Chapter 32: Albert's Persuasion Skills

The weather on Sunday wasn't very good, and it was still raining outside the castle.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the sky was dimly lit. Albert, who had just finished washing up, yawned and was escorted by his excited roommates to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"I don't understand what's so exciting about it," Albert said, breaking free from the twins' grip and adjusting his robes.

"That's Hogsmeade Village, the most fun place in all of Britain," Lee Jordan exclaimed exaggeratedly.

"All of Britain?" Albert sighed lightly. He felt like his mindset was on a different wavelength from the three people next to him.

On their way to the castle's main hall, the twins practiced the Lumos Charm while walking. Unfortunately, they bumped into Filch.

Unfortunate for George, he was caught by Filch and taken to the caretaker's office.

Filch happily took out a large roll of parchment from the desk drawer and laid it out in front of him. He then picked up a long black feather quill, dipped it in the ink bottle, and wrote:

Name: George Weasley

Offense: Recklessly using spells in the corridor

Recommendation: Punishment recommendation...

"Cough, I only used the Lumos Charm because the corridor was dark, you know, and it's still early..." George blurted out nonsense, as there were torches along the corridor they had just passed.

"...wash the bedpans at the hospital wing." Filch glanced at George and smiled maliciously. "Perfect, the bedpans at the hospital wing haven't been washed all summer."

George's expression froze.

"You may go now, but I'd rather not catch you using magic in the corridors again." Filch showed a victorious smile and ushered George out of the caretaker's office.

"Ha!" Albert couldn't help but laugh after hearing George's words. He reached out and patted George's shoulder, comforting him. "Don't worry, I can teach you a simple Scouring Charm. It'll clean the bedpans in no time. Besides, Filch only made a punishment recommendation. In reality, he doesn't have the authority to punish you directly."

"That guy is so annoying." George glanced at the door of Filch's office, looking extremely upset. No one wanted to wash bedpans.

"Don't be upset. I'll treat you to a glass of Butterbeer later." Albert couldn't help but laugh again, quickly changing the subject. "By the way, what did you see in Filch's office just now?"

"What did I see? There were lots of drawers in there, and behind the desk, there were handcuffs, leg irons, and things like that hanging on the wall." George complained after carefully recalling. "That old guy, no, that old pervert must have some strange fetish."

In fact, Albert thought the nickname "old idiot" given by Hagrid might be more suitable for Filch. After all, as a squib, he was truly useless at Hogwarts, just like an idiot.

Ordinary people should stay in the ordinary world and enjoy ordinary happiness.

However, Albert didn't voice this thought since it wasn't appropriate to give someone such an insulting nickname.

"What else did you see?" Albert asked again. "He must have confiscated a lot of things!"

"Yeah, I did see a drawer on a filing cabinet that said: Confiscated Items, Highly Dangerous."

"I guess all the confiscated items are kept there." Fred's eyes lit up, showing his interest in the drawer's contents.

"If they were truly highly dangerous, they wouldn't be kept in a place like that." Albert recalled something good, the Marauder's Map of Hogwarts, which should have been stored there.

"Yeah, we think so too." The twins looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

"Be careful not to get caught with any loopholes," Albert warned. "Otherwise, you'll definitely get into trouble."

The twins protested together, "You're slandering us! Why would we do something like that?"

British breakfasts are always the most abundant. Albert prepared a bowl of oatmeal with milk for himself, and added a fried egg, two bacon slices, two slices of toast, a sausage, and a small serving of vegetable salad to his plate.

"Hey, good morning!" a boy greeted the twins as he passed by.

"I remember you're from Hufflepuff..." Lee Jordan struggled to recall the boy's name and looked to Albert for help.

"Cedric Diggory," the boy introduced himself.

"Hello, Cedric." The twins greeted their neighbor. "Didn't expect you to be in Hufflepuff."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with Hufflepuff," Cedric didn't like it when people spoke poorly of his house.

"We didn't say it was bad."

"Just that Gryffindor is better."

The Weasley twins each stated their opinion.

"Long time no see, Albert," another person approached and greeted Albert. "I didn't expect you to be in Gryffindor. It really surprised me."

"Long time no see, Gabriel." Albert smiled and greeted his pen pal.

"You guys know each other?" Cedric Diggory asked in confusion. He had a good relationship with this older student.

"Of course, we do. We met during the summer vacation," Gabriel replied, giving Cedric a mysterious smile. "The one I mentioned to you before..."

Cedric Diggory looked at Albert with a very surprised expression. He had heard Gabriel mention that incident before, but he never mentioned the person's name.

After Gabriel walked away, the twins looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Could it be..."

"What?" Lee Jordan hadn't caught up yet.

The twins looked at each other and said, "That thing!"

"What thing?" the guy still hadn't caught on.

"Ahem, it's good that you don't know. Just remember to keep it a secret!" Albert coughed lightly and warned, or else he wouldn't give him a Christmas gift this winter break.

"We'll keep it a secret," the twins said with a meaningful look, crossing their index fingers over their mouths to indicate that they would strictly keep it confidential.

"Hey, don't exclude me, you three idiots." Lee Jordan was unhappy, feeling left out of this small circle.

"Ahem, the newspaper. Remember that thing we talked about on the train when we came to Hogwarts?" Fred reminded.

"50 Galleons," George added.

"Wow, that thing!" Lee Jordan suddenly understood what was going on. "How did you manage to do it back then..."

"I didn't want the whole school to know about it." Albert raised a finger to his lips, signaling the three of them to keep quiet.

"Okay, but you're really amazing!" the Weasley brothers still admired Albert's skills. If only they could easily earn 25 Galleons like him.

"No wonder you were willing to gamble with the Galleons you earned," Lee Jordan said sarcastically.

"It's not necessarily a loss." Albert smirked and teased, "Do you know why wands made of redwood are popular among wizards?"

"Because they bring good luck?" George guessed uncertainly.

"That's right." Albert continued to tease, "At that time, I had a hunch that I could make a big profit from gambling, so I took the chance."

(End of this chapter)