Chapter 16

"Can you guys explain what makes these sweets different from their muggle counterparts?" Albert asked as he offered his sweets to the trio of boys.

"This is 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans'. They have a variety of flavours to choose from," Lee Jorden said as he gave everyone a single bean.

"You have to be very careful when you eat these. They have every flavour you can imagine. And I do mean EVERY." George warned Albert.

"You don't get the typical flavours like chocolate, mint, and strawberry, but you can get stuff like kale, chicken liver, or toe nails. In my humble opinion, the earwax flavour is absolutely horrid." Fred said as he placed his bean in his mouth and began to chew. "Thank Merlin. I got pumpkin flavour."

"What flavour is this?" Albert asked as he pointed towards the grey-coloured bean.

"That there is Flammacrispus. If I were you, I wouldn't have it unless you're prepared to sit on the toilet for a couple of days and have a sore bum." George responded.

"What's is that?" Albert asked.

From the sun-soaked lands of Latin America comes Flammacrispus, a mystical variant of the habanero pepper. Its name, derived from its Latin roots, captures the essence of its fiery nature. This enchanting plant possesses a remarkable ability to conjure dancing flames from its vividly hued pods.

The Flammacrispus plant stands modestly with its verdant, glossy foliage. Its slender stems bear witness to clusters of diminutive, bell-shaped peppers, ablaze with a spectrum of orange and crimson hues. The air surrounding this extraordinary plant is imbued with a heady scent, a subtle reminder of the intense heat contained within its bewitching fruits.

Within the realm of wizardry, the Flammacrispus is coveted for its potent magical properties. Its flames, harnessed by skilled sorcerers, serve as an essential ingredient in potions and spells, igniting the very essence of their craft. The handling of this extraordinary plant requires utmost caution, for its radiant heat is both mesmerising and perilous.

"What's this?" Albert asked while pointing towards the bubble-gum lookalike.

"That there is 'Drooble's Best Blowing Gum'. No matter how long you chew, the gum will never lose its flavour," Fred said as he placed one in his mouth and started to blow a bubble.

"I know what this is. It's a chocolate frog. I've had one of these before," Albert said as he broke off one of the frog's legs and placed it in his hand.

"Sherbet Lemons, Fizzing Whizzbees, and Acid Pops," Cockroach Clusters, Pumpkin Pasty, and Chocolate Cauldrons George said as he began listing and explaining all the unique properties of these magical sweets. "Some could change the colour of the eaters' hair; some can cause the user to breathe fire; and some make the eater produce weird noises."

"Sound Producing Sweets. The eater would produce animal sounds after eating."

Albert picked one up and looked at it nervously. "What sound would this make? How long would it last?"

"Don't know, mate. It's the luck of the draw. Last time I had it, I made a cow sound. And don't worry, it lasts for a few seconds." George said as he encouraged Albert to eat it.

Albert placed the sweet on his tongue and swallowed it whole. He opened his mouth, and a loud roar came out. The three placed one in their mouths at the same time and chewed on it before swallowing. George made a monkey sound, Fred purred like a cat, and Lee made an elephant sound. Lee's cheeks went red, and smoke started to flow out of his ears, which made everyone laugh.

"I brought less than I expected," Albert said. He looked at the interesting sweets on the table, slowly diminishing. He wanted to try more, so he wrote a reminder in his notebook to buy a larger variety to take home and share with his family.

Of course, Albert did not intend to find his stomach full of sweets. He got out the jam sandwich that his mother had made the previous night from his bag. The others looked at Albert with a disgusted expression.

"Mate, why did you bring so much food? Aren't you going to feel sick, and why did you buy snacks off the food trolley if you already had lunch made for you?" Lee asked with a puzzled look.

"Because I wanted to try wizarding snacks. If I liked it, I would have written it down and brought some for my family when I next visited Diagon Alley." Albert said as he picked up spare cans of Coca-Cola and offered them to the other. "Do you want to try some?"

"What is this?" Lee Jorden asked.

"Coke. It is a carbonated soft drink made by Coca-Cola. You probably don't have something like this in the wizarding world." Albert said. He had tried pumpkin juice, and he quite liked it. It tastes like almond milk but is sweeter and has a touch of pumpkin.

"How do you open it?" The twins asked in unison as they looked at the strange contraption.

"First of all, don't shake it. You pull back the metal pin on the top of the can and drink it." Albert said as he demonstrated, but Fred already shook it. When he opened the can, the contents sprayed over him and his brother. "I'm pretty sure I said not to shake it," Albert said, as he could not hold back his laughter at the sorry state of the twins.

He then took the can away from Fred and placed it on the table. He got out his wand from his wand holster and used the Cleaning Charm on the twins and the surrounding area.

"Are you actually going to try it?" Albert said as he used transfiguration to turn the empty wrapping paper into paper cups.

"Wow. You can already do that. You're much better than us," the twins said as they looked at each other and nodded. "Wait. Hang on. How are you so good at using magic?"

"It's a magic spell called practise," Albert said sarcastically. "I practised every spell in the first-year curriculum by myself at home. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No. It's just that muggles don't bother practising before arriving at Hogwarts. Those who do aren't much better than the first-year purebloods." Lee said.

"Surely, you jest," Albert said, and then poured the remaining coke into three paper cups. "Would you like to try some coke?"

"It tastes strange. A bit too bubble-y for my liking."

"It tastes like butterbeer, but a bit too weak."

"You guys have had beer before?" Albert asked curiously.

"George had it secretly during our birthday party at Hogwarts."

"Fred has it at birthday parties all the time."

"Makes sense. You are wizards, so you don't need to follow the muggle government guidelines." Albert said as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"That's not the point," Lee butted in. "How did you do that? Transfiguration is one of the hardest branches of magic. It took my mom two lessons to turn a matchstick into a needle, and she said that it wasn't even that good."

"Is it really that hard?" Albert asked. He practised transfiguration with Gabriel whenever he was around. He also practised turning a matchstick into a needle. It only took him fourteen attempts, and after that, the success rate only got higher. Also, thanks to the practise, he almost levelled up his transfiguration.

"Yeah. He's not lying. It took our brother Charlie a whole lesson to turn a matchstick into a needle with Professor McGonagall's help. He's the most talented in our family. He said that it does get easier the more you do it." George said. "Have you tried tuning a matchstick into a needle before?"

"Yes, it took me almost three hours to do it," Albert said as the three Gryffindors looked at him in utter awe.

"Yeah, right?" Fred looked at Albert. "You're being serious."

"Out of curiosity, how much magic did you learn during the summer holidays?" George asked.

"I tried to learn all the magic in the textbooks and perform it myself. I would call it a great success." Albert said, looking at the other people with pride filling his face. "Didn't you try magic before starting Hogwarts?"

"Our family wouldn't let us touch our wand," the Weasley boys said, looking downtrodden.

"I also met a student from Hogwarts going into his third year. We kept in touch through owls, and he helped with my magic," Albert said.

Boom, lightning struck a bush right outside their window. They were stunned into silence. Even Merlin could not tolerate this and sent down a lightning bolt. Lee got up and made sure the window was closed. Albert ten broke off the leg of the chocolate frog he left before.

"What's wrong?" Albert asked as he saw the three people staring at him.

"Nothing," Fred said, continuing, "I think you'll become a great wizard when you're older."

George and Lee Jorden both nodded at Fred's statement. For the rest of the journey, the three Gryffindors explained the basics of society. It was them doing the talking and Albert listening. When they introduced Quidditch, they tried to explain the rules with basic information. They also tried to explain how the game was played. Let's just say that Albert almost fell asleep. All Albert could think about was the feeling of being free when riding his broom. He couldn't wait for Hogwarts to start.