Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts.

Chapter 52 Practical Training

After experiencing his first setback in life, Malfoy toned down his arrogance considerably, even reducing the number of times he spoke loudly in the Great Hall, let alone actively causing trouble for Harry and Rice.

He didn't provoke anyone, and Rice and Harry didn't cause trouble either, so life at Hogwarts suddenly became peaceful and harmonious.

Attending classes, reading books, teaching, and enjoying delicious food and desserts became Rice's daily life at Hogwarts.

His life was very structured: he would skip classes on Mondays to rest, audit professors' classes from Tuesday to Friday to gain a deeper understanding of the modern magical world, and teach Daphne magic on Saturdays and Sundays.

Although he was supposed to be enjoying life, Rice didn't just lie around doing nothing. He did two big things: First, he cleaned the corridor outside the secret room thoroughly. Second, he added another seal to the sealed area of ​​the dungeon to prevent any monsters from actually breaking through the seal and escaping.

Adding a new seal is a reluctant compromise, similar to knowing that the bottom of the ship is leaking, but due to limited resources, the only option is to add a watertight door to the hull.

In any case, it's better than doing nothing.

"Your talent amazes me." Looking at the feather floating in mid-air, Rice was full of praise.

Today, Professor Flitwick taught the young wizards the Levitation Charm. It is a magical spell that can make objects float through specific gestures and incantations, from feathers to human bodies.

But Rice would bet his entire honor that Daphne didn't use any magic to make this feather float up.

"Of course—Yugalem Ledeosa!" Daphne chanted the spell while playing with the feathers in the air.

Rice: ...

"Please, I'm begging you, keep your voice down! Even if you can't remember the punctuation, at least remember the incantation correctly!" He said, half-laughing and half-crying, "It's Yuga-Dimlevi-O-Sa."

"Just tell me, did the feather float up or not?"

Rice felt that Daphne seemed to have been led astray by him; compared to modern wizards, she had a stronger shadow of ancient wizards.

Fortunately, Professor Flitwick didn't notice Daphne's version of the Levitation Charm, otherwise things would have been much more complicated.

"You still need to learn modern magic; you'll gain more by comparing and contrasting it with other techniques," Rice advised her.

"Oh." Daphne nodded, though it was unclear whether she had actually heard her.

"By the way," Daphne changed the subject after getting tired of playing with the feathers, "I've almost mastered the offensive magic you taught me. What will you teach me next?"

After learning flight and defensive magic, Daphne learned a powerful offensive spell from Rice. In the Middle Ages, a wizard of her level would have been cannon fodder on the battlefield.

"You've learned quite a bit," Rhys stroked his chin twice. "It's time to arrange a practical assessment for you. A wizard who hasn't experienced real combat is nothing more than a potted plant in a flowerpot."

During the teaching process, Rice once made the snake sculpture in the secret room move to serve as a target for Daphne, but this was obviously not within the scope of actual combat.

Should the child go to the Forbidden Forest, or train in the dungeon? Rice was slightly conflicted. Going to the Forbidden Forest would be a waste of time, but as long as he didn't venture too deep, the risk wouldn't be high. The sealed area of ​​the dungeon was the opposite; the uncertainty was too great, and if he was unlucky, he might encounter a dark creature far too powerful as soon as he entered.

Upon hearing that she would be participating in actual combat, Daphne showed an eager expression, wanting to know how strong she was now.

"No rush, let me think about it carefully."

This consideration began on Tuesday and continued until Halloween Eve.

After his flight lesson, Rice returned to the castle and sniffed the air. He smelled a sweet and enticing aroma of roasted pumpkin.

"What an enticing aroma!" he exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.

The aroma of roasted pumpkin reminded him that Halloween was approaching.

"Do you know the origin of Halloween?" Rice asked abruptly.

Daphne, who was following behind him, paused for a moment. She hadn't really thought about this question in depth. All she knew was that Halloween was a witch's festival, and on Halloween Eve, her father would light pumpkin lanterns at home and prepare a lavish dinner and gifts for her and her sister.

Rice looked around and took in the clear-eyed silliness of his classmates; it seemed that no one else knew the origin of Halloween either.

"This is a Celtic holiday," Rice patiently explained to the students about the original form of Halloween.

The Celts held a harvest celebration on New Year's Eve, a celebration for both the living and the dead. On New Year's Eve, under the influence of celestial phenomena, the boundary between the underworld and the human world would become blurred, and the souls of the deceased would return to the human world. Therefore, the Celts would light bonfires and lamps, celebrating all night to drive away evil spirits and reunite with the souls of their loved ones, guiding them back to the underworld at dawn.

This festival did not disappear with the demise of the Celts. The Roman Empire and the Christian Church inherited this tradition until the boundary between the human world and the underworld was artificially defined. Halloween gradually changed beyond recognition and became a fun festival of "trick or treat".

Rice's mention of the underworld piqued the interest of his classmates, who chattered excitedly about its existence. Rice, however, fell silent, shrinking to the side and smiling without saying a word.

The four of them made a small but significant contribution to how Halloween has evolved into what it is today. Although the separation between the mortal world and the underworld was an inevitable trend, they certainly gave it a push.

The Halloween dinner at Hogwarts did not disappoint Rice. The entire Great Hall was decorated with a great atmosphere. Thousands of bats flapped their wings on the walls and ceiling, and thousands of dark clouds hovered above the tables. The wind they created caused the candle flames in the pumpkin lanterns to flicker, adding a touch of less scary eeriness to the Great Hall.

As for the food, it was as excellent as ever; Rice had become desensitized to it.

Just as Rice picked up a bowl of coconut and corn porridge, Professor Quirrell suddenly burst into the dining room, his face filled with terror. He stumbled to Professor Dumbledore's chair, leaned against the table, and gasped, "The trolls—in the underground classroom—you should know that."

After saying that, he collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.

Troll?

Everyone heard it, and the restaurant erupted into chaos. Professor Dumbledore had to use a spell to create several ear-piercing firework explosions before everyone quieted down.

"Prefect," he said in a deep voice, "take all the students in your college to their dormitories immediately."

The well-trained prefects immediately organized the evacuation of the students in their college.

Listening to the commotion around him, Rice raised an eyebrow: regardless of how this giant got in, he sensed a very good aura of training.

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)