Chapter 106 Christmas Vacation
Approximately two weeks after the Daily Prophet announced that Cornelius Fudge would become the next Minister of Magic, the Daily Prophet’s betting rewards arrived by owl postman.
It was still snowing outside, and the owl postmen crowded into the auditorium as usual.
Among them, an owl threw a frost-covered envelope in front of Albert. After a moment, another owl dropped a heavy-looking animal skin bag on the table in front of Albert. The dull metal sound suddenly attracted the attention of other people around him.
Albert reached out and picked up the animal skin bag, weighed it twice, and after listening to the crisp sound inside, he guessed what was in the animal skin bag.
He did not open the animal skin bag on the spot, but put it into his backpack. Then, he took out his wand and used a drying charm to remove the frost on the envelope, then opened the envelope and read the contents inside.
The letter reads:
Congratulations, Mr. Albert Anderson.
You won a 100 Galleons reward in the contest for "The Next Minister of Magic", please sign for it. —Barnabas Guffey
NOTE: Do not open the hide bag before signing, it is enchanted to ensure that Albert himself receives the galleons.
Within the envelope was another piece of parchment, a magical contract ensuring that the money was signed by Albert himself.
If anyone else tries to take money that does not belong to them from the animal skin bag, they will get into trouble. As for what the trouble is, the letter does not say it. Albert guesses that it may be some kind of curse or some kind of tracking magic. , allowing them to find the thief who stole the money.
Albert wanted to keep this secret as low-key as possible, but secrets would always spread like wildfire.
Soon after, all the teachers and students in the school knew that he had participated in the Daily Prophet's betting activity and won a large sum of gold galleons.
As for how much?
No one knew the specific amount. Some said 50 Galleons, some said 100 Galleons, and some guessed 200 Galleons. In the end, George couldn't help but tell the truth, which made a lot of people envious.
Every time someone talks about this, their tone is so sour that it almost corrodes a big hole in the ground.
"Now, everyone calls you "Lucky Albert."" Shanna sat in front of Albert, turned around and asked, "What do you think?"
"It's good. I like this title, and I hope I can continue to be lucky, and maybe I can win another jackpot." Albert said with a smile.
“You can lie down on the table and sleep for a while, maybe you can dream about winning the jackpot.” Shanna couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
"My luck has always been good." Albert took out his wand, waved it in front of a few people, and continued: "Mr. Ollivander told me that wands made of redwood will bring magic to the user. As luck would have it, my wand is made of redwood."
“Can redwood trees bring luck?” Angelina looked suspicious, obviously not believing this.
"There is indeed such a saying. It is said that the wand made of redwood can bring luck to the user, so this kind of wand is very popular among wizards." Katrina looked at Albert up and down with strange eyes, " Of course, some people think this is pure nonsense.”
“Of course it’s true, I guessed it right with the help of my wand.” Albert said as if my wand could really bring luck.
Li Jordan's face next to him was twitching slightly. In their memory, that was really what happened. At that time, Albert just "placed the wand vertically on the table and let it fall freely to one side", and then inexplicably decided to put 25 Galleons on Cornelius Fudge.
When Fred told everyone about the situation, everyone was stunned and looked like you are **** kidding me.
What kind of cool operation is this? Is this the correct way to win the jackpot?
However, this matter did not allow everyone to discuss it for too long, and the Christmas holidays were quietly approaching.
After Albert packed his luggage, he took the school's Thestral Carriage along the snow-covered road to the station of Hogsmeade.
“What are you doing?” George asked in confusion. He saw Albert reaching towards the front of the carriage.
“Is there something pulling the cart?” The three of them were shocked, but the footprints on the snow were indeed the best evidence, the invisible horses.
“The Thestral.” Albert whispered, “It is said that only those who have seen death can see the Thestral.”
"I've heard of these creatures. They are very unlucky." Li Qiaodan tried to pull Albert away from the Thestrals and whispered, "I heard that these creatures will bring terrible disasters to those who see them. , is a bad omen.”
"You are overthinking. Thestrals are a kind of Pegasus. Their bad reputation is related to the dead. Otherwise, do you think Hogwarts would use them to pull carts?" Albert couldn't help but roll his eyes at Li Jordan and pulled him. My luggage entered the express train and I was ready to find an unoccupied carriage to rest.
Looking at the leaping scenery outside the window, Albert was in a good mood. Along the way, a few people ate snacks and chatted about what they wanted to do during the Christmas vacation.
When I was bored, I also played Bibi’s All-flavored Bean Adventure proposed by Fred. This game is to close your eyes, randomly pick up a Bibi multi-flavor bean and put it into your mouth to see who is unlucky enough to get the strange taste.
Lee Jordan was the unluckiest. He tasted like a piece of dirt. He once again claimed in front of everyone that he would no longer eat Bibi Multi-flavor beans, which made everyone laugh.
When the train started passing through Muggle towns, Albert took off his wizard cloak and put on a Muggle coat. Fortunately, Daisy carefully prepared his coat, otherwise Albert would have really forgotten about it.
In the afternoon, the train finally stopped at King’s Cross Station.
Everyone was about to leave Platform 9 and 3/4, but was stopped at the ticket gate by a wizened old guard who did not allow too many people to pass through at one time.
A large number of people came out of the solid wall at the same time, attracting the attention of the Muggles.
However, the students at Hogwarts still attracted Muggle attention.
When Albert first walked out of the wall, he found a man in inappropriate clothing standing guard near the wall, and there were several people from the Ministry of Magic around him.
Among them, there was actually one who used the Disguise Curse on himself. However, the skill of the Disguise Curse was not very good, and Albert vaguely captured his position.
Before mastering the Disguise Curse, Albert might not notice the other party, but now he still has some understanding of the Disguise Curse, and it is not too difficult to find the flaws.
“Bye, Albert!”
“Goodbye, Albert!”
Li Jordan and Shanna waved goodbye to Albert.
“Goodbye.” Albert also waved to them.
“He is there, mom, Albert is there!” Nia waved and ran towards here. Albert waved to his family with a smile on his face, then turned to Fred and George: "Goodbye, I'm leaving first!"
"Goodbye, my family is here too." Fred pointed not far away, and Albert saw the red-haired Weasley family, Fred's brother Ron and sister Ginny.
“What are you looking at?” Nia complained dissatisfied.
"Okay, okay, I bought you snacks. But I have to wait until I get in the car to bring them to you." Albert reached out and touched Nia's head, but the girl turned her head and avoided it.
"Don't touch the lady's head, that's very rude." Nia complained seriously.
Herb couldn't help laughing, reached for Albert's luggage and asked, "How is life at Hogwarts?"
“Not bad, I learned a lot of useful things.” Albert said without thinking.
“Welcome home.” Daisy smiled and handed Tom to Albert.
"It's getting heavier," said Albert, weighing Tom.
“A while ago, Tom stayed at his grandfather’s house for a few days.” Nia whispered, “You also know the character of Grandma Sansa.”
Albert looked at his fat cat and sighed softly. After getting into the car, Albert put Tom on his lap and combed his hair while murmuring: "It's time to lose weight."
(End of this chapter)