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Chapter 853: Well Prepared
Chapter 853: Well Prepared
"No wonder it's you. Even Harry fell for your bluff."
After seeing Harry walk away in a daze, Lee Jordan smiled at Albert, "To be honest, I've always thought that I'd be well-suited to be a priest in the church. I could definitely convince a large group of followers."
"You know, if I were Harry, I would have believed Albert's words too." Fred's words were serious, as he genuinely believed the two matters that Albert had mentioned.
"Do you also think there's something off about Mad-Eye?" George asked with a furrowed brow.
"Can't you two take anything as a joke?" Lee Jordan complained. In truth, he also believed Albert's words, even though this friend of his often liked to use the truth to bluff others.
"Do you guys remember Harry's first year when the incident with Quirrell and the Philosopher's Stone happened? It's said that Professor Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort," Albert began to recount the events that had transpired during Harry's first three years at Hogwarts.
"Then, the year before last, there was the attack by the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. Even though Lockhart wasn't directly involved, he's a fraud and ended up in the hospital after the incident, and he still hasn't been discharged," he continued.
"And last year, there was the incident of Black's escape from Azkaban, which Harry got dragged into. It turned out that Professor Lupin is a werewolf and a good friend of Black's, and in the end, we found out about Peter, who had been disguising himself as a rat and faking his death for over a decade," Fred chimed in, feeling that it was normal for Harry to be convinced by Albert as even he felt the same.
While coincidences do occur in the world, a series of coincidences is no longer a mere coincidence.
"So, you guys think there's something wrong with this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Lee Jordan realized that the other three were not joking and dropped his smile as he began to think about the reason behind their suspicions. "By the way, do you know who the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is this year?"
"Mad-Eye."
"Mad-Eye?" Lee Jordan was a bit confused, as it was obviously a nickname.
"Mad-Eye, Alastor Moody," George shared the information he knew, "Professor Moody is said to be a retired Auror and an old friend of Professor Dumbledore. Dad respects him greatly."
"Oh, and this morning, Professor Moody seemed to have some trouble. Mr. Diggory mentioned that he thought someone was trying to break into his house, and it caused quite a ruckus. Dad rushed off early in the morning to help him sort it out, and I'm sure the Prophet will publish an article about it soon," Fred added.
"If there's something off about Mad-Eye, then perhaps he really was attacked this morning, and someone is trying to control him to do something at Hogwarts," Lee Jordan said, unable to hold back his laughter as he spoke.
"What are you laughing about?" George asked, puzzled.
"It's highly unlikely that someone could control a person using the Imperius Curse without a skilled wizard like Dumbledore noticing. Moreover, Mad-Eye himself is a formidable Auror, so he would likely have some resistance to the Imperius Curse. Take me, for example; I should be able to resist it as long as it's not an extremely powerful curse. The Veela's charms at the Quidditch World Cup didn't affect me much either," Albert explained to the other two.
Fred and George felt a bit embarrassed as they recalled how they had been charmed by the Veela during the World Cup final, and they were the only ones affected in their box. Ron had teased them about it afterward.
"What if the wizard who attacked him only wanted to disguise himself as Moody to infiltrate the school?" George looked at Albert and asked, "If it were you, could you disguise yourself as someone else using advanced Polyjuice Potion? As far as I know, Aurors at the Ministry of Magic often use Polyjuice Potion to change their appearance."
"I haven't tried it, but given some time to practice, I think I could do it. However, I believe it would be quite challenging to disguise myself as a specific person using Polyjuice Potion," Albert replied confidently regarding his skill in potion-making. "If I were to disguise myself as someone else, I'd probably use a complex potion. That way, it would be harder to detect any flaws, especially if you're trying to fool a skilled wizard like Dumbledore. Polyjuice Potion, on the other hand, might be more easily seen through."
"But it's impossible for him to keep drinking the potion all the time, right? That would require a large amount of complex potion," Lee Jordan said, feeling that it was unlikely someone would use a potion to infiltrate the school for an extended period. Brewing a complex potion took a whole month, which meant that if someone wanted to disguise themselves as a professor, they would need a large quantity of the potion and would also risk exposure.
"It's probably difficult to achieve the level of one cup of complex potion lasting for 12 hours, but a skilled potion master's brew should be able to last for 10 hours," Albert assessed, given his knowledge of potions. "The amount of potion required wouldn't be as much as you think."
"If the Moody we see tonight is an imposter, then the Dark Arts curse is truly terrifying. Mad-Eye hasn't even started teaching yet, and he's already in trouble. Whoever is pretending to be him and going to the school must be out of their mind. They might end up in Azkaban any day," George concluded the conversation with a joke, knowing that they would all be keeping a close eye on Moody that night to see if he was the real deal or not.
"By the way, do you guys read magazines? If not, lend them to me first," Lee Jordan said, no longer concerned about the authenticity of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He trusted that whoever it was wouldn't be able to fool Albert, and if it turned out to be an imposter, this term would be quite exciting. The incident with Peter Pettigrew earlier had been quite a spectacle.
"You guys read them first," Albert said as he handed the 'Defense Guide' magazine to Lee Jordan and took out a comb from his pocket to smooth Tom's fur.
Albert was already familiar with the magazine's content. In the days leading up to the start of the term, Sirius and Lupin had written numerous letters discussing various aspects of the magazine, and the layout and gifts that came with it were all arranged by him.
"The magazine even comes with a map of Hogwarts Castle," Fred said as he unfolded the map that was tucked inside the magazine. It was similar to a live map, with detailed markings of the locations of classrooms, halls, and common rooms, along with the shortest routes. This would help new students navigate the school faster and avoid the embarrassment of getting lost during their first days at Hogwarts.
"That's a gift for wizards who subscribe to the magazine for four months straight," Albert explained, "It's like a little welcome gift for new students. Of course, there are other gifts to choose from as well."
"What other gifts?" George asked curiously.
"Danger Alert," Albert replied without hesitation.
"Your new invention?"
"I got the idea from the Peeking Mirror. It detects the surroundings of a house, and if there's a wizard with ill intentions approaching, the Danger Alert will sound an alarm. Its advantage is that it's not prone to false alarms," Albert explained.
"There must be an upgraded version of this, right?"
The three friends immediately saw the business potential in the Danger Alert. Knowing Albert's personality, they were sure he wouldn't sell the best version of the product, and now wasn't the best time to sell it anyway.
When the wizarding world truly started to stir, this invention would surely be in high demand.
"Yes, that's a rudimentary version. There's also a test version of a pocket watch, but I gave it away," Albert admitted. The Danger Alert was similar to the Peeking Mirror, but he had adjusted the spells and added a few types of magic to it.
"You gave it away?" Lee Jordan looked at Albert in disbelief.
“You idiot, it must be for his girlfriend!” George didn't even need to think to guess who Albert had sent the gift to.
"By the way, when are the two of you getting married?" Lee Jordan said with a laugh, "Remember to ask me to be your groomsman."
"I should be the groomsman." Fred said.
"We'll decide with a game of rock-paper-scissors," George proposed.
"How does it feel, I mean, how does the magazine look?" Albert asked, changing the subject.
"I think it's great, it should sell well. It's definitely useful for ordinary wizarding families," Fred gave a high evaluation, especially after hearing from Albert about the average level of Dark Arts defense among British wizards, he felt that the magazine would be even more popular.
"Whether it's the analysis of the current situation, the explanation of the Dark Mark and Death Eaters, or how to deal with uninvited Dark Wizards." George agreed with the methods in the magazine: in the face of danger, one should flee immediately and then find a way to notify the Ministry of Magic.
While the approach may seem a bit cowardly, the magazine made a good point. Ordinary wizards were no match for Dark Wizards, and preserving one's life was the best choice.
The magazine also taught several spells to strengthen the protection of one's home, which was actually quite practical, as no one at school taught them this knowledge, and ordinary wizards didn't even know how to enhance the security of their own homes.
"The content feels a bit mixed. The part about pests is clearly filler, and the sections on identifying and dealing with dangerous plants don't seem very useful either."
Defense Guide was more like a professor teaching about Dark Arts defense, but the content was a bit varied. It was divided into several sections.
For example, each issue would teach several practical spells, such as the Disarming Charm, Stunning Spell, and Impediment Jinx. It also taught readers about counter-curses for evil spells, how to deal with certain common pests, magical creatures, and dangerous plants, as well as how to stay calm in the face of danger and how to properly treat injuries.
The last few pages of the magazine featured a serialized novel, and this issue's story was titled "A Day in the Life of an Azkaban Prisoner."
Defense Guide had 48 pages, which wasn't a lot of content, but compared to other magazines, it was quite substantial.
Of course, it wasn't cheap either, priced at ten sickles per issue, which was on the higher end for magazines, especially in times of uncertainty, it felt a bit like price gouging.
However, it was undoubtedly worth the cost.
"If it was cheaper, I'd definitely buy it," Lee Jordan muttered, "Ten sickles is just too expensive."
"There's a 50% discount," Albert had set the price.
With the new magazine launch, they wanted to attract customers, so for the next few months, there would be a 50% discount for subscribers, as well as a free gift.
"To be honest, I think the price is too high as well. Allow me to freeload off your magazine until graduation," Fred said with a smile as he handed the magazine back to Albert.
"How much are your canary creams?" Albert asked in return.
"Seven sickles."
"Now, do you still think it's expensive?"
"Compared to other magazines, it is indeed pricey. The Quibbler by Xenophilius Lovegood only costs a few knuts (a quarter sickle)," Fred pointed out.
"Would you be willing to spend a few knuts on The Quibbler?" Albert countered, "To be blunt, The Quibbler is garbage to most people. If you can find enjoyment in that magazine, then so be it."
"Alright, you're right, it is garbage." Fred and George both felt that Albert was correct, as they couldn't find any enjoyment in that particular magazine.
"Well, you always manage to make your point," Lee Jordan shrugged, as he had already decided to mooch off Albert's magazine.
"Are you planning to use this magazine as a stepping stone to promote your Dark Arts defense products?" George felt he had guessed Albert's intentions, no wonder he was willing to spend time and energy helping Sirius with the magazine.
"That's indeed part of the plan," Albert didn't deny it.
"I think we need a similar magazine to introduce our joke products," Fred mused, "So people can better understand our prank items and easily place owl orders whenever they want."
"Aren't we already doing that?" George was a bit speechless, recalling Albert's previous suggestion.
The rain continued to pour outside, and the four friends in the carriage continued their discussion about the future.
Making money and realizing their ideals were obviously more attractive to them than anything else.
They talked for a long time, and even borrowed a quill from Albert, a rare occurrence, to jot down the ideas they had just discussed. Lee Jordan was particularly interested in Albert's idea of a wizarding radio broadcast, and he thought they could try setting up a radio station at school.
Albert didn't refuse, but he indicated that he couldn't help with the broadcasting aspect.
Fred and George found the idea intriguing and offered to help. The three of them soon became engrossed in discussing how to build a radio station, completely oblivious to the fact that they had taken on more than they could handle.
The Hogwarts Express finally slowed down, and outside the window, the pouring rain continued, accompanied by rolling thunder.
The students who had just disembarked from the train were instantly drenched by the relentless downpour, even those with umbrellas struggled to stay dry.
"This is awful, let's get going. I don't want to stand here and get soaked," Fred urged.
The students, dazed by the icy rain, could only lower their heads and slowly shuffle along with the crowd. They left the dark platform and made their way along a rough, muddy path until they reached the horseless carriages in the stormy weather. Everyone hurried toward the carriages, and a few unlucky students even fell to the ground in the rush.
Albert and his three friends casually chose a carriage and climbed inside. Once they shut the door, blocking out the cold wind and rain, Fred noticed that Albert was dry and asked, "How did you manage to stay so dry?"
"I transfigured my robe into a raincoat and my boots into rain boots," Albert explained, "And of course, I had an umbrella, so I naturally didn't get wet."
"Do you have a water-repelling charm or something?" Lee Jordan asked, looking at Albert.
"You could try using the Bubble-Head Charm on yourself, I'm sure it would work against the rain," Albert suggested, "Though you might look a bit silly, if you're willing to try it."
As he spoke, Albert pointed his wand at Lee Jordan and cast the Bubble-Head Charm, causing half of his body to be enveloped in a large soap bubble.
"It looks pretty good, like you're inside a giant soap bubble."
"It does look rather funny," Fred and George couldn't help but laugh, and they poked at the outer bubble, surprised to find that it was quite sturdy and didn't pop.
Amidst the laughter, the carriage bumped along the road toward Hogwarts Castle.
(End of Chapter)
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