Chapter 172: Smith
Chapter 172: Smith
During the remainder of the journey, the quartet gathered to discuss the Wizarding game cards.
Drawing from his past experiences with card games, Albert refined the rules for the Wizarding card game. Of course, this could only be considered a prototype, but Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were captivated by his explanation, occasionally interjecting with their own thoughts.
"Hey, if these Wizarding cards ever become famous," Albert said, jokingly waving the notebook in his hand, "how many galleons do you guys think this original notebook with the rules will be worth?"
"If it were me, I wouldn't sell it," Lee Jordan replied without hesitation. "This notebook will become a legend, passed down alongside the game."
The group's excitement remained high as Albert painted a captivating picture of the game and its potential. Moreover, Fred, George, and even Lee Jordan could sense the allure that such a game held.
It wasn't their fault; there were just too few games in the wizarding world.
As the Hogwarts Express began to slow down, the four friends suddenly realized their situation and hurriedly changed into their school robes.
Soon, the train pulled into the rainy Hogsmeade station. Outside, the rain continued to fall, and Fred and George tried to shield themselves with their cloaks. Lee Jordan, on the other hand, took out an umbrella from his trunk and looked at Albert in confusion. "You didn't bring an umbrella?"
Lee Jordan found it unbelievable that Albert, of all people, could forget to bring an umbrella, given his usual meticulous nature.
"Don't need one," Albert replied with a smile as he summoned an umbrella with a swish of his wand and a quick incantation. "Remember, I specifically practiced summoning charms for a good part of last semester. See, it's coming in handy now."
"Don't crowd me," Lee Jordan muttered as he noticed Fred and George huddling under his umbrella.
"Albert, can you replicate an umbrella for us?" Fred called out to Albert, as the three of them were squeezed together under one umbrella.
"Pass me your wand!" Albert shouted back, his voice slightly muffled by the noisy surroundings.
"But I thought you had your wand?" Fred asked, confused. But then he saw Albert holding his wand and realized what he was suggesting, so he handed over his own wand.
Albert took Fred's wand and, after casting a duplication charm on Lee Jordan's umbrella, created a duplicate. Before returning the wand, Albert inspected it and muttered, "As expected, it's not as good as mine. The power of the spell is also noticeably weaker."
"What are you muttering about?" Lee Jordan asked as he handed the duplicate umbrella to the twins, leaving them to huddle under their own umbrella. The witches and wizards behind them looked on with envy, as those with umbrellas were clearly in the minority.
Even fewer could summon an umbrella with a summoning charm like Albert had done.
The rain poured down relentlessly, like buckets of icy water being poured over their heads. Those unfortunate souls without umbrellas had been drenched the moment they stepped out of the train, and now they could only lower their heads, squint their eyes, and huddle their bodies in a futile attempt to shield themselves from the downpour.
"First-years over here!" a familiar voice boomed from a short distance away. Hagrid, holding a lantern, waved at the drenched first-year students.
Following tradition, Hagrid would be leading them on the customary lake-crossing journey.
The others jostled each other as they made their way along the platform.
Albert, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan deliberately lingered at the back, enjoying the misfortune of the soaked first-years and callously making light of their situation. George and Lee Jordan even discussed the reasons why some witches and wizards chose not to bring an umbrella.
Of course, the four of them weren't the only ones with umbrellas. Those who had them casually strolled at the back of the group, preferring to avoid the crowd. After all, there would be more than enough carriages to go around.
The group followed the other students down a rough, muddy path toward the carriages, each of which was pulled by an invisible Thestral.
Shivering students quickly climbed into the carriages, while Albert and his friends boarded one of their own. In the adjacent carriage, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie huddled under an umbrella, and Katie had been chatting with Albert before boarding, expressing her interest in the duplication charm.
"If you have time, I could teach it to you," Albert offered to Katie. "It's not a difficult spell, as long as you're willing to put in some practice."
"We should get going," Fred reminded them.
As Albert climbed into the carriage and shut the door, the carriage set off with a lurch. The long line of carriages proceeded along the path leading to Hogwarts Castle, their wheels splashing through puddles and sending water flying.
Albert leaned against the window, feeling the carriage shake violently.
No one spoke; they all pressed their faces to the windows, gazing at the distant Hogwarts.
Soon enough, the carriages passed through the Hogwarts gates, adorned with winged boars, and finally came to a stop at the stone steps leading to the large oak front doors.
Students from the carriages ahead had already climbed the steps and were rushing into the castle, heads down against the pouring rain.
Albert, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan disembarked from the carriage, casually strolling up the steps as the hurried crowd rushed past them.
Along the way, Albert casually pulled up a student who had slipped, and the grateful student merely muttered a quick "thanks" before hurrying off again.
"That guy's a klutz," George commented.
"How so?" Lee Jordan asked curiously.
"You figure it out," George replied.
Ignoring their bickering, Albert paused at the entrance and looked back in the direction of the lake, where he could vaguely make out blurry lights moving toward the boathouse.
Were the first-years still crossing the lake?
"Albert, let's go!" George urged.
"Coming," Albert replied.
Albert retracted his gaze and slowly followed the others into the entrance hall, walking through the open doors into the Great Hall.
It was said that every year, for the start-of-term feast, the Great Hall of Hogwarts was transformed to look even more magnificent and grand.
As Albert entered the hall, he looked up at the high table and spotted a familiar face among the staff.
He gave Rowena a slight nod before taking a seat next to Lee Jordan, who had saved him a spot. He also greeted the Gryffindor house ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, as he passed by.
"Good evening," Albert said, turning his attention back to his peers and offering a smile.
"You've gotten a tan," Katie remarked, eyeing Albert. "Did you go to the beach during the holidays?"
"The Basque beach in France," Albert nodded. "The cuisine there is truly exquisite and memorable."
"How enviable!" Katie exclaimed, her face full of admiration. "Staying at home during the holidays can be so boring."
"It's pretty boring, indeed." Fred muttered, "But this is pretty much how it goes every year. We're used to it by now."
"At least you guys get to play Quidditch." Lee Jordan chimed in with a hint of protest.
Just as they were chatting, Professor McGonagall arrived with the first-year students, and the Great Hall fell silent.
The Gryffindor Head of House placed a shabby, patched-up wizard's hat on a three-legged stool amidst the gazes of the students.
Then, to the astonishment of the newcomers, the Sorting Hat burst into a new song.
Once the song concluded, the Sorting Ceremony officially commenced.
To be honest, observing the Sorting Ceremony of others was quite an interesting affair.
The newcomers began to be sorted into their respective houses.
Alright, Albert would never admit that he was actually interested in Cho Chang's appearance.
After all, in Harry Potter's story, Cho Chang was depicted as a cute girl with Eastern features. However, there was one thing that couldn't be denied—there were indeed discrepancies in the aesthetics of Europeans and Asians, no, it should be said that people from every country had their own unique sense of beauty.
Perhaps, in the eyes of most Europeans, Africans and Asians all looked somewhat similar.
Fortunately, Albert didn't suffer from the facial blindness that plagued many Europeans.
Cho Chang, standing in the front row, possessed features that leaned more towards the Asian phenotype—yes, she was indeed a cute girl.
However, compared to Cho Chang, Albert was more concerned about a boy named Zacharias Smith. While Albert didn't have a particular impression of his name, he paid special attention to the surname Smith.
By the way, this Smith was sorted into Hufflepuff.
Gryffindor also welcomed a few new students, including Katie Bell, who Albert vaguely recognized as one of the three girls pursuing Harry.
"Is that the Rowena Smith you were talking about?" Fred curiously eyed the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor as he asked Albert.
"Yep, it's him. Looks like we won't have to worry about not learning anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts this year." As Albert spoke, Angelina across the table was discussing flying brooms with George. She hadn't bought one yet and wanted to hear the opinions of her teammates.
"The Nimbus 1700 isn't bad. The brooms in this series have always been excellent." Wood interjected.
"What about you guys? What did you buy?" Angelina turned to Fred and George.
"The Cleansweep Five," the twins replied in unison, exchanging a glance.
"What about you, Albert?" Angelina inquired.
"He didn't buy a broom," Fred answered for Albert.
"I suggest you borrow one from someone on the team and try it out before deciding which one to buy," Albert offered his advice.
However, this suggestion wasn't that great, as most people bought either the Comet or the Cleansweep series, and no one owned a Nimbus, as brooms from that series were rather expensive.
"What's your budget?" Wood asked. "If it's not that high, I suggest you go for the latest Cleansweep Six. Comet hasn't released a new broom in several years. Of course, the Comet 260 is also a decent broom, but it's a bit slower. It's up to you to decide."
As they were talking, the last student was sorted into Ravenclaw. After the Sorting Ceremony concluded, Professor McGonagall took away the Sorting Hat and the stool.
"Welcome to Hogwarts for the new school year!" Professor Dumbledore stood up from the staff table, beaming at all the students with his arms wide open in a welcoming gesture.
"This year, I am delighted to welcome a new teacher to our ranks, Professor Smith, who will be filling the vacant position for Defense Against the Dark Arts."
A round of applause echoed through the Great Hall.
"Well, I believe you must all be hungry, so let's begin the feast!" Dumbledore raised his spoon and gently tapped the goblet in front of him.
Instantly, the golden plates and goblets in front of everyone were filled with food and drinks, and the Great Hall resounded with cheerful conversations and the clinking of cutlery.
Albert wasn't particularly hungry, so he picked at his favorite dishes while discussing with Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost, the academic question of whether ghosts could consume food.
Nick indicated that the food provided at ghost feasts was usually rotten, and when ghosts wanted to savor the taste of food, they would pass through the tables laden with dishes.
"I guess they let the food rot to enhance the flavor," Albert remarked to the person next to him, only to earn a bunch of disdainful glares.
After the last dessert had been devoured, Dumbledore stood up once more, and the buzzing conversations in the Great Hall abruptly ceased.
"Well, now!" Dumbledore beamed at the students. "I believe everyone has had their fill, so I have a few announcements to make."
"Caretaker Filch has asked me to inform you all that planting garlic in the castle and carrying garlic-related items are prohibited this year."
As Dumbledore mentioned this, many students couldn't help but want to laugh, as they all remembered the incident from the previous term where someone had used garlic to prank Filch before the summer holidays.
Fred and George had to endure kicks from Albert to suppress their laughter, and the two of them were now suffering from stifled laughter.
...
It wasn't until Dumbledore announced that it was time for bed that the start-of-term feast for the new students finally came to an end.
"I never expected Filch to ban garlic." After leaving the Great Hall, Fred finally burst out laughing.
"What a shame. Garlic-fried eggs taste pretty good." Lee Jordan commented earnestly.
This remark caused Fred and George to want to laugh even more.
Albert followed the others to the entrance of the Gryffindor common room.
"Password?" Fat Lady asked as they approached.
"Balderdash," Percy replied as he stepped forward.
The portrait swung forward, revealing a large hole in the wall.
Everyone climbed through the opening into the circular common room, which had the familiar cozy furnishings, with a blazing fire in the fireplace.
The boys all rushed up the spiral staircase to their respective dormitories.
Four four-poster beds stood against the walls, draped with deep red hangings, and each person's trunk was already placed at the foot of their bed.
"Good night," Fred said, feeling too full to move after changing into his pajamas. He lay down on his bed, not bothering to do anything else.
"Good night," Albert also changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. Their beds had been warmed with hot coals.
Lying comfortably in bed, listening to the sound of the rain outside, Albert closed his eyes, feeling content with the pleasant life at Hogwarts.
(End of Chapter)
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