Chapter 811: Abundant Theories
Chapter 811: Abundant Theories
Ever since Albert promised his sister, Nia, that he would take her to the Quidditch World Cup during the summer holidays, he noticed that she had become extremely clingy. Most of the time, she would be a curious cat, hovering around him to listen to his stories about the wizarding world.
"You must be exhausted. Do you have to reply to all these letters?" Nia wore a pretty dress they had bought during their last shopping trip to London. She brought over two freshly-made glasses of iced tea and placed one in front of Albert. Sucking on her straw, she asked, "Won't you tire out Sheera by sending all these letters?"
"I'll just drop them off at the Owl Post later," Albert replied, intending to spare his owl the trouble of delivering each letter individually, which would undoubtedly be a tedious task.
"Are there a bunch of owl postmen at the Owl Post?" Nia asked, her beautiful eyes fixed on Albert's profile.
"Yes, there are about two hundred owl postmen there," Albert answered as he sealed the envelope, wrote the recipient's name and address, and set the letter aside. He then picked up the glass of iced tea that Nia had made for him and took a big sip. "This tastes pretty good."
"Uncle Charlie said the iced tea is selling well, and he asked me to inquire if you have any new recipes," Nia said.
"Hasn't he tried to develop new beverages himself?" Albert asked in return.
"He has, but they're not very popular," Nia replied.
"Hmm," Albert murmured, his attention already back on the letters. He opened another one, read its contents, and started writing a response. Most of the letters were simple congratulations on his recent award of the Third Grade Order of Merlin.
Of course, the fact that people took the time to write and send their well-wishes was a form of recognition of his achievement, which was much better than the treatment he received from Fudge.
The Minister of Magic was still reeling from the backlash of abusing his power for personal gain. In an attempt to salvage his reputation, Fudge had been busy rallying people to donate to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"What about these letters over here? Why aren't you opening them?" Nia asked, picking up a few of the letters.
"They're from strangers, so I'm not going to bother. Who knows, they might contain curses or something unpleasant," Albert explained.
"Jealous of your award, huh?" Nia understood. This kind of thing was quite common.
Some people with intense jealousy could be downright malicious.
"Yeah, pure-blood supremacists like to suppress Muggle-born wizards. It's normal for them to be jealous of my award," Albert said as he finished his drink. "That's why I want you guys to leave Britain for a while."
"You must be really hated," Nia mumbled.
"Whether I'm hated or not, I don't know. But I just don't want you guys to be involved in this mess. For bad guys, nothing is too extreme," Albert said as he ruffled Nia's hair affectionately. "I don't want to have any regrets, and I definitely don't want to be in a position where I have to seek revenge later. Even if I kill them all, it won't bring back what we've lost."
"Stop messing with my hair," Nia pouted. "And by the way, you're a killer too."
"Of course," Albert said gently. "With magic, killing someone is as easy as it gets. But it's also a very cruel thing to do."
Indeed, Albert didn't like killing.
In this world, murder was the most unforgivable crime.
When he thought about it, it was quite ironic.
However, Albert preferred to turn people into idiots or completely alter their personalities, leaving them to live out the rest of their lives in confusion.
This idea came to him thanks to the unfortunate Lockhart.
He found it amusing to imagine a Death Eater losing their wand, their memories, and being transformed into a homeless vagrant, stranded in the Muggle world they despised. Their families and friends would never find them, and they would have to scavenge for food like stray dogs, barely surviving in their pathetic state.
"What was that medal you got last time?" Nia, unaware of the dark thoughts lurking in Albert's mind, set down her empty glass and picked up a cat, gently stroking its chin and neck. She chatted casually with Albert as she played with the cat.
"That was a reward for making valuable contributions to the wizarding world. It's called the Third Grade Order of Merlin," Albert explained.
"Merlin? As in, King Arthur's Merlin?" Nia asked.
"Yes, that Merlin," Albert confirmed with a nod.
"The Ministry is so stingy," Nia commented, having seen the medal herself.
To be honest, receiving a medal at all indicated that this award was not easily attained. However, the fact that it was merely a gold-plated medal made it feel like they were trying to brush off the recipient.
"It's the same everywhere. Even the gold medals in the Muggle Olympics are gold-plated," Albert said.
"That's different," Nia argued. "Olympic gold medals are made of silver and plated with gold. Yours looks like it's made of copper and plated with gold."
"It doesn't matter what the medal is made of," Albert said. "What's truly meaningful are these letters."
"Those letters?"
"Yes," Albert said. "Wizards also like to respect their elders. The older you are, the more respected you tend to be. These letters represent recognition and acknowledgment, and most of them are from well-known wizards in various fields of the magical world."
Of course, what truly excited Albert about receiving the Third Grade Order of Merlin was not the medal or the letters of recognition, but the task reward offered by his system panel.
He could acquire a specific skill of his choice.
This task reward was far more precious than any other reward he had received so far.
Up till now, Albert still hadn't decided which skill to choose.
The Animagus transformation would be nice. It was a difficult spell to master, and being able to learn it directly through the task reward would save him a lot of trouble. Plus, there was a related task on his panel.
But... opportunities to select a skill as a reward were extremely rare. Apart from the "Three Times a Charm" reward he received for his special contribution, this was only the second time he had been offered such a choice, thanks to the Order of Merlin award.
So, Albert was hesitant to use this reward immediately.
He had considered using this method to obtain more Third Grade Orders of Merlin, but that thought was quickly dismissed.
Perhaps he could make numerous valuable contributions, but it was nearly impossible for him to acquire multiple Third Grade Orders of Merlin, unless he controlled the source and gave the awards to himself, making the Order of Merlin so common that it lost its value.
It was possible, but the difficulty was extremely high.
It seemed that he should indeed cherish this opportunity.
After all, he could also choose the Philosopher's Stone formula as his reward. With his alchemy skills, there was a high probability that he could recreate the Philosopher's Stone in the near future. Then, he and Isabelle could achieve immortality, just like Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel.
The temptation of immortality was something that many people couldn't resist, and now it was right in front of Albert.
If he could stop himself from aging and also achieve immortality, even Tom Riddle would probably be envious enough to go crazy.
With the help of his system panel, he might just be able to do it.
What a crazy thought.
Albert pushed these chaotic thoughts aside for the moment. He was still young and had plenty of time.
"So, what was your contribution?" Nia asked. At times, she got the impression that Albert was omnipotent.
"I restored a spell that can forcibly turn a werewolf back into its human form," Albert replied.
"Do werewolves truly exist?" Nia asked, feeling astonished.
"Yes, and they are very dangerous. During a full moon, werewolves lose control and transform, becoming a threat. Anyone bitten by a werewolf in its transformed state will be infected and turn into a werewolf themselves, with no way to reverse it," Albert whispered, "In fact, there are quite a few werewolves in Britain, and most of them aren't even wizards; they are ordinary people who have been bitten."
"No wonder they gave you the award." Nia sighed, "Since there are werewolves, there must be vampires too, right?"
"Yes, but I haven't seen any." Albert glanced at the remaining envelopes on the table and sighed. The number of letters he had received previously was quite overwhelming, and going through each one would take a significant amount of time. It felt like marking homework.
After a short break, Albert resumed opening the letters and reading their contents. He decided not to reply to a portion of the letters.
In her letter, Seraphina Harresh informed him that an International Alchemy Conference would be held in Egypt later in the year and asked if he would like to attend with her and broaden his horizons.
The elderly witch was already aware of Albert's connection to Nicolas Flamel and hoped that Albert could emulate Dumbledore by winning the Outstanding Contribution to Alchemy Award at the conference.
Seraphina wasn't the only one who mentioned this; several of his old friends had also inquired about it in their letters.
"The International Alchemy Conference is at the end of July and lasts for three days, I believe." Albert murmured, "There's also the Barnabus Finkley Prize for Exceptional Spellcasting this year. I think I can trigger a panel task for that."
Speaking of which, Dumbledore had won both of those awards when he was younger—now that was truly impressive.
Perhaps that was what a real genius looked like! "You've got a package."
Nia jumped up from the sofa and rushed to the window, letting in an owl carrying a parcel.
Albert prepared some water and food for the exhausted owl before taking the package and checking the sender's name: Valeria.
"Someone you know?" Nia asked.
"Sort of." Albert opened the package and noticed two rolled-up letters on top, along with several photos.
Albert picked up one of the letters and began to read. It was from Valeria, who wrote that she had gone to America and opened a potion shop with Katherine. They also provided beauty services for witches, which were well-received. The letter mentioned that their hangover cure, the 'Baffling Draught,' had sold out, and Katherine hoped he could brew another batch. Of course, the name of the potion wasn't directly mentioned in the letter.
Valeria's letter was quite long, with the first half discussing business and the latter half filled with casual chatter. She also complained about the unfriendly environment over there and talked about Isabelle, being quite open about certain matters. The letter also mentioned that the potions in the package were meant to "restore his energy," and they were quite popular over there. She even included the potion's formula so that Albert could brew it himself.
"You know quite a few pretty girls, aren't you afraid your girlfriend will get jealous?" Nia's voice, tinged with a hint of melancholy, came from beside him. She held the photos from the package, which included several of the potion shop and the rest were selfies of the two girls. The photo in Nia's hand was of Valeria in a daring sleeping gown.
"They know each other." Albert opened the other letter and added, "They worked on the beauty potions together."
"What's your relationship with this woman?" Nia asked, holding up Valeria's photo.
"Nothing special, she's Isabelle's pen pal. I met her at the Potion Championship last year." Albert asked, puzzled, "Is there a problem?"
"She has designs on you." Nia stated.
"Designs? I know." Albert nodded, acknowledging that he was aware, "They all hope I can help improve their beauty potions."
"No, that's not what I mean." Nia pouted, being blunt, "This woman is making a move on you. She obviously wants to sleep with you; you must be quite the temptation."
Albert was taken aback, picking up the photo and examining it carefully. While it was somewhat provocative...
"You probably don't understand what this kind of photo implies..." Nia said with a complicated expression, "Who sends photos like this to strangers?"
"Don't look at me like that, I have Isabelle." Albert said helplessly, feeling that his sister was a bit too mature for her age.
No, it should be said that the whole of Europe started this education quite early. He had heard that in some countries, it was common for fifteen or sixteen-year-olds to bring members of the opposite sex home for the night.
Well, at fourteen... erm, he had also heard similar things in his previous life, like rumors of high schools where you couldn't find a single virgin. Having one or two partners of the opposite sex was quite normal over there.
So, was I really too conservative?
In comparison, the wizarding world seemed much more conservative.
"You're the type to juggle multiple partners, aren't you?" Nia turned away, changing the subject, "What are these potions for?"
"To restore energy." Albert opened Katherine's letter, which was significantly shorter than Valeria's. It briefly mentioned a few things: she and Valeria had opened a shop together, the hangover cure was popular, she would be attending the International Alchemy Conference in Egypt at the end of the month, and she would be returning to Britain next month for the Quidditch World Cup, hoping that Albert could provide some convenience for her.
"They'll be coming to Britain for the World Cup next month, you should be able to meet them there."
"I suggest you stay away from them." Nia reminded him, "Girls are easily jealous."
"Don't you not have a boyfriend?" Albert asked, puzzled.
"What does that have to do with being in a relationship?" Nia was rich in theoretical experience, "Isabelle treats you so well, don't let her down."
"Am I the type to do that?" Albert was speechless.
"If there were a group of handsome boys around Isabelle, you'd definitely be uncomfortable." Nia warned, "She's no exception."
"I'll be careful." Albert quickly stopped her, wondering if Nia was trying to teach him about relationships.
After putting the letters and photos back into the package, Albert began to write a reply to Seraphina. He did plan to attend the International Alchemy Conference and would bring Isabelle along.
There was also the Barnabus Finkley Prize for Exceptional Spellcasting, and he intended to ask Bard about it and see when it would take place. He didn't want to miss out on it if possible, as these competitions could potentially trigger panel tasks.
(End of Chapter)
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