Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 519 Rice: The Target is the Department of Mysteries, Ministry of Magic

After the order was given, the organization members were finally able to leave.

With a series of apparition explosions, Azkaban returned to tranquility, and Rice could begin to renovate his castle—Azkaban had previously been a prison and was not very habitable, so Rice wanted to modify the floor where he lived to make it habitable.

The news of the birth of a new Dark Lord was spread by these former Death Eaters, now members of the Serpent Organization.

They brought two pieces of news to the wizarding world, one good and one bad.

The good news is that Voldemort is dead.

The bad news is that he died in a civil war between the Dark Lords. The new Dark Lord is stronger, younger, and more ambitious.

Lesnar's slogan, "Explore the ultimate in magic and make the magical world great again," is also well-known.

The magical world was immediately thrown into panic.

Rice's slogans sound normal, but when you think about them in the context of his current status, they become quite frightening.

"Exploring the ultimate in magic" is just a euphemism for "I want to study dark magic extensively." As for "making the magical world great again," that's blatant pure-blood supremacy, without even a pretense.

The Ministry of Magic was already in chaos due to Fudge's assassination attempt, and now it has completely lost its normal functions, until that man appeared.

Dumbledore arrived at the Ministry of Magic in time, stabilized the situation, and calmed everyone down.

He then launched a new election for Minister of Magic.

Normally, the Minister for Magic would be succeeded by the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. However, the current situation is different; the wizarding world is shrouded in the shadow of the Dark Lord, so the officials of the Ministry of Magic urgently need a strong and capable minister.

Scrimgeour from the Auror office stood out and was nominated as the new Minister for Magic.

After the election, the members of the Snake Organization gathered together at Lucius's estate without any apparent hesitation.

"Lucius, congratulations!" Little Avery congratulated Lucius with a flattering smile.

During Voldemort's time, Lucius was a core Death Eater with close ties to the Dark Lord. Logically, with a new emperor comes a new court, and under the new Dark Lord, a confidant like him should have been alienated. But who would have thought that the new Dark Lord would be his nephew!

He's no longer a confidant of the previous dynasty, he's become a member of the imperial family!

With most of the Death Eaters having been sent to meet Voldemort by His Majesty, Lucius naturally became the absolute core of the new organization, second only to the leader.

Of course, Avery was also testing Lucius with his words. After all, even if Rhys Lint had started studying dark magic during his prenatal education, he wouldn't have reached this point.

Little Avery also wanted to find out what had happened.

"I wouldn't dare say that he's my nephew..." Lucius gave a wry smile, then slowly revealed Rice's true identity to everyone.

Organization members: ?!

"Slytherin? How is that possible!" Most people were incredulous at first upon hearing the news, because Salazar Slytherin was a wizard from a thousand years ago. How could he have survived to this day?

Despite their inability to understand it, after a moment of calm reflection, they were surprised to find that the explanation was quite reasonable.

"And your nephew...?" old Crabbe asked.

Lucius sighed, leaving everything unsaid.

Everyone understood: Salazar Slytherin possessed the body of Lucius's nephew when he was resurrected.

Now not many people envy Lucius.

High status? He traded his nephew's life for it!

After hearing Lucius's words, everyone was completely convinced that Rhys was Salazar Slytherin himself, because his methods were truly wicked.

Is there any more evil magic than directly taking someone's life and replacing it?

After the group members dispersed, Lint Manor welcomed a new guest: Henry Greengrass, who came for his daughter Astoria.

After hearing Henry's request, Lucius was speechless: "Brother, don't you have a clear understanding of your own identity? That potion recipe looks extremely complicated. Why would the Dark Lord help you heal your daughter?"

However, considering Henry's status, Lucius agreed to pass on a message for Henry.

To his astonishment, the Dark Lord not only agreed to cure Henry's daughter, but also kept Astoria by his side after the treatment, intending to personally teach her magic.

Suddenly, the attitude of the Snake Organization members toward Mr. Henry underwent a subtle change.

……

Dumbledore acted like a dam, firmly keeping the storms of the outside world outside the school, and Hogwarts campus life remained peaceful and tranquil.

The only drawback was that, perhaps due to his advanced age and declining memory, or perhaps because his previous reputation was so bad that he couldn't find a scapegoat, Dumbledore didn't find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for Hogwarts.

A terrible thought crossed the minds of many young wizards: Could it be... no way! Umbridge becoming a professor is unacceptable! If possible, please let her wait until I graduate before becoming a ghost professor!

But that's just how cruel reality is.

The Hogwarts professors actually agreed to let Umbridge's ghost teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for a year.

Then Umbridge vividly demonstrated to the young wizards what it meant to be hated by everyone, and she even single-handedly reversed Peeves's reputation.

"This can't go on any longer." After a Defense Against the Dark Arts class that was as boring as the history of magic, Harry called Hermione and Ron together and spoke to them very seriously.

"What?" Ron didn't react for a moment.

"We can't waste any more time! The current Defense Against the Dark Arts is a complete garbage, it's no help to us at all!" Harry became agitated. "The Dark Lord—I mean, Rice's power is growing every day, and Voldemort isn't really dead, I'm sure of it!"

Ron and Hermione were terrified.

The previous events are understandable; although Rice and his followers haven't made any moves recently, they are still dark wizards after all.

The fall of Azkaban is a prime example; Ras Lint, or rather, the monster posing as Ras Lint, is no pushover. Once he consolidates Voldemort's remaining forces, he will undoubtedly launch a new and even more ferocious offensive.

But they didn't quite understand the last sentence. Wasn't Voldemort already confirmed to be dead?

"Have you forgotten what happened in second grade? I'm wondering if Voldemort might have left behind other similar items?"

Hermione's expression turned horrified.

"If that's the case, then that's terrible. One Rice was enough for us, and now there's another Voldemort lurking in the shadows..."

"What are you talking about?" Godric suddenly appeared, startling all three of them.

After Harry told Godric his theory, Godric gave the three of them a strange look.

"Haven't you heard of Horcruxes?" he asked curiously.

Harry and his two companions had never even heard of Horcruxes, which greatly surprised him.

It's understandable that Harry and Ron, who don't read much, don't know, but how come they don't even know Hermione? It seems that there are indeed some problems with Hogwarts' magical education.

Godric gave Harry a detailed explanation of what Horcruxes were, which greatly excited Harry.

"That's right! That's exactly it! An evil wizard like Voldemort must have created more than one Horcrux!"

Although Harry's doubts were answered, his anxiety only increased—there really were two Dark Lords eyeing Hogwarts now.

"We can't waste any more time," Harry decided.

On the surface, Ras Lint reigns supreme in Azkaban, amassing power; behind the scenes, Voldemort clings to life with Horcruxes, plotting his own demise. In this perilous environment, how could Harry possibly allow himself to waste a year learning some damn Defense Against Magic theory?

Are you trying to hypnotize Rice by reciting the textbook when you fight him in the future?

Godric watched Harry with great interest, wanting to see how the young wizard would break the current deadlock.

To be fair, Godric thought Dumbledore's handling of the recent events was terrible, childish as a child.

If he hadn't known that the ultimate villain was Salazar, he would have been furious long ago.

First, Dumbledore allowed Fudge to continue smearing him for two months during the summer vacation, putting him and Harry in a very passive position in terms of public opinion; second, he failed to make a strong response when the Ministry of Magic tried to intervene in the operation of Hogwarts, which made Godric, as the founder, very dissatisfied.

When Fudge was killed by Salazar, Dumbledore made another mistake: the new Minister of Magic was actually elected!

Upon learning this, Godric could hardly believe his ears. Even he felt that at this critical juncture, a more reliable person from his own side should be recommended for leadership.

This Scrimgeour may seem like a hardliner, but Godric could tell at a glance that he was actually incredibly soft.

Salazar openly conquered Azkaban and established his power there, but Salazar made no reaction whatsoever, acting as if nothing had happened.

To reiterate, if Godric hadn't known that Salazar was behind this, he would have already joined forces with Helga to overthrow Scrimgeour's rule and then gathered all their strength to head straight for Azkaban to fight the forces of darkness to the death.

Salazar is clear-headed on important matters, which is why Godric has remained restrained.

But there is no doubt that Godric believed Dumbledore was unfit to be a righteous leader.

There may be a reason, such as his advanced age, but that's just a reason and doesn't change the conclusion.

Harry didn't notice Godric's change in expression; he was currently deep in thought about how to handle the situation.

He just felt he should do something, but he didn't know how.

However, Ron and Hermione realized the situation much earlier than he did. After processing the series of explosive news, the two quickly found a way to break the deadlock.

Both of them turned their gazes toward Harry without prior arrangement.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"We need a qualified Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, someone who can teach us to use spells and correct our mistakes."

Harry's first thought was Lupin the werewolf, but Lupin was always busy working for the Order of the Phoenix, and as an outsider, he couldn't attend Hogwarts. If he were to attend classes, he could only do so during Hogsmeade's open days, which wasn't nearly enough time for instruction.

"It's you." Hermione revealed the truth, startling both Harry and Godric—Godric had thought it was coming for him.

"Me? Hermione, are you kidding me—"

"Harry, you retrieved the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort in your first year; in your second year, you defeated Riddle and killed the Basilisk left behind by Salazar Slytherin—"

"Wait! What did you say?" Godric couldn't sit still any longer. "You killed Salazar's snake king?!"

Harry, Harry, and their two friends looked at Godric with strange expressions, as if to say, "Dude, are you serious?"

Godric's face stiffened, feeling an immense headache coming on.

That snake king has been with Salazar for a long time; he treasures it dearly. If Salazar finds out about this, he'll be in big trouble.

He gave a few perfunctory replies, managing to fool Harry and the other two.

Harry and his two friends didn't pay any attention to Godric's strange behavior; they had other things to argue about.

Harry thought Hermione's words were a joke. In his first year, he killed Quirrell because of the magic his mother left on him. In his second year, he fought the Basilisk and the Horcruxes, and it was Fawkes the Phoenix who did the damage. He was just helping to finish them off.

"But what about the year before last? You single-handedly fought off a hundred Dementors!" Ron exclaimed emotionally. "Last year, you even escaped from under Mystic's nose!"

"Viktor used to say that you had magic that even he didn't know, even though he was a senior at Durmstrang back then."

"You're still in contact with him?" Ron looked at Hermione suspiciously, but Hermione ignored him.

"So it's actually quite suitable for you to teach everyone magic!"

Godric watched with great interest as the three young wizards chattered and argued incessantly.

He seemed to see the four of them when they were young, just like them, so young and adorable.

Ultimately, Harry was persuaded. After a fierce internal struggle, he agreed to his two friends' suggestion.

But a new problem arose: where should they practice spells? If they were to teach, they would need a place, right?

At this moment, Godric, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up.

"I do know of a venue; would you like to come with me to check it out?"

"Um?"

……

While Harry and his friends were busy with their own redemption, Rice was also routinely meeting with his organization members.

Among the intelligence reports submitted by everyone, one piece caught Rice's attention.

"The Hall of Prophecy? Interesting." He looked up and instructed the organization members seated at the head of the long table, "Our next target is the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of 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.

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The next update will be at midnight tomorrow night.

(End of this chapter)