Chapter 386: Wanna Hang Out?
Chapter 386: Wanna Hang Out?
"Ah~"
Albert put down his book, yawned, and turned his head towards a corner of the common room where a group of students were huddled together, whispering excitedly.
"What's going on over there?"
He tilted his head and asked Lee Jordan, who had been loitering by the notice board and probably knew what the latest announcement was all about.
"First Hogsmeade weekend." Lee pointed at the notice board. "Mid-October."
"Brilliant!" Fred exclaimed, blinking. "Our Stink Bombs are running low. It's a perfect opportunity to restock from Zonko's."
"No, no, no," George interrupted. "Filch is the one who always causes trouble for us first!"
Fred didn't intend to dwell on the topic and shifted the conversation. "Last time, we tried to sell garlic crosses to Professor Quirrell, but he seemed to think we were joking. I was wondering, doesn't Professor Quirrell fear that vampires will come after him?"
"And you believed whatever he said?" Albert rolled his eyes.
"Then why does he stuff his turban with garlic? The smell is strong enough to choke someone." The Weasley brothers still believed that the turban was filled with garlic.
"Who knows!" Albert mumbled. "Maybe there's some big secret hidden in there."
"What big secret?" Fred asked curiously, suddenly feeling that Albert's guess might be true.
"How would I know? I'm just guessing," Albert shrugged.
"Hey, how about we convince Peeves to snatch Professor Quirrell's turban?" George's eyes lit up as he suggested. Of course, convincing Peeves wouldn't be easy; they would need to offer something that would interest the poltergeist.
The idea came from Albert, and their relationship with Peeves was amicable. However, every time they wanted Peeves to do something, they had to pay a price.
"Albert, can you take a look at this? Did I translate these sentences correctly?" Angelina interrupted their scheming and handed over the parchment she had just finished translating.
"Unfortunately... they're all wrong," Albert replied after a quick glance at the parchment.
"Sigh, I really don't know why I chose this subject." Angelina regretted taking Ancient Runes. This subject wasn't very friendly to most students.
"How about mine?"
For newcomers, understanding those strange and interconnected symbols was indeed challenging, and even with the help of the dictionary, it was still difficult.
It was like learning a foreign language, sometimes utterly bewildering, and on top of that, this subject was even harder to grasp.
Initially, students only needed to figure out what each symbol from 0 to 9 represented. Later, they had to translate short passages of Runic using the dictionary and memorize the meanings of the words.
This was the essence of the subject—to understand the meanings behind those peculiar symbols. It was said that the exams would also test students on these concepts.
However, the most challenging part was that a single Runic symbol could often have multiple meanings, and one had to connect and interpret the symbols together to decipher the true meaning of a sentence.
"Hmm."
Shan Na leaned in, examining the errors Albert had pointed out, pondering the meanings of those symbols.
She didn't doubt Albert's judgment. The rune genius, who could converse in Ancient Runes with Professor Babbling and read Ancient Runes books as if they were regular novels, was undoubtedly an expert. He could even serve as the professor's assistant if needed.
As for Albert, the ancient runes homework was, of course, a breeze.
To be honest, Professor Babbling's class was the most boring one Albert had ever attended. The basic knowledge of ancient runes that the professor taught was, to Albert now, as simple as learning the Arabic numerals.
However, he still had to attend the ancient runes class and couldn't just skip it whenever he wanted.
Professor Babbling was aware of Albert's proficiency, but unfortunately, Hogwarts only had a system of repeating a year, not skipping ahead. So, as long as Albert didn't disturb the class, the professor allowed him to do his own thing.
Apart from occasionally calling on Albert to have a conversation in Ancient Runes, Professor Babbling let him be for the rest of the class.
Albert had found something interesting to do—proofreading the textbook. Yes, finding faults with the 'Ancient Runes for Beginners' textbook, nitpicking, so to speak.
The author of the book certainly wasn't an individual with Albert's extraordinary abilities, and it was impossible for them not to have made any mistakes. All one needed to do was research deeply enough, and one could find errors.
Albert would point out the errors and annotate them.
"By the way, how's that thing coming along?" Albert suddenly asked.
"Haven't made much progress," George shook his head helplessly. "We're trying to figure out where to get some pus from a Bubotuber."
Not long ago, the twins had heard about a student who tried to get rid of their acne with extreme methods, and they began to wonder if they could make some money off of this.
Fred and George weren't going to take anything for granted, so they sought Albert's opinion, and he agreed that women generally liked to look pretty and wouldn't skimp on their Galleons for beauty products. If they could produce this potion, they'd likely make a killing.
In fact, there was a similar beauty potion shop in Diagon Alley.
Fred and George had no intention of competing with Mrs. Primpapail, their target market was the students at school, and the two were working on a potion to effectively eliminate acne and blackheads.
If they could get their hands on the ingredients, Albert would be willing to provide technical and knowledge-based support.
He had already asked Professor Sprout about how to brew such a potion, and with some experience and tweaks, it would be ready for use.
Of course, Albert's willingness to help also had to do with his sister; it would make a perfect birthday gift for Nia. Isabella might also find it useful, and they could even make some money off it later on—it seemed like a great deal all around.
Fred and George were eyeing the Bubotuber plants in the school's Greenhouse Three, planning to sneak over and get some for Albert to make the potion.
Of course, they could also purchase it directly from Slug & Jiggers Apothecary in Diagon Alley. But since there were some available at school, Fred and George didn't mind acquiring them themselves.
Lee Jordan, however, wasn't too interested in this endeavor; he usually only focused on Wizarding Chess.
As for now, he was chatting with others about another piece of gossip: someone had almost been bitten by the large dog on the fourth-floor corridor again.
"That's gutsy. Wasn't the last unlucky soul just released from the school hospital?"
"Heard it was a Hufflepuff student. He was so scared by the dog that his legs turned to jelly, but luckily, Professor Quirrell passed by and pulled him out with magic before he got hurt."
"That doesn't sound very Hufflepuff-like," Albert raised an eyebrow.
If it was truly an impulsive act, he should've been in Gryffindor! Albert bent down to pick up Tom, who was basking by the fireplace, and scratched the cat's ears. He could probably guess what had happened.
The Killing Curse?
It seemed that Professor Quirrell was starting to test it out, trying to find a way to get past the three-headed dog without having to defeat it.
How should he put it?
Students often got curious and took matters into their own hands, and this wasn't the first time. As long as they didn't cause too much trouble, it usually didn't attract the professors' attention, and the worst that would happen was a deduction of House points.
Indeed, Professor Quirrell had deducted 10 points from Hufflepuff as a warning.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm wondering when I'll be able to accomplish the great feat of reading a hundred books," Albert put Tom down and continued reading the book in front of him.
"A hundred books?" Shan Na raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd already finished them."
"I've probably read about 45," Albert said. Ever since he advanced to second year, he had much less time for reading.
"I read your description of Hogsmeade in that book, 'Wizarding Landmarks'. It seems like an interesting place, and supposedly, it's where the headquarters of the goblin rebellion is located," Shan Na put aside her ancient runes homework, which she had just finished correcting, and struck up a conversation with Albert about Hogsmeade.
"The headquarters of the goblin rebellion is in the Hog's Head, it's a messy and dirty place, and if you go there, remember to bring your own cup," Albert said offhandedly. He didn't have a good impression of the Hog's Head or Aberforth, that jerk still hadn't replied to his letter, though Albert hadn't really expected a response anyway.
"I heard that it's the only place in Britain without Muggles," Shan Na wanted to chat with Albert about this topic, but she didn't know that he had already snuck over there several times with the twins, so it didn't hold much novelty for him.
"You don't seem very interested?"
"It's alright, I guess," Albert shrugged at his roommates. "The Three Broomsticks and Honeydukes are more my style."
He glanced at his communication bookmark and sent a message to Isabella: "Hogsmeade, wanna go?"
It didn't take long for the bookmark to change color, and when Albert flipped it over, he saw that she had only replied with a 'hmph'.
The group was discussing what they would do first once they arrived in Hogsmeade the following weekend.
"You seem quite familiar with Hogsmeade. Mind giving us an introduction?" Shan Na asked, encouraged by the others. "Let's all go together!"
"I'm familiar with it too, I can introduce it to you as well!" Lee Jordan chimed in with a playful smile.
"I already have plans," Albert politely declined. "Lee can give you guys a tour."
The girls raised their eyebrows, glanced at each other, and then reluctantly nodded in agreement.
(End of Chapter)
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