Chapter 144 Easter Egg
During the Easter holiday, some Hogwarts students will choose to go back to spend the holiday with their families.
Albert did not come home.
After all, the end of the semester is coming and so is the summer vacation.
Furthermore, there are not many students going home during the Easter holiday. This is related to the heavy holiday homework assigned by professors before the holiday.
Whether I go home or not, I still have to do a lot of holiday homework, and... I won’t be able to borrow books from the school library when I go home.
Although most of the vacation homework may be specially prepared by professors so that students can prepare well for exams.
Daisy was disappointed that Albert didn't come home for the holidays, but she still sent him some Easter eggs.
On Easter day, Sheila brought the Easter eggs to Albert, and there was a photo in the package.
Albert picked up the photo and grinned.
In the photo, Tom is squatting in a basket with Easter eggs and hatching them.
I don’t know why, but Albert always found this scene very funny.
By the way, Tom seems to be getting fat again.
Is it an illusion?
Sheila, who was left out, shouted dissatisfiedly at Albert.
“Sorry.” Albert immediately took out the owl nuts from the pocket of his robe and fed them to Sheila, while he unpacked the Easter eggs, broke off the chocolate shell, picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.
Like every Easter, Daisy will buy Easter eggs in a familiar candy store. The shell is made of chocolate and contains the chocolate-flavored toffee that Albert likes to eat.
“Would you like a toffee?” Albert handed half an Easter egg filled with toffee to his roommate.
“You want to try my Easter eggs, too.” Lee Jordan had used his fingernails to pry open an Easter egg the size of an ostrich egg, filling it with fudge.
“It’s actually fudge.” Albert picked up a piece of fudge and threw it into his mouth, sighing.
"Otherwise, what did you think it would be?" Li Jordan couldn't help but rolled his eyes at Albert.
“Bibi’s multi-flavor beans!” the twins said in unison.
“Hell, who’s going to put Beebeans in Easter eggs?” Lee Jordan couldn’t help but complain. “Are you going to eat jelly beans?”
"Of course." Fred ate a fudge, pinched another chocolate toffee and threw it into his mouth, mumbling, "George, do you think Mom will remember to send us Easter eggs?"
"Perhaps she forgot," George said. "She was too busy after all."
"Mummy never forgets your Easter eggs." Percy walked over, handed the Easter eggs to Fred and George, then turned to Albert and said, "Professor Broad asked me to remind you You, go find him at six o'clock in the evening, don't remember the wrong time."
“Six o’clock in the evening?” Lee Jordan repeated, confused.
"It's an invitation." Albert explained casually, "Professor Broad invited me...Actually, I don't know what the professor invited me to do. I think it might be for afternoon tea."
“Have you ever seen anyone drinking afternoon tea at six o’clock in the evening?” George couldn’t help rolling his eyes. “There is a limit to my random nonsense.”
“By the way, you didn’t tell us about this.” Fred’s eyes widened and he looked at Albert with disbelief, “I bet it must be a party or banquet.”
“I am often invited to the office by Professor Brod to have tea, and at most some refreshments.”
“Why does it feel weird to hear you say that?” Li Qiaodan muttered.
"I will tell you whether it is a banquet or a tea party when I come back." Albert was not entangled in this matter.
Of course he knew what he was being invited to.
So-called academic gatherings.
“By the way, is this a Bludger?” Li Jordan pointed to the Easter egg on Fred’s hand that looked like a Bludger.
“Won’t you open it and see what’s inside?” Albert reminded.
“Charlie must have told his family that we were going to be batters.” George opened the outer egg, and a strong smell of milk came out from inside.
Their Bludger eggs were filled with milk-flavored toffee, apparently homemade by Mrs. Weasley.
“Do you want to try it?” Fred threw one into his mouth, slowly chewed the toffee, and mumbled inarticulately, “It tastes pretty good.”
Albert and Li Jordan both took one toffee from the pile and threw it into their mouths. After chewing it, their mouths were filled with a strong fragrance of milk.
The taste is pretty good, but you can’t eat too much toffee.
“Look over there…” George exclaimed, “What’s wrong with Shanna?”
Albert raised his head and saw Zannah who was being hit **** the head by textbooks, schoolbags and ink bottles. He picked up the wand and waved it gently to lift Mrs. Pince's spell.
“Are you okay?” Albert had already guessed what was going on.
"I was just in the library..." Shanna said out of breath, "I forgot that you can't eat in the library."
As expected, he was kicked out by Mrs. Pingsi.
"Thank you, Albert." After a moment, Shanna finally regained her composure, "It's really overwhelming. Do you want some fudge?"
Zannah’s Easter eggs contained gummy candies of various flavors. She was kicked out of the library by Madam Pince just because she was eating gummy candies in the library.
The easter egg is very large and has an obvious commercial label on it. It was purchased in the same candy store as Albert.
Albert ate a piece of gummy candy, which was strawberry-filled.
"As long as Mrs. Pince doesn't see her, it'll be fine." Albert winked at Shanna, "I often eat hard candies secretly in the library."
“That’s a good idea.” Zannah chuckled.
“Oh, don’t peck.” Albert felt pain coming from his elbow and immediately took his hand back.
“What’s wrong with your owl?” Shanna looked at Sheila in confusion.
"It's urging me to write a reply." Albert muttered. He took out his quill from his bag and began to write home, not forgetting to ask Nia not to feed Tom too fat.
Looking at the owl flying away, Albert focused on his review again.
Lately I have been focusing on ancient magic texts, and I feel that I have been a little slack on other subjects. I haven’t replied to Mr. Fusco’s letter yet.
“What are you thinking about?” Shanna asked with raised eyebrows, a little dissatisfied that Albert was distracted while talking to her.
"Nothing, I was thinking about how much homework I still have to do." Albert said casually.
“You are the last person to say this.” Fred said resentfully.
“Let’s go first, we have something to do later.” George took Fred and left.
“Fred and George have been mysterious lately, and I don’t know what they are doing.” Albert withdrew his gaze and continued to discuss homework with Shanna.
Professors once mentioned that those questions were important and must be tested in exams. Li Jordan had always been interested in them, which made it much easier for him to review.
…
“It’s almost time, I’ll leave first.”
Albert took out his pocket watch, glanced at the hands on it, stood up and said to several people around him.
"Where is he going?" Shanna looked at Albert's retreating back and asked in confusion: "We will have dinner later."
“Professor Broad sent him an invitation letter.” Lee Jordan organized the class notes and explained casually: “Invite Albert to have dinner with him.”
“Professor Broad?”
“Don’t you know?” Lee Jordan was a little envious of Albert’s treatment and whispered, “Albert is Professor Brod’s most proud student, no one else.”
“I thought it was Professor McGonagall.” Shanna said in surprise.
“Some time ago, Albert would go to Professor Brod’s office every week…” Lee Jordan began to reveal some trivial matters about Albert to Shanna.
“You said Fred and George…”
Albert didn’t know what Lee Jordan said to the others. After returning to the dormitory and putting down his schoolbag, Albert straightened his appearance in the mirror and went to Professor Broad’s office alone.
Professor Broad seemed to be waiting for him. When Albert knocked on the door, the wooden door of the office opened quickly.
"You are always so punctual." Professor Brod said to Albert with a faint smile on his face: "Okay, it's time for us to go. Don't let others wait too long."
“Where are we going?” Albert asked.
“McDoug’s house.” Professor Broad reached out and picked up a small box from the fireplace, handed it to Albert, and made a gesture of invitation to him.
“This is it?” Albert looked at the shiny powder in the small box and immediately guessed what it was.
"Floo powder. Oh, I almost forgot, you haven't used Floo powder, right?" Professor Brod suddenly remembered this and introduced: "The use of Floo powder is very simple. First, you have to go Go to the stove, then throw the powder into the flames, wait for the flames to rise, and then walk into the flames. At this time, you must make it clear where you want to go. The place we are going to is called the Lake House."
Albert pinched a handful of sparkling powder from the small box, walked to the stove, and threw the powder into the flames.
With a roar, the fire turned green and rose higher than Albert.
Albert hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the fire and called "Lake House".
In the blink of an eye, Albert was swallowed up by the flames and disappeared.
The floo powder journey was also not pleasant. Albert felt that his body was spinning rapidly. He squinted his eyes and saw a series of furnace doors vaguely flashing in front of him, and he could vaguely catch a glimpse of the room outside the fireplace.
The swirling green flames made Albert feel dizzy. The sound of whistling wind could be heard in his ears, and he felt like he was moving at high speed.
Blinking his eyes, the rotation stopped, the whistling sound also disappeared, and Albert felt himself falling to the cold ground.
“It’s really annoying.”
Albert fell to the floor in a state of embarrassment, and someone seemed to be lifting him up from the ground next to him.
“Welcome, Mr. Anderson.”
A sharp voice sounded in Albert's ears. Albert, who had just stood up to dust off the ashes on his cloak, was stunned and looked towards the direction of the sound. It was a house elf.
A few seconds later, Professor Broad climbed out of the fire and stood on the carpet in the hall, dusting off the ashes from his robes.
"Gentlemen, please come this way, the dinner is ready." the house elf said sharply.
“Dinner?” Albert looked at Professor Brod suspiciously.
“Of course it’s the dinner party. Let’s go, don’t keep everyone waiting too long.”
This house is very big, not small at all. To describe it as a house on a lake is almost ridiculous.
Led by the house elf, they left the hall, walked through the corridors and stairs, and came to a sunroom with carpets and transparent walls.
The dinner was held in this spacious room. There were already three people in the room, and except for McDoug, the other two seemed a bit older.
Among them, the older one was probably over a hundred years old, and the other was at least eighty. They were both looking at Albert with curious eyes.
No malice, just curiosity and kindness.
"Albert Anderson, the genius I introduced to you, is good at ancient magic texts." McDoug pointed at Albert and introduced to the other two people: "Of course, there is also transformation. I was in it a while ago. I read Albert’s article on Transfiguration Today, and Professor Brod said that Albert’s level in the Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms class is also very high.”
“I’m Albert, nice to meet you.” Albert looked a little reserved and nodded slightly towards a few people.
"Tiberus Ogden, an expert in spells and magic texts." McDoug pointed at the older man and introduced to Albert, "The "Magic Theory" you are using now actually mentions A credit to Belous.”
The old man reached out and shook Albert gently.
"Gerber Smith." McDoug pointed at the eighty-year-old man and said, "He is good at transformation, divination and ancient magic texts. He is also an expert in alchemy."
Albert felt a little inconsistent after shaking hands with Mr. Smith.
But he couldn't tell where it was inconsistent.
The dinner was sumptuous, but the food was relatively light. The five of them chatted while eating, using ancient magic script.
As McDoug said, everyone is an expert in ancient magic texts, and they are very powerful. When McDoug wrote the ancient magic text, he also received their help.
Smith and Ogden were also surprised that Albert could use the ancient magic script so skillfully.
Sure enough, seeing it once is better than hearing it a hundred times.
Albert was very full, and they sat on the soft armchair and talked about ancient magic texts.
To be honest, it feels really strange for a young child to talk about academic theories among a group of old people.
But you have to admit that they are all a group of very capable people, they are also very knowledgeable in magic script, and they are also very good at speaking in ancient magic script.
If someone who didn't know anything came here, they would think they had accidentally traveled a thousand years ago.
This friendly conversation lasted until nightfall.
Albert also expressed his interest in alchemy to Gerber Smith and asked about how to use ancient runes.
Gerber looked at Albert's wooden bracelet and said with a smile: "There is actually nothing wrong with the protective bracelet you made. The reason for the failure is actually that you were unable to inject power into the runes."
Albert was a little confused.
"Rune characters are a kind of mysterious text that contains mysterious magical power. However, what you are doing now, just carving it, cannot make the runes have power." Gerber Smith explained, "Concentrate Spirit, inject your magical power into the runes you carved. This is why runes are called magical words."
When wizards use this magical text to cast spells, the spells they use become more powerful. Only those who are good at ancient magic texts will truly realize this.
Perhaps, some wizards are vaguely aware of something, but they don’t understand what is going on. They are just proficient in using the ancient magic text and unknowingly master the method of using it.
So, wizards would think that ancient magic is more powerful, although that is also true.
It’s a pity that the old man’s energy is limited, and the conversation between the two parties ends here.
However, Gerber Smith and Tiberus Ogden offered to establish friendly contact with Albert through letters in the future.
At about ten o'clock in the evening, the banquet was announced to be over, and Albert returned to school through Floo.
Albert, who had just stood up from the chair, realized something was wrong.
He looked from his side to the right. McDoug was in his forties or fifties, Professor Broad was in his sixties, Gerber Smith was in his eighties, and Tibelus Ogden was in his nineties or even a hundred. , and what about yourself?
Twelve years old!
There is one person missing.
There is one less wizard in his twenties and thirties, and between himself and Mr. McDougal, there should probably be another genius in his twenties and thirties.
This is a rule to follow.
“Am I overthinking?” Albert murmured.
Before returning to the school through the fireplace, Albert suddenly asked: "Professor Brod, is there someone missing today?"
“Why do you ask that?” Professor Brod was stunned for a moment and asked doubtfully.
“It’s nothing, I always feel like there’s someone missing from this banquet.” Albert murmured.
"There are no shortage of people." Professor Brod repeated doubtfully, "There are no shortage of people. As I said last time, the dating of ancient magic texts is a bit serious, so it is not that there are fewer people, but that there are no shortage of people."
Albert always felt that there was something else in Professor Brod's words, so he slowly returned to the Gryffindor common room. At this time, the common room was still very lively and he had not gone to bed.
Albert covered his yawn and returned directly to the dormitory. None of the other roommates had returned yet.
He was holding the wooden bracelet in a daze, thinking about what Gerber Smith said.
It was close to 11:30 when Li Qiaodan returned to the dormitory and seemed to have a great time.
"Where are Fred and George? They are not with you?" Looking at Lee Jordan who returned to the dormitory alone, Albert frowned slightly. Hogwarts had a curfew after eleven o'clock.
"No, I haven't seen Fred and George since just now. I thought they went back to the dormitory to rest." Lee Jordan also frowned slightly.
“Fred and George are not in the common room?” Albert suddenly had a bad premonition.
(End of this chapter)