Chapter 879: Her?
Chapter 879: Her?
Ever since classes started on Monday, Albert could no longer avoid the other students at school. The title of 'Hogwarts Champion' had brought him quite some trouble. The vast majority of the students looked at him as if he were a rare creature, and whenever he walked through the corridors, he would inevitably see and hear groups of giggling girls. During mealtimes, there would always be girls staring at him, and the bolder ones would even approach him with handkerchiefs, bags, and books, asking for his autograph. It had become quite a nuisance, but perhaps this was the price of popularity.
Viktor Krum was the first among them to adapt to the role of a champion. As a well-known Quidditch star, he had plenty of experience dealing with enthusiastic fans.
Fleur Delacour, on the other hand, was like an unattainable, breathtakingly beautiful hibiscus flower. Wherever she went, she became the center of attention. No Hogwarts boy dared to muster the courage to greet her; they could only admire her from a distance. The other girls had no fondness for Miss Delacour, who was of Veela heritage, but they kept their whispers and gossip to themselves. Fleur had long grown accustomed to such stares and whispers.
The title of 'Champion' affected Harry the most. Aside from the students of Gryffindor, the other houses did not look upon him favorably. His good friend, Ron Weasley, was even jealous of Harry's newfound status and had stopped speaking to him. They now acted like strangers, and aside from Hermione, Harry had been isolated, finding it hard to find anyone else to talk to.
Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin gang had obtained a batch of green badges that read "Potter Stinks," and whenever Harry walked through the corridors, students from other houses would stop him and proudly display these badges, laughing boisterously.
Albert had once chanced upon such an incident and put a stop to it, but Harry's situation did not improve. Instead, more students began wearing the "Potter Stinks" badges.
The girls, however, took it upon themselves to form an Albert support group, wearing badges that proclaimed, "Albert Anderson—The True Champion of Hogwarts."
This was understandable, as Albert's status as the Hogwarts Champion was well-deserved. With his multiple world champion titles and exceptional good looks, he embodied the image of a champion more than anyone else, and many girls were grateful to Professor Moody for choosing him.
But Harry's situation was different. He was underage and should not have been able to bypass the age line. It was clear that he had used some underhanded method to become the Hogwarts Champion.
In the eyes of the students from other houses, Harry Potter was a fraud.
Of course, a large part of this sentiment stemmed from envy and jealousy. Harry's title as the 'Savior' did not hold the same weight as Albert's collection of world champion titles, which commanded respect and admiration. Thus, Harry naturally became a target for ridicule.
As for Albert's "minor troubles," Fred, George, and Lee Jordan took great pleasure in them, as they rarely saw Albert in such predicaments and had no intention of helping him deal with these issues.
In fact, they couldn't even if they wanted to, as those girls were not to be trifled with. Whenever they saw Albert being surrounded and asked for autographs, the trio would make sure to stay as far away as possible to avoid incurring the girls' wrath.
As a result, aside from attending classes, Albert had no choice but to use magic to conceal himself or hide in the Room of Requirement to reduce his presence and avoid the girls' harassment.
However, Albert soon discovered that even the Room of Requirement wasn't a safe haven, as Fred and George had been conducting experiments there recently, seemingly trying to improve the Fake Wand so that it would deliver a good beating to anyone who used it.
Thus, explosions often reverberated through the Room of Requirement, and an irritated Albert had no choice but to return to the library. But even there, he found no peace, as groups of girls would hide behind bookshelves, spying on him. As soon as he let his guard down, they would approach him for autographs, forcing him to enlist the help of acquaintances to divert their attention.
"It seems like you've been having a tough time these past few days as well," Albert said as he exchanged the information he had found with Katrina. They were working on their Potions essay.
"Thanks to what happened the other day," Katrina replied.
Indeed, Katrina had been having a hard time recently as well. Many people had been asking her about the attack, and although she stuck to the story Albert had fabricated—telling everyone that she had woken up in a secret room on the eighth floor with Albert, with no recollection of what had happened—people still wouldn't leave her alone, and it was becoming a nuisance.
"Don't worry about that. I'll handle it," Albert said, his quill never ceasing its movement across the parchment as he continued transcribing the information he needed for his essay. While he didn't take these homework assignments too seriously and often just did the bare minimum, there was no denying that his work was still far superior to that of most of his peers, thanks to the knowledge provided by his system panel.
Katrina hesitated for a moment before asking, "When will you teach me again?"
"Let's wait until the weekend. Fred and George have been occupying the place to work on their toys lately."
That was also the reason they were doing their homework here instead of in the Room of Requirement, which would have been more comfortable.
"I hope to master the Legilimency spell this semester," Katrina said softly.
"That depends on your talent and effort in that area," Albert said, unable to guarantee that Katrina would definitely master Legilimency.
Just as Albert was about to finish his Potions essay, someone sat down to his right. Albert paid it no mind and continued focusing on his homework, but when he felt the person's burning gaze on him, he was forced to look up and turn to the person who had just sat down—a Beauxbatons girl who had wrapped a scarf tightly around her face.
Who is this? Albert frowned, trying to recall the memory of the person before him.
He remembered that when the Beauxbatons representatives had first arrived at Hogwarts, a woman had indeed greeted him.
"Long time no see," the girl said, and as soon as she spoke, Albert knew who she was—the half-blood vampire lady?
"Miss Jeantil?" Albert asked tentatively.
"I'm glad you remember me," the girl said, a hint of resentment in her voice. "Are you surprised to see me here?"
Albert ignored her question and said, "Give me ten minutes to finish this essay, please."
"Oh, sorry."
Jeantil showed no sign of apology, but she could tell that Albert was annoyed at being interrupted while writing his essay, so she averted her gaze and refrained from disturbing him further. She suspected that if she irritated Albert further, he might just cast a Full-Body Bind Curse on her and leave her there, undisturbed.
"Someone you know?"
"A friend I made during the summer in Spain. Perhaps you've heard her sing?"
"Oh, her."
Katrina eyed the heavily wrapped-up girl in front of her, suddenly realizing why she had done so.
However, Katrina felt that Yanira didn't need to go to such lengths. Not many people in Britain would know about Yanira, after all, she wasn't a famous international Quidditch star like Krum.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Albert said with a smile, after carefully checking over the content of his essay. "What do you think of the place so far?"
"It's not as beautiful as Beauxbatons," Yanira replied, reflecting on her impression of Hogwarts. "It has more of a historical feel to it." "If you'd like, I can give you a tour of the castle."
"Sure, why not," Albert agreed.
"By the way, do you know about the Christmas Ball? I heard that there will be a grand ball during Christmas, and I'd like to invite you..." Yanira's words trailed off as Albert interrupted her.
"Sorry, I already have a partner."
"Your girlfriend?" Yanira raised an eyebrow, a hint of displeasure in her tone. "I think her name was..."
"No, Isabelle has already graduated." Albert glanced at the group of giggling girls around them and said to Yanira, "Let's go, I'll show you around Hogwarts Castle."
"I thought it was the girl next to you." Yanira glanced at Katrina, the red-haired girl who was quite pretty, but only in comparison to others. There were plenty of beautiful girls at Beauxbatons Academy.
Sensing Yanira's gaze, Katrina looked up and gave her a fleeting glance, unbothered. Ever since she had met Catherine and Valeria during the summer, she had grown accustomed to the constant presence of beautiful girls around Albert.
Regardless, they were all a bunch of pathetic losers.
Albert walking off amicably with a stranger was undoubtedly a stimulus to certain Hogwarts girls.
They had barely waited for Isabelle to graduate, and now Albert belonged to all the girls of Hogwarts. How could they let a foreign woman seduce him away?
"Who was that just now?"
Even before Albert and Yanira had walked far, Katrina was surrounded by a large group of girls, all eager to find out who the woman talking to Albert was.
"Don't know," Katrina replied nonchalantly. "Apparently, a friend Albert made in Spain." Her casual tone irritated many of the girls.
"Aren't you worried about Albert being taken away by a foreign woman?" asked Lorina, one of Katrina's companions and now a member of Albert's fan club.
"Taken away?" Katrina scoffed. "By her?"
"These things are hard to say," the girls worried. "And there's that even more beautiful silver-haired woman from Beauxbatons."
"Albert and Isabelle have a stable relationship," Katrina said impatiently. "They don't stand a chance. If you don't have anything else to discuss, please don't disturb me while I'm writing my essay. I'm almost done."
Albert was oblivious to the conversation in the library, and even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared. After all, he wasn't seeking fame and didn't bother himself with what others thought.
"These are Hogwarts' moving staircases," Albert explained as he led Yanira to the stairs. "Every Friday, they lead to different places. It's said that they were designed by Rowena Ravenclaw herself and have been in operation for a millennium. Of course, they're not very newcomer-friendly, especially for guests."
"It's quite ordinary," Yanira commented.
"You have to look from below to truly appreciate the uniqueness of the moving staircases," Albert said, gesturing for Yanira to follow him. He led her to an old tapestry, lifted it, and stepped through, continuing his tour. "I think the most fascinating aspects of Hogwarts are the moving staircases and the secret passages. This castle is filled with an enormous number of hidden passages. Perhaps behind a tapestry, a painting, a stone wall, or even a sculpture, there might be a passage leading to different parts of the castle. Some are obvious, like the one we just entered through the tapestry, while others require passwords or special knocking sequences to unlock. You could think of this castle as a giant maze."
"It's indeed quite special," Yanira remarked, comparing it to Beauxbatons. Hogwarts Castle was definitely unique.
"Playing hide-and-seek with the caretaker, Filch, after curfew is quite an interesting experience for Hogwarts students," Albert said as they walked. "Though the consequences of being caught are rather unpleasant."
"Who's more beautiful, me or your girlfriend?" Yanira asked, clearly uninterested in Albert's stories.
"You're both beautiful," Albert replied vaguely.
The answer did not satisfy Yanira.
"How about compared to Fleur Delacour?" she probed further.
"You're all very charming ladies," he said diplomatically.
This answer still didn't please Yanira.
"I should be more charming than her, right? At least with me, you can do other things if you're willing." Yanira's words were blunt, and it was a good thing she spoke in Spanish, or the school might have had another juicy piece of gossip to spread.
"I have a girlfriend," Albert refused again.
Yanira didn't mind being rejected and changed the subject. "Do you know Fleur Delacour?"
"Not really. I'm more familiar with her father, Mr. Delacour," Albert explained. "I met Miss Delacour at Mr. Delacour's wedding. I recall she has a younger sister as well."
"How interesting that you're friends with her father," Yanira found this intriguing.
"Do you dislike her?"
"That woman is indeed not very likable." Yanira didn't hide her feelings. "Beautiful women often don't get along, always competing and comparing."
"Do you do the same?"
"Yes, we're competing to see who can invite you to be our dance partner, but I think she might have outplayed me." Yanira was a little frustrated. "I bet she'll use a charm on you to make you infatuated with her. You know, she has Veela blood."
"Ahem, do you guys even attend classes since you came here this semester?" Albert steered the conversation in a different direction.
"Not really. However, Ollivier Maxime still takes time to teach us Transfiguration, Charms, and Dark Magic Defense so that we don't fall too far behind. Of course, most of the time, we self-study," Yanira continued. "We can also attend your classes if we want, but I don't think many students understand English well, unlike you, who are fluent in several languages."
(End of Chapter)
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