Chapter 193: The Jack of All Trades
Chapter 193: The Jack of All Trades
Sizzle! A cloud of smoke rose from the scorching grill, filling the air with the mouth-watering aroma of barbecued meat.
Outside Hagrid's hut, a barbecue was in full swing.
Albert flipped a piece of beef on the grill with a pair of tongs, the slightly marinated steak sizzling and turning a golden brown.
"Onions, lemons, and eggs," Hagrid said, placing the ingredients on the table and taking a bite from a freshly toasted slice of bread. His eyes remained fixed on the steak that Albert was cooking, making him feel even hungrier.
In the past, Hagrid had considered himself a decent cook, but now he felt that he merely knew how to make food edible.
Albert picked up his wand and waved it gently at the onion, skillfully slicing it into thin pieces with a cutting curse. He then brushed them with a glaze and placed them on the grill alongside the steak.
As for the eggs, he cracked them into a pan and fried them to perfection, serving them alongside the grilled steak, onions, and a generous scoop of canned peanuts. A simple yet delectable homemade steak dinner was thus prepared.
"It sure smells delicious," Hagrid remarked, eagerly cutting himself a large chunk of steak. "Looks like marinating the steak makes a big difference."
"The real pleasure lies in tasting the food you've prepared yourself," Albert replied. "There's a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that comes with it." Albert did possess culinary skills, but he had never bothered to upgrade them. After all, apart from a handful of occasions, he rarely needed to cook for himself back home.
As Albert was about to take a bite of his steak, he suddenly heard a familiar scream in the distance.
"Wait!"
Albert had already raised the fork to his mouth, but he turned his head toward the direction of the voice. It was Fred and the others, jogging in their direction.
"You… You're grilling steak here?" Fred exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Hagrid and Albert enjoying their barbecue.
Of course, steak was also available at Hogwarts, but seeing Albert grilling his own steak made them feel a bit envious.
"It's not bad," Albert said, squeezing some lemon juice onto his steak before taking another bite. He then looked up and asked, "I thought you guys didn't have time to come over?"
"We came to deliver a message, but we never expected to find you hiding here and enjoying a barbecue," George said, looking slightly heartbroken.
"I'm just having a meal with Hagrid," Albert said, taking a bite of the grilled onion and following it with a forkful of egg. After chewing and swallowing, he asked, "So, where's my letter?"
"Right here," George said, handing the letter to Albert.
"That's odd," Albert said, frowning slightly. "Why didn't the owl deliver the letter directly to me?"
"Professor Smith asked me to give it to you personally," George explained, his eyes fixed on the grilled cheese potatoes on the grill.
"Help yourself, but be careful not to burn yourself," Hagrid said, finding the situation a bit amusing. He motioned for the three boys to sit down and join them. "I didn't know Albert could cook so well."
"Professor Smith?" Albert nodded in understanding. Given the sender, he could already guess the content of the letter.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Fred asked, his mouth full of cheese-loaded potatoes.
"Oh, right." Albert tore open the envelope. It was a letter from Serena Harrish, expressing her willingness to correspond with him and recommending two books related to alchemy.
"What does it say?" Lee Jordan asked curiously.
"Someone wants to establish a friendly pen pal relationship with me," Albert replied, tucking the letter back into his pocket with a smile.
"How's the steak?" George asked, more concerned with the taste than the letter.
"Not bad," Albert replied, focusing on finishing the food on his plate.
After swallowing a mouthful of potatoes, Fred couldn't help but comment, "I never thought you'd actually know how to cook."
"Why wouldn't I?" Albert asked. "Self-reliance brings a sense of fulfillment."
After all, Herbert and Daisy were lawyers, and there were times when they were too busy to take care of him.
"This steak is fantastic," Hagrid praised, having already devoured his portion. However, the amount was barely enough to satisfy his massive appetite. He helped himself to some toasted bread, along with some cured meat and cheese, and also had a small pot of porridge.
"If we'd known, we would have finished our lunch first before coming to find you," Fred said, watching as Albert popped the last piece of steak into his mouth.
"Yeah, we should head back. It's almost lunchtime," George said after greeting Hagrid. He then signaled for Fred and Lee Jordan to leave as well.
"Goodbye, Hagrid," Albert said, bidding Hagrid farewell before joining the three boys on their way back to the castle.
Along the way, George suddenly asked, "By the way, we saw you and Hagrid coming out of the Forbidden Forest earlier."
"What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest?" Lee Jordan asked, following up on George's question.
"That…" Albert hesitated, "I promised Hagrid that I wouldn't tell anyone else. If you want to know, you should ask Hagrid yourself." Albert knew that the trio wouldn't bother asking Hagrid, or they would have inquired earlier instead of waiting until now.
"You kept this from us?" Fred grumbled, clearly dissatisfied.
“It can't be helped. I already promised Hagrid,” Albert shrugged helplessly.
"Alright," the trio had no choice but to drop the subject, knowing that Albert didn't want to elaborate further.
"By the way, isn't there a Witchers Card Club gathering this afternoon?" Lee Jordan asked, as he was now a devoted follower of Witchers.
"Yeah, it's in the Great Hall, but not many people are interested," Albert replied. "I've already created the original cards."
As he spoke, Albert pulled out a few cards and handed them to the trio. They each received a card with their own likeness on it.
Fred and George were depicted in their Quidditch robes, holding their brooms, while Lee Jordan was shown in wizard's robes, wearing a wizard hat and holding a wand. Albert's card portrayed him in wizard's attire, holding a book and a wand.
"When were these photos taken?" George examined his card closely and couldn't help but ask.
"You tell me?" Albert smiled but didn't elaborate.
"Are all future cards going to be like this? They finally look properly made!" Fred took his card and was quite pleased with how it turned out.
"What about the other cards?" Lee Jordan inquired.
"I haven't made the others yet. Do you think I have that much free time?" Albert shrugged. "Besides, I don't have photos of anyone else."
As for something like image rights...
There was no such concept in the wizarding world.
"I'm keeping this card!" George declared, intending to pocket his card, but Albert stopped him.
"That won't do. The original cards need to stay with me. I'll be using them as templates and casting the Transformation Charm on them. If I modify the original, all the other cards will change accordingly," Albert explained.
"Is that even possible?" Fred exclaimed in surprise.
"Of course," Albert countered. "Didn't you notice that the Daily Prophet uses this spell too?"
The group shook their heads in unison.
While they were aware that the content in the Daily Prophet sometimes changed, they had no idea what caused it.
"So... how much longer will it take?"
"Who knows? At least until I learn the Transformation Charm," Albert thought about it and added, "I heard it's N.E.w.T.s level, so it might take another two or three years."
"Two or three years?" Lee Jordan said weakly. "In two or three years, you think you can reach N.E.w.T.s level?"
"While it may sound a bit arrogant, graduating from Hogwarts with excellent grades isn't going to be that difficult for me," Albert said nonchalantly.
"It truly is a shame you didn't go to Ravenclaw. Their loss, I tell you," George sighed again. "After all, look at that brain of yours."
"If only you could have answered more riddles than Katrina," Lee Jordan chimed in.
"You're thinking too highly of me," Albert glanced at Lee Jordan and said helplessly, "That's impossible. How could I win against someone who solves riddles every day?"
"Then why did you bet on guessing riddles with her?" Fred was even more puzzled.
"I wanted to know how many different riddles there were for the entrance to Ravenclaw and what the answers were," Albert replied without hesitation. "In the future, I might be able to sneak into the Ravenclaw common room unnoticed."
"I think you'll be kicked out," Fred stated.
"I think so too," George and Lee Jordan echoed.
As the four of them were talking, they had reached the castle. Just as they were about to walk through the entrance hall, they heard hurried footsteps behind them.
Filch was striding towards them angrily.
"Dirty footprints everywhere! I've had enough!" Filch pointed at the muddy footprints on the floor, his eyes bulging and his jowls quivering. He looked quite frightening. "I've had enough... time to make an example! You four, come with me!"
"Ahem, calm down, Mr. Filch," Albert drew his wand and waved it gently at his muddy footprints and boots, causing the dirty marks to disappear without a trace.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan exchanged glances and quickly cast a Scouring Charm on their own boots.
Unfortunately, they found that they couldn't completely remove the stains.
"How did you do that?" George asked curiously.
"Vanishing Charm," Albert waved his wand and cleaned their boots for them. Then, turning to Filch, who was still standing there dumbfounded, Albert asked, "Can we go now?"
Without waiting for Filch's reply, the four of them walked through the entrance hall into the Great Hall, leaving a stunned Filch and a few curious onlookers behind. By the time Filch snapped out of his daze, Albert and his friends were long gone.
Filch was trembling with rage, and there were a few students nearby who were simply curious onlookers. Unfortunately, two unlucky Hufflepuffs became Filch's targets as he decided to make an example of them.
They wished they could do what Albert had done, but neither of them knew how to cast the Vanishing Charm.
(End of Chapter)
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