Rice, who has a little knowledge of magic

Chapter 16 Rice, who has a little knowledge of magic

The train gradually picked up speed, and the couple, Lupert and Granger, standing on the platform, slowly became three indistinct black dots. Then the train turned a corner, and all three of them disappeared.

Hermione sat back down in her seat and took a thick, heavy book out of her bag.

"Hogwarts: A History of the School" tells the story of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its history. I really enjoy reading it, and you can read it if you have time.

"I've already seen it, and it's very interesting. It helps you understand what happened in the era after the four founders."

Rice wasn't lying. He bought the book without hesitation after seeing it at Flourish and Blotts. It was also the first book he finished reading in Diagon Alley—although it had over a thousand pages, Rice devoured the massive volume in just two days and one night.

While reading this book, Hogwarts' thousand-year history unfolded before him like a scroll, allowing Rice to glimpse what Hogwarts would be like after he and his friends left.

It's like a sapling, growing little by little, becoming the kind of tree the planter hoped it would become.

"Really? That's great!" Hermione was overjoyed to learn that Rice had read "Hogwarts: A History of the School." She couldn't suppress her desire to discuss the book with Rice, but before she could speak, their conversation was interrupted by two uninvited guests.

The carriage door was suddenly pulled open, and a delicate, doll-like silver-haired girl appeared at the doorway, pushing a pile of boxes.

It was Daphne, the elder of the Greengrass sisters whom Rice had met in Boginbok.

"All the other seats are full, may I sit here?"

Although it was a question, Daphne didn't think she would be refused. Without waiting for Rice and Hermione's reply, she pushed the stack of boxes into the box. Only after she was fully inside did she notice that the person sitting in the box was the same person she had met in Knockturn Alley.

"It's you!?" She was extremely surprised.

In Daphne's mind, there were hardly any decent people in Knockturn Alley, and Rice and Rupert were probably the same. But who would have thought that Rice was actually a student at Hogwarts? What's even more outrageous is that he was a first-year student!

How absurd it is that someone who is chatting with his father in a shop in Knockturn Alley that specializes in selling dark magic items is not even old enough to go to school!

Her mouth was so open it could almost fit a baguette.

"What a small world, isn't it?" Rice was very welcoming of Daphne's arrival.

It's better to have a private room full of acquaintances than a large group of strange strangers.

"Yes, what a small world!" Daphne exclaimed from the bottom of her heart.

She decided to write a letter to her father as soon as she got to school, telling him about her experience on the train that day. She bet her father would never guess who they had met.

She grabbed the top piece of luggage with both hands, stood on tiptoe, and struggled to lift it onto the luggage rack.

Rice silently took out his wand, pointed at the pile of luggage that was more than half a person high, and the luggage floated into the air on its own, landing steadily on the luggage rack and arranging itself in a neat row.

Hermione: !

"Did you just use a levitation charm?" Rice asked immediately after she finished dealing with her luggage and sat back down.

"Of course."

"But I didn't hear you chanting the spell..." Hermione said uncertainly.

What just happened happened too fast for her to be sure if Rice had chanted a spell, but she was certain that Rice had used the levitation spell they would be learning this semester.

"Oh, really? Maybe you didn't notice—Daphne, where's your sister? Why didn't Mr. Greengrass come to see you off?" Rice tried to steer the conversation away from the topic.

Silent and staffless spellcasting had almost become instinctive for him, but considering his age and the difficulty of these two types of spellcasting, this operation was a bit too amazing, which was not a good thing for Rice, who did not want to attract too much attention.

Hopefully no one will notice.

Rice glanced at Daphne without leaving a trace, and seeing that she didn't seem to notice what he had just done, he felt relieved. At the same time, he secretly decided: in the future, I should still put on an act in front of others, even if it's just to say something to fool them.

"My sister is too young to start school yet; she's two years younger than me. My father took her to the hospital today, so I came alone—but I have our family's house-elf with me, so it's not so bad."

Although she said it wasn't that bad, Kles could still detect a hint of regret on Daphne's face. She was silent for a moment, then said, "Thank you for the candles, they worked very well. My sister has been sleeping soundly these past few nights and hasn't had any nightmares."

Daphne has had a tough time too.

Hermione could hardly sympathize with Daphne's plight; her mind was now filled with the spell Rice had just used.

After Daphne finished speaking, she eagerly asked, "Have you previewed the spells we'll be using this semester? You seem to know a lot about various spells..."

"No, I only know a little bit."

This statement is completely unconvincing.

Seeing that Rice admitted she "knew" spells, Hermione immediately became interested: "I also tried learning quite a few spells during the holidays. Do you have any magic you're particularly good at?"

Rice blinked: "You asked me what I'm best at? My answer is that I'm best at the magic of preserving ice cream."

what?

Hermione initially thought there was something wrong with her hearing, but when Rice pulled out three large boxes of steaming ice cream from somewhere, she suddenly realized she hadn't misheard.

"Want to try some?" Rice picked up a box of yogurt ice cream and pushed the other two boxes toward Hermione and Daphne.

"How did you do that? I remember that one of the five basic principles of transmutation clearly states that transmutation cannot conjure food out of thin air." Hermione exclaimed in surprise at Rice's actions, and even Daphne, who considered herself knowledgeable, widened her eyes—she had never seen such magic before.

The fundamental principles of the magical world were overturned right before their eyes.

"It didn't just appear out of thin air. I simply combined a few not-too-complex spells to achieve this effect. I've said before that I know a little about magic."

The Freeze Spell is simply a simple application of the Unseen Expansion Spell.

A series of shocks left Hermione and Daphne numb. They carefully picked up the ice cream from the table and each tasted a little.

The cool, sweet taste told them that it was all real.

Most importantly, this ice cream is really delicious.

(End of this chapter)