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Chapter 1018: Albert's Secret
Chapter 1018: Albert's Secret
"Did you tell them about the Room of Requirement?" Katrina asked, giving Albert a reproachful look as she sat down in the empty seat next to him.
The Room of Requirement used to be a secret known only to a handful of people, and no one ever competed for its use. But ever since the members of the Defense Association learned of its existence, it had become a popular spot, often occupied by others.
"I told Fred, and he must have told Potter," Albert replied, closing the thick book in front of him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the completed task, "Bookworm," on his interface.
Finally, that damn task was done.
To be honest, the reward for this task was a bit of a letdown. The panel skill it granted was highly random, and Albert didn't have high expectations for it. However, having spent several years on this task, he felt a sense of relief now that it was completed.
He no longer had to spend countless hours holed up in the library reading books.
As Albert closed the book and prepared to return it, he noticed that Katrina was still staring at him.
"What's wrong?" Albert asked, puzzled.
Katrina remained silent. She didn't believe that the Weasley brothers would disclose the existence of the Room of Requirement to others without informing Albert.
After all, the room was their little secret, and she was certain that Albert would have had to agree to it.
"It's nothing!" The red-haired girl sighed. "Would you mind giving me a copy of your latest book? I think it's called the 'Survival Guide.'"
"Oh, sure, no problem," Albert said, raising an eyebrow. "I'll have Dobby deliver it to you."
"I really don't know what you're thinking sometimes," Katrina said, feeling that Albert had something to do with the formation of the Defense Association.
"They need to learn to resist now so that they can have the courage to stand up and fight in the future," Albert said as he got up to return the book. He seemed to remember something and pulled out a notebook from his bag, handing it to Katrina. "Here are the key points for the Dark Arts Defense exam. We'll continue our lessons once you've mastered these."
"Izabel's notes?" Katrina asked, taking the notebook. She immediately recognized her sister's handwriting and looked up at Albert.
"Yes, the marked sections are the most important," Albert said, starting to walk towards the library counter to return the book he had just finished reading.
"What a sloppy teacher you are," Katrina muttered.
She tucked the notebook away, knowing that with this, next summer's Dark Arts Defense exam would be a breeze. Although she believed she could achieve good results without it, she still wanted to excel in her exams and graduate with flying colors.
Even though she knew these grades might not be of much use, she had already fallen far behind Albert and Izabel in many other areas. Katrina didn't want her N.E.W.T.S results to lag too far behind theirs—it was her last shred of stubbornness.
As she watched Albert's retreating back, Katrina turned her gaze away and pulled out a letter from her pocket. It was from her friends across the ocean, with whom she kept in touch, sharing the progress of their beauty potion development.
As Katrina read the letter, her expression froze, and she furrowed her brows slightly, glancing back at Albert's departing figure.
Unaware of what Katrina had read in the letter, Albert left the library and headed back to the Gryffindor common room to claim his reward for the "Bookworm" task.
Before claiming his reward, Albert contemplated whether to use Felix Felicis, the liquid luck potion. Although it wouldn't bring him any tangible benefits, it often provided some psychological comfort.
Despite being European and always claiming to be a lucky person, Albert didn't consider himself truly fortunate.
The only issue was that he had already used the potion several times this year, and while the doses had been small and spaced out, he felt it was best to avoid using it unless necessary.
After much hesitation, Albert decided against using the Felix Felicis, as his supply was also running low.
It was time to rely on his own luck! Albert claimed his reward and began browsing through the skill panel, searching for any new abilities he had acquired.
To be honest, Albert rarely browsed through his skill panel these days. With the sheer number of skills he had acquired, the lack of a search function made it tedious to find what he was looking for, even when he just wanted to allocate points.
He pulled out a small notebook and began cross-referencing the skills, as it was the only way to confirm what new skills he had obtained.
After half an hour of careful comparison, Albert found two new level three skills—the Confundus Charm and the Finite Charm.
How did he know these were the rewards for the "Bookworm" task? Because it was impossible to level up skills so quickly without external help.
The Confundus Charm was similar to a love potion, causing a person to become infatuated and obsessed. Professor Flitwick, according to Lockhart, was an expert in Confundus Charms.
Albert inspected the charm's effects and found it to be rather underwhelming. It was essentially a spell version of a love potion, and while it could induce a sense of obsession, it couldn't create genuine love.
The only advantage, perhaps, would be in their offspring, who might not turn out to be loveless creatures like Tom Riddle.
Albert didn't actually know if that would be the case, as it wasn't documented in the system panel.
If only there was a spell like the Confundus Charm to increase mutual affection; that would be a great help. Unfortunately, no such spell existed, and even Gregory's Flatter-Me Potion only made the consumer become infatuated temporarily.
As for the other Unlocking Charm, it was actually a general counter-curse used to dispel the effects of other spells. Albert knew quite a few counter-curses, such as the Spell-Ending Charm, which was more commonly used.
As to which was more useful, Albert couldn't say for sure; each had its own purpose.
For instance, the Spell-Ending Charm wasn't very effective on someone under the influence of a strong Stunning Spell, but the Unlocking Charm could wake them up. However, the Unlocking Charm wasn't as effective against certain other spells, so it could only be considered a decent counter-curse until further improvements were made.
As for the third spell, Albert guessed it was probably something he had already mastered, so he didn't pay much attention to it. He was just glad to have acquired two new spells.
After putting his notebook away, Albert took out a box from the cabinet, intending to head to the Room of Requirement to pack up his things.
Ever since the members of the Defense Association learned about the Room of Requirement, it was no longer a safe place. Albert felt it necessary to remove his belongings from there to prevent anyone from accidentally stumbling upon them and who knows what else.
On his way to the Room of Requirement, Albert ran into an acquaintance.
"Are you planning to use the Room of Requirement?" Albert looked around and, seeing no one else, asked.
"Albert, you startled me," Hermione said, placing her hand over her chest and taking a deep breath.
"Sorry, I thought you would have heard my footsteps. Would you mind if I use it first?" Albert asked with a gentle smile. "I'm about to graduate, so I want to pack up the things I've kept here."
"Oh, of course not," Hermione said, changing the subject. "Fred said you figured out how to enter the Room of Requirement."
"Yes, something like that," Albert replied. "Fred and George stumbled upon it while sneaking around at night and ended up hiding in here when Filch was after them. Later, I managed to find the entrance based on their memories." Albert walked through the wall three times, opened the door to the Room of Requirement, and stepped inside.
"This is..."
Hermione followed Albert into the Room of Requirement and found that it was a private room with a carpeted floor. The walls emitted a soft yellow glow, and the room contained a sofa, windows, thick curtains, and even a bed—it looked like someone's bedroom.
"The Room of Requirement is quite mysterious. I occasionally rest here," Albert said as he opened the box and glanced at Hermione, who was inspecting the room. "I won't be taking the furniture, though. If you find yourself a boyfriend in the future, you can bring him here for dates. The Room of Requirement is the best place for privacy in the school; no one will disturb your dates, and you can even ask a house-elf to prepare a romantic candlelit dinner for you."
"Do you often have dates here?"
"You could say that," Albert replied with a wave of his wand. The items he had stored here flew towards him and into the open box.
"But that was a long time ago," he added, reminiscing.
"A long time ago?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Izabel graduated many years ago," Albert said with a smile, reminding her of the passage of time. "This place later became my private study. Fred and George also occasionally use some of the resources here."
"This is a wonderful place, perfect for dates indeed," Hermione said, and it suddenly dawned on her why Albert was here to pack up his things. She walked over to the window, pulled open the thick curtains, and found two large windows behind them, with pouring rain outside. She closed the curtains again and sat down on the sofa, watching Albert pack while engaging in casual conversation. Occasionally, she would glance around the room, her gaze eventually settling on the bed.
When Albert finished packing, he waved his wand, and a door appeared in the corner of the room. Inside was a narrow room with a large cabinet.
"What's that?" Hermione asked curiously as she watched Albert pull the cabinet out of the hidden room.
"It's a Vanishing Cabinet, which can connect two locations and allow instant travel between them," Albert explained, waving his wand to levitate the Vanishing Cabinet into another large trunk.
"You used it to leave Hogwarts?" Hermione guessed the reason behind it. No wonder she had heard that Albert sometimes disappeared without a trace.
"Yes, it's not easy to sneak out of Hogwarts unnoticed, but there are always other ways," Albert said, indicating that they should leave now that he had packed everything.
Then, Albert re-entered the Room of Requirement.
This time, Hermione found herself in a room filled with windows and numerous potted plants.
"This isn't..."
"Yes, it's a greenhouse," Albert confirmed. "We brought some plants from the school greenhouse and cultivated them here. You probably don't know this, but many of the plants here are quite rare and seldom seen outside of Hogwarts. Fred and George also come here to gather ingredients for their magical candies. The house-elves help me water and fertilize the plants regularly." Albert gestured for Hermione to stay back, as some of the plants were highly dangerous, and he always treated them with caution.
"This..."
Hermione was so surprised that she couldn't speak. She never expected Albert to have done so much within the school, and many of these things were probably illegal. But Hermione bit her lip and didn't say anything in the end.
"As long as it's not discovered, it's not illegal." Albert said self-deprecatingly, "That's the law of the Ministry of Magic. I'm just using what's available."
Albert opened another layer of the box, stepped back with Hermione, and waved his wand at the potted plants in the flower bed. All the pots containing various plants flew into the box. After casting a spell to lock the layer, Albert breathed a sigh of relief.
There was no other choice; there were quite a few dangerous plants there, and he had to be cautious lest he trip up at a critical moment.
"I think Sirius said something like that before." Hermione mumbled.
"Let's go."
Albert left the Room of Requirement with the box, and when they entered again, Hermione found herself in a room resembling a potion classroom.
She walked to the nearby workbench and picked up a test tube marked with an 'A3' from the shelf. The cabinet next to it also held many similar test tubes and crystal bottles. This was probably where Albert brewed his potions.
"I remember hiding in the second-floor girls' bathroom to brew potions during our second year." Hermione recalled, unable to hold back a laugh, "If we had a place like this back then, we wouldn't have had to hide in the bathroom all the time."
"When you turned into a cat."
"Yes, that was a terrible mistake." Hermione picked up a test tube containing a pink potion and asked Albert, "What is this?"
"The most primitive version of a beauty potion. It's not very effective, but I think the girls will like it. If you want, you can take all the beauty potions in that cabinet." Albert smiled and reminded her, "The ones sealed with wax should still be usable."
"Beauty potions?" Hermione knew what beauty potions were, but she wasn't interested in that kind of potion, as they didn't make one more beautiful; they transformed one into someone else who was beautiful.
"It's a bit different from what you're thinking. What you have in your hand is actually a facial cleanser, inspired by Muggle face wash. Using it regularly does have an effect, making the skin smoother." Albert smiled and pinched his cheeks, "I use it too. The latest improved version of the beauty potion is quite good."
"Did you invent it?" Hermione was astonished. She knew how popular such a potion would be among girls.
"I guess so." Albert replied casually, "But all the beauty potions here are Izabel's improved versions. Girls always have an unusual obsession and passion for making themselves beautiful."
"I can understand her feelings." Hermione said softly.
Albert only took away some of the potions, leaving all the equipment and ingredients behind. Most potions couldn't be stored for too long without proper preservation.
"What are these?"
Vomiting, dizziness, nosebleeds, diarrhea, fever, hysterical laughter... Hermione's expression turned strange as she looked at the labeled bottles on a certain shelf.
"Raw materials for Fred and George's Skiving Snackboxes." Albert casually explained.
"Skiving Snackboxes?"
"It's similar to the intelligence-boosting candy I gave you last time, but with different effects."
After putting away the potion ingredients in front of Hermione into the box, Albert prepared to leave.
"Are you not taking these?" Hermione asked, pointing at the items in another cabinet.
"No." Albert replied.
"Aren't these magical items?" Hermione recognized what they were. Most of them were defensive bracelets and amulets.
"They're useless now; they've lost their effects." Albert checked the room one last time to make sure he hadn't left anything behind before leaving.
"Are these communication bookmarks?"
"Yes, the first version of the communication bookmarks looked like this." Albert introduced, "The principle behind it is quite simple; it's a transformation spell. But students who don't know how to use transformation spells won't be able to use them."
"How were the later versions of the communication bookmarks made?" Hermione asked curiously.
"That involves the advanced application of transformation spells." Albert didn't hide it, as there were very few wizards who could reach that level, and with only him working on it, there was little progress.
"I think the Defense Association needs a tool to convey messages too." Hermione had thought about asking Albert to teach her how to make communication bookmarks to solve the problem of communication between DA members, but she realized it wasn't easy to achieve the level of the communication bookmarks.
"There are many ways to apply transformation spells. You can refer to how they are used on newspapers." Albert gave Hermione some ideas, "Anyway, you only need to use them to convey the time of gatherings, not for exchanging intelligence."
"You're right. I originally planned to make them into magical coins." Hermione briefly explained her plan.
"That's a good idea. Umbridge probably won't be able to recognize them, as her magical attainments are quite average."
(End of Chapter)
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