Chapter 114: Albert's Little Trick

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The three of them quickly moved through the secret passage and arrived on the eighth floor after a while.

After listening to Albert's account, Fred, slightly out of breath, felt incredulous. "So you're saying Professor Broadd didn't help Filch catch you."

"Albert is considered an excellent student in the eyes of the professors," George teased, then his mouth widened in surprise because a door appeared on the wall opposite the tapestry of the dumbstruck Barnabas the Barmy.

"As expected..." Albert whispered softly.

"What do you mean, 'as expected'?" Fred curiously asked.

"Never mind, let's go in!" Albert pushed the door open and entered the Room of Requirement first.

"I can't believe it's actually here." Fred and George exchanged looks, then followed behind Albert. Their mouths gaped in astonishment as they entered a beautifully decorated room that they had never seen before, filled with...

The excited expressions on their faces froze as they stared in disbelief at the assortment of exquisite and luxurious chamber pots displayed before them.

Albert looked at the astonished expressions on the Weasley twins' faces and mischievously winked. "Well, are you surprised?"

"Are you telling me that you had an exceptionally full bladder and accidentally discovered this place?" Fred couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not, am I that dumb?" Albert rolled his eyes in response.

"Is this really the broom cupboard we discovered before?" George curiously surveyed the luxurious chamber pots, then suddenly had a thought and asked, "So, were you in desperate need to pee?"

The three of them couldn't help but burst into laughter and each picked a favorite style.

"But it does feel a bit strange hiding here," Fred scratched his head. After all, nobody liked hiding among a bunch of chamber pots.

"No worries, we can just go out and find another room," Albert casually remarked.

"This place is not within the range of the Marauder's Map. Maybe Prongs, Moony, Wormtail, and Padfoot haven't discovered this secret either," George said while looking at the Marauder's Map in his hand.

"Prongs, Moony, Wormtail, and Padfoot?" Albert pretended to be puzzled and asked.

"The creators of the Marauder's Map," Fred explained.

"Oh, them," Albert nodded. "They probably haven't discovered it, considering that the Room of Requirement's secret is known to very few."

"No problem, Filch is still on the fifth floor," George said after checking the Marauder's Map.

After leaving the Room of Requirement, Fred asked, "Where should we transform into?"

"A place to rest," Albert suggested.

"I'll do it this time."

"I want to do it too."

The twins placed their hands on each other's shoulders and, after another attempt, the door opened. This time, they found themselves in a cozy room with a roaring fire.

"Brilliant!" Fred clapped his hands on the armchair. "By the way, you haven't told us how you discovered this place."

"I want to know too," George chimed in.

"I analyzed the information I received from you guys. You both passed by here several times, and you were looking for a hiding place, right?" Albert presented his pre-prepared explanation, which, to some extent, was not entirely wrong.

"That's correct."

"So, I took the opportunity to try it myself, passing by here multiple times, and wanting a hiding place." Albert explained.

"What happened then?" George asked.

"Of course, I failed many times before finally opening this door. After several attempts and categorizing, I figured out the correct method to open it." Albert began to exaggerate the difficulty of discovering this place. In reality, he succeeded on his first try.

"Later on, I experimented with transforming this place into other rooms, trying many times before discovering the correct method of using it." Albert winked. "That's why I started calling it the Room of Requirement. Because this room will transform into various rooms according to your needs, it always provides what you require. Quite fitting, isn't it?"

"So, you found this place based on these clues?"

"That's right, I found this place based on the clues you provided. Aren't I impressive?" Albert nodded. "Feel free to praise me if you want!"

"You..." The twins were about to say something but swallowed their words. Nonetheless, they were still very impressed with each other. They hadn't expected Albert to find this place solely based on those few clues.

"When we make the garlic crosses, we can do it here," George suddenly suggested. "That way, we won't have to worry about filling the dormitory with the smell of garlic."

"Are you guys still not giving up?" Albert thought they had forgotten about it, but he didn't expect them to bring it up again at this moment.

"Why give up? We already have enough garlic," Fred nodded. "This is our first alchemical tool we've created."

Albert couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat. He didn't know if he should tell them that it wasn't really an alchemical tool.

But... he didn't have the heart to shatter the boys' dreams.

After all, the two of them were going to be the kings of comedy in the future.

The three of them rested in the Room of Requirement for a while, waiting for Filch and Professor Brode to give up searching for them. While Filch was still searching for them, the twins, sitting by the fireplace, were engaged in a chess match with Albert.

On their table were two sets of wizard's chess, and Albert was effortlessly handling both of them.

"Fred, put in more effort. You still have a chance to turn the tables," George encouraged loudly.

"What more can I do? Besides, you lost even earlier than me," Fred looked at his brother sitting next to him and couldn't help rolling his eyes. He knew he was about to lose.

"Cough, cough." George cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject. "It seems like Filch has gone back to rest. Let's go to the library."

"Good idea, let's go," Fred immediately stood up, ready to escape from the chess game.

"Uh, okay," Albert didn't expose their intentions and just moved the queen to checkmate Fred's king.

"You lost too," George gloated as he patted Fred's shoulder. "You're much better than our incompetent little brother."

"Younger brother?" Albert was confused. "You mean the unlucky guy who burned his tongue with candy?"

"Cough, cough. That was just an accident," George coughed and quickly walked out of the Room of Requirement.

The three of them headed towards the school library.

To their surprise, the Hogwarts library's door was not locked, even though it closed at eight o'clock in the evening.

Albert opened the door and walked in first. The library was pitch black and eerie.

Albert raised his wand and used its light to survey the surroundings. Then he headed towards the restricted section of the library.

After crossing the rope that separated the restricted section, the atmosphere became even more sinister.

Albert raised his wand and read the names of the books with its pale light.

"Help me find 'The Book of Spells.' And don't randomly flip through those books, and don't take them off the shelves. No one knows if those books are cursed," Albert warned. "Remember, don't open the books. It could bring us a lot of trouble."

"Got it," the twins exchanged glances but nodded.

Searching for the desired books in a sea of books was undoubtedly a time-consuming task. Albert spent a long time but couldn't find what he needed.

The books in the restricted section all looked worn-out, and Albert began to suspect if there were many rare editions stored here.

"Albert!" Fred's voice was low. "I heard faint whispers coming from some of the books over there."

"Whispers?" Albert furrowed his brow. Hearing the twins talk like that, someone unaware would think the restricted section held Voldemort's Horcruxes.

The three of them approached together, pointing their wands at the faded, peeling gilt letters. They could all feel the hairs on the back of their necks stand up as they heard whispers emanating from the books.

"This is the Restricted Section, so it's not surprising to find books like this. Don't open them," Albert warned. "They are likely books on dark magic."

"Do you think there are powerful dark magic spells recorded in there?" the twins looked at the books with a mix of awe and reverence.

"Maybe, I don't know," Albert cautioned. "But I can guarantee that if you open them now, you'll be in trouble."

"You're right," Fred gave up his reckless idea, concerned about the potential dangers of the dark magic within the books. Some books, like "Tales of Toxic Fungi" and "The Wizard's Sonnets," had caused unpleasant effects in the past, from inducing nausea and vomiting to forever limiting one's speech to limericks.

"Help me find 'The Book of Spells.' The spells in there would be more suitable for us to learn right now," Albert reminded them.

Fred and George nodded in agreement, both wanting to learn some curses. The dark curses in "The Book of Spells" seemed perfect for them to practice.

"Let's split up to search. It'll be more efficient, as long as we don't touch the books randomly, we should be fine," Albert reminded them before continuing his search for the desired book.

The Forbidden Section held a considerable number of books, and as Albert passed through a particular area, he faintly heard voices whispering in low tones. He immediately held his breath and listened attentively, trying to locate the source of the sound. It seemed to be coming from a nearby bookshelf, but not from the books in front of him. There was something hidden here, concealed by magic.

"It's really eerie..." Albert muttered. He didn't attempt to uncover the secret but instead continued his search for the book he needed. That was the purpose of his visit to this place.

After spending about an hour, or even longer, the three of them had basically circled around the Restricted Section and finally found the book they were looking for.

"I knew these books wouldn't be so easy to take," Fred pointed to the chain and lock on the book. "What do we do? The Alohomora spell won't work; these chains must be enchanted."

"You're not planning to forcefully break the chains, are you?" George and Fred both hoped Albert wouldn't do anything reckless, fearing it might have negative consequences.

"I won't do anything foolish like that. I anticipated that there would be a counter-Alohomora spell," Albert said as he took out a small knife from his pocket.

The knife was an item he had purchased during Christmas. The knife itself wasn't what he needed; it was the various attachments that came with it. One of them was a tool for picking locks. He had practiced using it at home, and opening this kind of old lock wasn't too difficult.

"What are you planning to do?" both of them were curious about why Albert suddenly took out a small knife.

"I'll use a Muggle trick."

"A Muggle trick?" Both of them were intrigued, wondering what Albert had in mind.

"Pay close attention, both of you," Albert began manipulating the lock on the book.

In a moment, there was a click, and the lock on the book opened.

"How on earth did you do that?" the twins looked at Albert in astonishment.

"I told you, it's a Muggle lock-picking trick," Albert waved the small knife in his hand. "Most wizards tend to overlook these little tricks of Muggles. While it's not as fast as using the Unlocking Charm, they often neglect this point, which gives me an opportunity."

Though Hogwarts had placed enchantments on these locks, and forcefully breaking the chains might trigger an alarm, Albert believed that using a key to open the lock would have no adverse effects because it was the correct way to open it.

Although Albert didn't have a key, using a Muggle lock-picking trick seemed to work just fine.

"The next time we get a chance, you have to teach us this technique," the twins' eyes shimmered with excitement, finding Albert's method very useful.

Most wizards often underestimated Muggles due to their lack of magic, which gave Albert a loophole. Even Hogwarts seemed to have overlooked this point.

"This lock-picking trick is easy to learn. If there's a chance, I'll teach you," Albert casually remarked, though he wasn't sure if the twins would be able to learn it.

By the time they left the library, it was already four in the morning. The three of them had their spoils of the night: the original editions of "The Book of Spells," "The Book of Potions," and "Powerful Potions."

After ensuring that no one was around, the three quietly left the scene of the crime and returned to the Gryffindor common room, narrowly avoiding a ghostly wizard with a cane along the way.

When they reached their dormitory, Lee Jordan was already awake, looking displeased as he glanced at the three who had just returned from their nighttime escapade.

"You should have woken me up," Lee Jordan complained.

"Who asked you to sleep like a log?" Fred raised their loot triumphantly, showing it off to Lee Jordan. "We got them from the library."

"Let me see what books you've got," Lee Jordan asked curiously.

"Take a look yourself, just be careful not to damage them. We're going to get some sleep now," Fred stifled a yawn, beginning to undress and prepare for a good sleep. Unlike Albert, who had already experienced sleepless nights, he was eager to catch some rest now that the excitement of the nighttime adventure had subsided.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"You three are a bunch of idiots," muttering under his breath as he watched the three of them climb back into bed, Lee Jordan redirected his gaze towards the three brick-like books they had brought back.

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(End of this chapter)