Chapter 397 Rice: Is it my fault that I am too strong?

When Hermione and Astoria returned with the dolls turned into parts, everyone present was stunned.

Including Les, who was hiding not far away and using magic to peek at the situation on the scene.

The puppet was still full of energy just now, and everyone thought there would be a fierce battle, but it disappeared in a flash and no one knew what happened.

Rice quickly arrived at the scene.

When he arrived at the battle scene, Daphne and Cedric were still confused, but Les quickly found out why the puppet was defeated.

The puppet still has his power. In other words, the puppet was defeated by "him".

As the person who sets the questions and the examiner, it is naturally impossible for Rice to help the candidates cheat in this exam, but the phantom Rice summoned by Hermione's domain can.

Before the exam, Rice had evaluated the Phantom's combat capabilities, but he believed that the Phantom would not cause much interference to the puppet because the Phantom was unlikely to summon its own domain.

Unexpectedly, the children's minds were quite open. They actually thought of releasing the area in the brooch and then letting the phantom control this small incomplete area.

Although the illusion has a limited duration and the field in the brooch is only an incomplete field, it is still not something the puppet can match.

After all, the secret order monks who provided the raw materials were very weak. If they used masters like Capricorn, they might be able to hold on. But that strength seemed a bit too high.

Alas, it is really difficult for me to be the one who sets the questions.

"I'm here - oh, it seems you have solved the problem." Rice's acting was good, and there were even a few beads of sweat on his forehead when he arrived at the scene.

"Les, you're here!" Seeing Les appear safe and sound, Daphne's face showed a happy smile from the bottom of her heart.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She looked at Les and asked with concern.

"I'm fine, I was just held back by the spell for a while. You guys are pretty skillful!" Les changed the subject back to the puppet.

Everyone turned their eyes to Hermione, and Hermione took the opportunity to explain to everyone what had just happened in her domain.

"Come to think of it, we were able to deal with the puppet so easily and efficiently, thanks to your help, Les." She said at the end, half seriously and half jokingly.

After these words were spoken, the four little wizards had different thoughts.

Daphne and Astoria thought this was natural. In their opinion, if Les had not been trapped by the sand ball, the puppet would have been dealt with before running into the Forbidden Forest. He was trapped not because of his lack of strength, but because he wanted to save Daphne, and it was Daphne who held him back.

Cedric was extremely shocked. He originally thought that Rice was Daphne's follower and might be one of the Slytherin heirs - although three heirs at once was a bit too many, there didn't seem to be a rule that there could only be one, and Helga didn't tell him much about Rice.

As it turned out, he was the strongest of the three. According to Miss Granger's description, he was 90% sure that Rice also possessed a complete elemental domain.

How did he do this? He is only in the third grade! Could it be that he brought the practice from his previous life with him? !

Sometimes, there is truth hidden in absurd ideas. For a moment, Cedric held Slytherin's greatest secret, but he quickly put this ridiculous idea aside.

Hermione glanced at Les with a strange look. In her opinion, things were a little strange.

Rice's phantom, combined with the incomplete domain carried by Astoria, can almost kill the puppet in an instant. The real Rice is only stronger than the phantom, so why was he trapped by the sand ball for so long?

Could it be that Rice was stalling for time on purpose? This thought flashed through Hermione's little head.

But the idea was rejected by Hermione after just a flash, because Les had no such motive.

Why did he do this? What good would it do him? Without answering these two questions, we should not doubt Rice.

"That's great. Although I couldn't make it, I fought alongside you in another way." Les had a sincere smile on his face, as if he was really happy about it.

The few young wizards did not realize the true thoughts beneath Rice's skin, and they really believed what Rice said.

"Okay, it's time to go back to Professor White's office." Rice's eyes swept across the puppet on the ground, and a hint of imperceptible depression flashed in his eyes.

Is this final exam a success or a failure?

Even though it was a failure, the illusion was also part of Hermione's strength, and Hermione had killed the puppet with her own strength. But it was difficult for Les to bite the bullet and say that the trial was a success.

The kids won too easily. Daphne and Cedric fought with all their might for less than a quarter of an hour, and Astoria was just slacking off the entire time. All their efforts were now focused on strategizing, which was different from what they had initially imagined.

However, everyone's performance was still remarkable, especially Astoria's overall view during the process, which made Rice's eyes light up.

"Perhaps it would be better to arrange separate trials in the future?" Les began to summarize and reflect. He even had the urge to send them out to hunt down the monks of the Secret Order.

Several people quickly picked up the puppet fragments on the ground and returned to Professor White's office.

"Why does Teacher White have this kind of thing here?" After returning to the office, Daphne finally began to express her inner doubts.

Everyone was silent, only Rice looked at her and suggested that she go directly to ask Professor White.

"This..." Daphne realized belatedly that she seemed to have messed up.

The evil doll in the closet is indeed the professor's secret, but it is obviously not the secret mentioned by Teacher White. I am afraid I will be punished for doing this, right?

"What should I do, Les?! I don't want to be put in solitary confinement!" Daphne was a little panicked now. She asked Les for help, hoping to get his help.

"It's not a big problem. You won't be put in detention." Daphne's reaction made Les feel a little relieved: the Gryffindor flavor on this child was finally not so strong.

According to his observation, Gryffindor students did not seem to be so afraid of detention. Although they often violated school rules, they were still relatively open when accepting punishment.

Daphne's reaction was the orthodox Slytherin operation - to find ways to reduce or lower the punishment through advance preparation. Of course, a true Slytherin would not let himself fall into this situation.

Although Les looked down on Malfoy, he agreed with a statement describing the Malfoy family: you will never see anyone from the Malfoy family at a crime scene, even if the wand used in the crime is covered with their fingerprints.

Daphne still needs to guide herself more.

Thinking of this, Rice glanced at Astoria. He was quite satisfied with this student.

He was very sure that Astoria was also curious about what was in the closet, but she was able to pick herself out of it and wash it cleanly.

"Will you really not be put in solitary confinement?" Daphne was relieved by Les's words, but she was also a little confused: thinking back on her behavior, it seemed that her behavior was not so acceptable.

"I don't think this is a serious issue." Les certainly couldn't say it. He and Helga wanted to use the Imperius Curse to control you to open the cabinet, so he could only start looking for various reasons.

"If this thing is really dangerous and important, Professor White would definitely not store it like this. When Diggory showed interest in the cabinet, she would definitely explain the pros and cons. Professor White didn't say anything, which means it's not a big problem."

"But you just told us to destroy it at all costs?" Hermione remembered what Les had said before.

Les:…

After being hit by a boomerang, he tried to make up for it, saying some nonsense like although it was not a big problem but it still couldn't get away, and finally fooled Hermione.

"What's next?" Astoria looked at Les.

"Just keep making parts. What else can you do? Daphne, if you make a few more parts, Professor White will let you go."

Rice's words inspired Daphne's motivation to work. In the following period of time, her speed in making puppet parts was almost as fast as Rice's.

This opened Rice's eyes, and he lamented that when people are forced into a desperate situation, they can do things that they cannot do under normal circumstances.

It was almost time for dinner when Helga came back.

Of course the Ministry of Magic invited her to have dinner with them, but she declined.

She was looking forward to the result of the trial. Her own Cedric should have played a crucial role, right? Driven by this mentality, Helga rushed back without stopping.

As soon as she entered the office, Helga's eyes fell on the doll that had been broken into parts. She immediately felt happy: the children had lived up to her expectations and had really found the doll!

What she feared most was returning to the office and finding that her four children were all huddled at their own stations, making parts. In that case, all her efforts would have been in vain.

Of course, she kept Salazar here just to prevent this from happening.

If it really came to the last moment, Salazar would definitely start the fight himself and open the cabinet door himself. The subsequent plot development is that he was suddenly attacked and killed by the puppet, and then the other four people present cleaned up the mess for him.

This was also a last resort, because it was too different from Salazar's usual personality.

Helga, overwhelmed by joy, did not notice the complicated look in Salazar's eyes. She was still immersed in the happiness brought by the success of her plan.

Daphne was extremely nervous when she saw Professor White come in and stare at the pieces of the doll without saying a word.

Under tremendous psychological pressure, she took the initiative to apologize to Professor White, saying that it was because of her excessive curiosity that she accidentally broke the professor's things.

Helga finally reacted and hurried to comfort Daphne, saying that it was her fault and she forgot to remind you not to open the cabinet door. It was great that you were not hurt.

Daphne heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Professor White had no intention of punishing her.

"Well, you've worked so hard, go and enjoy your vacation - Digory and Lint stay for a while." Helga seemed a little guilty for her mistake, and asked the students to go back and rest, exempting them from their work.

As for Cedric and Les who were left behind, they naturally helped her repair the doll.

After repairing the doll, Helga found a reason to send Cedric away, but Les stayed with great foresight.

"How was it?" As soon as Cedric walked away, Helga couldn't wait to ask about the children's performance.

With a complicated look on his face, Rice shared what happened with his old friend, and watched Helga's face turn from sunny to gloomy.

"You've really become capable, Salazar!" Helga said through gritted teeth, "You're really capable!"

Les:…

This is not my problem. Is it my fault that I am too strong?

"It's Miss Granger's ability that's beyond our imagination. Rowena will probably be very happy." He said in a complicated tone.

This made Helga feel even worse.

Her subconscious told her that if the little girl Granger grew up in this field, Cedric might not be her match.

Alas, I should have brought her to my own college!

It's all Salazar's fault!

If he had said something good about Hufflepuff House to Hermione when he first met her, the child probably wouldn't have gone to Ravenclaw.

Les rolled his eyes. He could tell at a glance that Helga was trying to pass on the blame.

He didn't indulge her and walked out of her office directly. He left in such a hurry that he even forgot to ask about the progress of the multi-power competition.

Not long after leaving Helga's office, Les met Neville, who looked much paler, but his whole face was filled with joy.

"Lies!" After seeing Les, Neville immediately called him and told him a good news: the compass grass that Les had given him before was saved by him!

"Oh? That's awesome!" Les was also surprised.

When he gave the compass grass to Neville, he didn't believe that he could revive it. As time passed, his attention to Neville gradually decreased, and finally he completely forgot about him.

I didn't expect that he would suddenly bring me a surprise today!

"Look!" Neville said without further ado, and directly took out a pot of green and vibrant compass grass.

"That's amazing..." Les didn't know what to say, he could only say that Neville was great.

"You've worked so hard. I don't know how to thank you." Les was already thinking about what reward to give Neville.

The flow of magic? Helga's food magic? Or Godric's training method?

However, Neville bravely made a small request - he hoped that the compass grass could remain with him for a while.

"I want to try to breed some." After he said that, he looked at Les eagerly, afraid of getting a rejection response from him.

In Rice's opinion, this doesn't even count as a reward!

Growing the herb is no simple feat. If it were so easy to grow, how could the Romans have allowed it to become extinct?

Les readily agreed to Neville's request.

"Great!" Neville was so excited that he almost jumped up and almost dropped the compass grass in his hand.

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Although it's a bit late, but here's the update~