Chapter 850: A Kindred Spirit
Chapter 850: A Kindred Spirit
The next day at noon, Albert awoke to find the spot beside him in bed empty. He got up, dressed, and went downstairs, only to find Isabelle sitting in the dining room, holding that day's newspaper, seemingly lost in thought.
Albert walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, his eyes falling on the newspaper. "You don't seem too happy," he remarked.
"Look at this…" Isabelle handed the Prophet to Albert. The headline screamed, "Terror at the Quidditch World Cup," accompanied by a stark black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark hanging over the treetops.
"It seems something unpleasant did occur at the World Cup, as I expected," Albert said, though he didn't seem too concerned. He had, after all, anticipated the chaos at the tournament.
"What happened?" he asked.
Albert felt that this incident shouldn't have caused such a reaction from Isabelle, as they had already known about it beforehand.
"Mom went over to help early this morning. Our tent wasn't burned, but…" Isabelle's voice carried a hint of anxiety, "…someone entered our tent after we left."
"A stranger?" Albert narrowed his eyes.
"When Bitt collected the tent, he used a Revela spell and found the footprints of two unknown individuals."
Isabelle knew exactly what this implied.
During such a chaotic situation, no one would have bothered to enter their tent, and anyone who knew why Albert had taken those precautions would realize that the intruders had ill intentions.
Isabelle's concern was not so much about what these people wanted to do to them, but rather, what they might try to do to Albert. As for who they were, she had a pretty good idea. Pure-blood wizards who disliked Albert was not a short list, even though there hadn't been any open conflicts yet.
"Don't worry, I'm a Divination Master. I'll find out who they are and give them a little surprise in return. You just need to take care of yourself and don't worry me." Albert comforted her softly, glancing at the task panel, which had a new task.
Speaking of which, their trip to watch the Quidditch World Cup had indeed been quite fruitful.
"Ahem!" Katrina cleared her throat as she walked in, looking for a topic to start a conversation. "Where's Mom? I thought she was off today."
"Last night, there was an incident at the campsite, and quite a few people were injured." Isabelle handed the newspaper to Katrina, not mentioning the footprints.
"The Dark Mark?" Katrina looked strangely at Albert. "I suddenly understand why you thought those magazines and newspapers would sell well."
"I'll take Nia home today," Albert said, handing Isabelle a small vial.
"What's this?" Katrina asked curiously, eyeing the vial.
"Felix Felicis," Isabelle replied.
"This is the Felix Felicis?" Katrina had, of course, heard of the good luck potion.
Albert took out a silver pocket watch and handed it to Isabelle. "Don't take any risks. If there's danger, just leave temporarily—your safety is the most important thing."
Katrina felt that Albert was being a bit paranoid, but she also envied the meticulous care he showed towards Isabelle.
Just then, a white owl flew in through the window and dropped a letter in front of Albert. He picked it up and glanced at the sender—it was from Hermione.
Albert tucked the letter into his pocket, not intending to read it right away.
"Aren't you going to see what it says?" Katrina tore her eyes away from the "danger" needle on the pocket watch and looked back at Albert. "It's from a certain young lady."
"A friend," Albert corrected. "Now, go wake the others and tell them to come down for lunch. Ask Katherine and Valeria to arrange their trip back as soon as possible. Things are getting messy in Britain."
"We're already up," Katherine and Valeria yawned as they walked into the kitchen, followed by Nia, who looked like she hadn't slept well.
The six of them sat around the dining table, chatting about the previous night's events as they ate. Katherine and Valeria, through the newspaper, realized the turmoil in the British wizarding world and grew even more convinced that Albert truly possessed prophetic abilities.
Another owl flew in through the window, this time from the twins.
Then it seemed the owls couldn't be stopped. One after another, they flew in and out of the room. There were letters from Sirius Black, Mr. Bard, Lee Jordan, Harry Potter, and even a letter from Grandpa Luke. It seemed everyone was writing to him.
"You're quite popular, aren't you?" Katherine remarked, her expression odd.
"He is popular," Nia mumbled as she stroked Tom's fur. "When are we going home? Grandpa Luke must have seen the news by now. If we don't go back soon, they'll be worried."
"Grandpa Luke has already asked Sheela to send us a letter." Albert pointed to the owl perched on the windowsill. "We'll go back after lunch. You all need to be careful as well. Starting today, the British wizarding world won't be as peaceful as it used to be."
After lunch, Albert left, and Nia was sent back through Bitt the house-elf's portable trunk.
Luke and Sasha were very surprised to see Albert and Nia suddenly appear in the room, but they soon understood that it was a result of magical means.
"I saw the report in the Prophet this morning," Luke said. He had some knowledge of the Death Eaters and knew they were up to no good.
"Albert took us away from the campsite before the chaos started last night," Nia said as she sat down next to Luke and showed them the souvenirs she had bought at the World Cup.
"That's right, Albert has always been dependable." Luke nodded as he examined the model Firebolt. Albert had never been a source of worry for them.
Nia continued to groom Tom while chatting with Luke and Sasha about her experiences at the Quidditch World Cup.
Albert, meanwhile, opened the letters he had just received, listening to their conversation and occasionally joining in.
Fred and George's letter mentioned how they had been tricked by Bagman. Although they had seen through his attempt to pay with Leprechaun gold, he had still managed to cheat them. The bag of Galleons he gave them contained a large number of counterfeits, and there were barely any real gold coins. The anger in their letter was evident from the scrawled handwriting.
Lee Jordan's letter conveyed a similar message, though they hadn't yet realized the gold coins were fake.
Grandpa Luke's letter was simple, just asking when they would be coming home.
Mr. Bard's letter, on the other hand, expressed concern for Albert's safety and wondered if the chaos of the previous night was the start of the turmoil Albert had predicted.
Sirius mentioned in his letter the inquiries he'd received about the 'Defense Guide' magazine due to the Dark Mark incident the night before. He also mentioned that they would resolve the printing issues within the next two days and aim to release the first issue of the 'Defense Guide' next month.
Hermione's letter, on the other hand, came as a surprise to Albert. Her letter was about the unfair treatment of house-elves and the dismissal of Winky by Mr. Crouch the night before. Her words were filled with anger as she sought support and comfort from Albert, feeling that others were indifferent or dismissive of the issue.
Harry's letter mentioned the loss of his wand and the fact that someone had used it to cast the Dark Mark. He suspected that the person might be the man mentioned in Peter's prediction.
Albert took the time to write back, especially to Hermione. Instead of trying to convince her, he shared the current situation regarding house-elves and suggested that she try writing a story about wizards and house-elves living in harmony, treating them as loyal and reliable family members. This way, she could gradually guide wizards to treat house-elves better and improve their dismal situation.
Flexibility was key, and once Hermione finished writing, they could even serialize the story in the magazine. This would be far more effective than her later creation of 'S.P.E.W.' and could also help Sirius with his magazine content issues.
It would kill two birds with one stone.
"I never fail to impress myself," Albert said with satisfaction after reviewing the content of his letters. What surprised him even more was that he had triggered an additional task on the panel, although the reward was not much, but the very fact that he had triggered a task was a pleasant surprise.
...
"Why can't I have a normal dress robe?"
Ron was in a foul mood, especially after seeing his dress robe, which was so atrocious it almost drove him crazy.
Ever since he returned from watching the Quidditch World Cup, things had not been going his way. First, Fred and George discovered that Ludo Bagman had paid them with Leprechaun gold, causing Ron to lose all 27 of his Galleons. If it weren't for Fred and George's conscience, returning the small number of real Galleons from the bag, he would have lost all his savings.
But the disappointment was too much for him to bear, hence his inability to buy a new dress robe from Diagon Alley and his current predicament.
Was it Fred and George's fault?
No, they were the biggest victims. The few real Galleons in the bag couldn't even begin to make up for their losses.
Percy's expression was equally unpleasant as he, too, had lost his Galleons.
Yes, Ludo Bagman had paid his winnings with Leprechaun gold.
Now, the entire Weasley family knew the true nature of Ludo Bagman, but after an internal discussion, they decided not to tell their parents, as it would only cause Mr. Weasley embarrassment.
Of course, their father may have already known, which was why he tried to stop them from betting.
"You can buy a new one, can't you? You won quite a lot of money," Hermione said, also feeling that Ron's dress robe was a bit too 'flashy'.
"Won quite a lot of money?" Ron couldn't help but laugh bitterly, making Harry and Hermione feel uneasy.
"Harry, Hermione, Fred, you've got letters," Mrs. Weasley shouted from downstairs.
"Who's it from?" Harry asked.
"Albert," Fred replied.
"What did he say?" Ron asked anxiously.
"He's helpless in this situation," Fred said, his face gloomy as he finished the letter. "He warned us beforehand, and now it's our problem. I need to write a letter to Lee Jordan."
"And Sirius," George reminded him.
"Have you written to Albert as well, Harry?" Ron turned to ask.
"Yeah, about the Dark Mark," Harry said. "Sirius asked me to write to him."
"What did Albert say?" Hermione asked.
"He said I attract trouble every year," Harry pouted. "He thinks that the mystery man's plot might be targeting me, and he told me to discuss this with Sirius and Dumbledore myself."
"You do attract trouble every year," Ron had to admit that Albert's words made sense.
Ever since Harry started school, he had gotten into trouble every year.
"It's not my fault," Harry said irritably, as if he enjoyed causing trouble.
"We know it's not your fault," Ron said, changing the subject. "What about you, Hermione? What did you write in your letter?"
"Albert suggested that I submit an article to Sirius' magazine," Hermione said, putting away her letter as she pondered the feasibility of Albert's suggestion.
The letter was short, without any comfort, simply stating the current situation and offering a small suggestion.
It gave her a direction to consider.
It was impossible to change the status quo overnight, as evident from the wizards' attitude towards house-elves. Hermione even had a disagreement with Percy about this issue.
After reading Albert's reply, Hermione felt relieved.
To be honest, she was afraid that Albert would react like the other wizards.
That night, Hermione even felt like she was the abnormal one, and that feeling made her anxious.
"Make wizards realize that house-elves are loyal and reliable members of the family, and make them subconsciously treat house-elves better?" Hermione reread the content in her mind. The house-elf she saw at Albert's place and the one named Dobby were like they belonged to two different worlds.
"What's with the letter?" Ginny asked, seeing Hermione staring at it.
"It's from Albert, I was talking to him about house-elves," Hermione explained.
"House-elves?" Ginny was puzzled.
"There's a house-elf serving him," Hermione told Ginny. "That house-elf is unlike any other, and Albert treats him well, unlike other wizards. You weren't there, so you didn't see how the other wizards treated Dobby."
"He is special, isn't he?" Ginny said. "Otherwise, Anderson wouldn't be so popular with the girls."
"Yes," Hermione said softly. "He is special."
"Do you like him?" Ginny asked.
"He's already engaged," Hermione suddenly said.
"Engaged?" Ginny was shocked. "To the Ravenclaw girl?"
"Don't tell anyone," Hermione reminded her.
"Okay," Ginny fell silent.
"What about you?" Hermione changed the subject.
"Me?"
"Do you still like Harry?" Hermione asked.
Ginny remained silent.
"Maybe you should try to give up on Harry," Hermione suggested. "Try getting along with others and show everyone your charm. Maybe then, Harry will notice you."
(End of Chapter)
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