Chapter 12: Before the Start of School
Summer vacation always goes by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already late August, and the start of Hogwarts was not far away.
It would be a lie to say that Albert wasn't looking forward to going to Hogwarts. Although he would prefer to stay at home and continue slacking off for a while.
However, time waits for no one.
When it comes to magic, aimlessly fumbling around is not a good idea. It's like a blind person using a cane to navigate; no one knows what lies ahead. Albert still had only a partial understanding of magic, even though he had read all the books.
He maintained a pen-pal relationship with Truman, sending each other letters every three days.
Truman's performance as a Hufflepuff student could only be considered average. The little knowledge in his head was emptied by Albert within a few days.
Truman believed that Albert might be sorted into Ravenclaw because of his great interest in magical knowledge, and he felt regretful about it.
Albert didn't care which house he would be assigned to. As long as he didn't end up in Slytherin, it would be fine. After all, they didn't welcome Muggle-born wizards there. However, as a Muggle-born wizard, Albert doubted if he could even enter Slytherin.
"Take a rest, you've worked hard." Albert gently touched the owl's head and placed some food in the cage.
He was quite satisfied with this owl. At least, after repeatedly requesting it, Sheila hadn't brought any more prey back.
He believed Daisy wouldn't appreciate finding dead mice when she cleaned the room.
Snowy let out a tired hoot, entered the cage to eat, and prepared to rest. Albert paid no attention to Tom, who was showing his teeth beside him.
"Don't bother, Tom." Albert picked up the short-haired cat and went downstairs to have breakfast.
Today, Herbert had time to be at home. He had recently developed an interest in the Daily Prophet, a newspaper that could move.
Daisy also joined in to read the Daily Prophet, hoping to gain a better understanding of the wizarding world.
"Good morning! I made corn chowder specifically." Daisy beamed as she served herself a large bowl of the thick soup, knowing that Albert liked it.
"That means I don't have to drink milk anymore," Nia looked delighted. She hated having to drink milk every day.
"Of course, you still have to drink it," Daisy placed a glass of milk in front of her daughter.
"Did Albert learn a new spell again?" Nia glanced at the milk and slyly changed the topic.
This was a trick she learned from Albert. The girl planned to pour the glass of milk into Tom's cat bowl when her mother wasn't paying attention.
"Nia," Daisy appeared behind her daughter, hands on her hips, and stared straight at everything.
"Mom, I'm preparing breakfast for Tom. He likes milk," Nia quickly defended herself.
"It's okay, Nia. I have more here." Daisy poured another glass of milk and placed it in front of her daughter again, reminding her, "Remember to finish it all."
"I hate drinking milk every day," Nia couldn't help but complain.
"But doesn't Albert drink it every day?" Daisy reminded her. "He has never complained."
"That's different. I've never seen Albert dislike eating anything since I was little." Nia felt a bit frustrated. Her family always liked to compare her with Albert. "You can't always compare me to him; he's an exception."
"Oh, really? Your brother used to dislike cheese." Daisy raised an eyebrow and said, "But now he eats cheese too."
"Liar." Nia didn't believe it at all because Albert's potato pancake had a generous amount of cheese and ham.
"It's true. There are some types of cheese that Albert dislikes, especially the ones with strong flavors. He won't eat those." Herbert also found it interesting. Now that he thought about it, his son wasn't picky at all. Even foods that children usually dislike, he eats them.
"A child who isn't picky eats more and grows taller," Albert said without hesitation.
"Why do I need to grow so tall?" Nia retorted.
"Being taller makes you more beautiful," Albert reminded her. "Mom is an example."
Daisy obviously liked that statement and smiled even more happily.
"Flatterer," Nia muttered. Under Daisy's "loving" gaze, she reluctantly finished the milk.
However, she poured half a cup for Albert, reasoning that he should drink more milk to grow taller and look as handsome as their father.
Both Daisy and Herbert were relatively tall, and due to the nature of their professions, they usually paid more attention to their appearance and maintained good figures. What's more, they were still young.
Initially, Herbert planned to take the family to the zoo today since he had some free time. With school about to start and Albert heading to Hogwarts again, it was unlikely they would have the chance to go out together for fun this year.
However, when Albert expressed his disinterest in going, Nia also claimed that the zoo wasn't exciting. So the family changed their original plan and settled in the living room to chat and watch TV.
Nia wanted to ride her toy broomstick, but Herbert sternly refused because last time she almost crashed into the TV while riding it.
The living room wasn't spacious enough, and it wouldn't be appropriate to ride the broomstick outside where people could see her. It would be difficult to explain.
As a result, the toy broomstick that Luke had just bought for Nia was locked away in a cabinet by Herbert.
Actually, Albert had also ridden the toy broomstick once, and it made him feel like he was having a case of "chuunibyou" (adolescent delusions of grandeur). The toy broomstick didn't fly very high, and he found it uninteresting, so he never tried it again.
However, for Nia, who didn't know what "chuunibyou" was, the idea of flying freely on a broomstick was obviously very tempting.
After watching TV for a while, Daisy went to the kitchen to prepare tea and cake. The four of them, plus the cat, gathered in the living room, reading "Tales of the Bardic Bean" from the wizarding world.
This storybook was a collection of fairy tales from the magical realm.
The fairy tales in the book had some differences from the ones they had heard before, like the story of Sleeping Beauty.
The story was about a medieval witch who, out of jealousy for the beauty of the king's daughter, smeared a spindle with a potion from the realm of living hell. She lured the young princess to touch the spindle, causing her to fall into a deep, unending sleep.
Later, a wizard applied a reviving elixir to his own lips and awakened the princess with a kiss.
Well, the magical version of Sleeping Beauty did lack a bit of romanticism. However, the family listened to the story with great interest, even though they had no idea what the potion from the realm of living hell or the reviving elixir were.
At the moment, the Anderson family was reading the story of the Three Brothers, taking turns reading each section. It was an enjoyable process.
"Is there really a stone that can bring people back to life?" Nia asked curiously.
The magical world was full of endless possibilities, and since the alchemist Nicolas Flamel was said to have used the legendary Philosopher's Stone to live for hundreds of years, it didn't seem entirely impossible to have a stone that could bring people back to life.
"Nia, there's no such thing in the world," Herbert reminded her. "And besides, as you heard, the lover of the second brother in the story didn't truly come back to life."
"These are fairy tales. There's a saying that goes, 'All fairy tales are lies,'" Albert said with a grin.
"Albert, you're so mean. Can't you leave me with a little hope?" Nia couldn't help but complain. Of course, she knew that everything in fairy tales was fictional.
(End of this chapter)
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