other—Malfoy can only shoot sparks with his little stick at best; his fists are more effective than your wands." Ron calmly analyzed Malfoy's sinister intentions for Harry.

"He must have thought you would refuse so he could go around laughing at you." Ron analyzed Malfoy's thoughts very thoroughly. "It's a good thing you don't know much about wizard duels. If it were me, I might have really been intimidated by him."

"Should I accept his invitation?"

"certainly!"

Ron's analysis was correct. The next day, after Potions class, Malfoy was clearly a little surprised to learn that Harry had accepted his invitation. After a couple of seconds, he said, "Very well, see you tonight in the Prize Room. It's never locked."

He left in a hurry without even having a chance to confirm Harry's choice of assistant.

"I envy you, Harry. You finally got a legitimate chance to beat up Malfoy." Ron said with an envious expression.

Just thinking about that scene made Harry unable to suppress the smile on his face.

Under his cousin Dudley's "training," he became quite good at fighting. The reason he was always at a disadvantage was because Dudley was several weight classes above him.

Malfoy did not seek help from his henchman, but instead found Rice in the library.

"Rice, I want you to be my duel assistant." He didn't wait for Daphne next to Rice to say anything to dismiss her, and directly stated his purpose.

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)