September 3rd, the first day of Hogwarts officially opening for the new school year, the gloomy rainy weather suddenly cleared up.
Albert opened his eyes and woke up from his slumber. He sluggishly got out of bed and walked barefoot to the window, opening it to let the cool morning breeze into the room.
His three roommates were still asleep. They had stayed up late last night discussing the Quidditch World Cup in the Daily Prophet, so Albert had no intention of waking them up right now.
After all, classes didn't start until nine o'clock, and it would be too cruel to wake up these night owls so early.
After a quick wash-up, Albert glanced at his timetable and checked the books, quill, ink, and parchment in his backpack. He then slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed to the Gryffindor common room.
There were already people in the common room, and they were fellow students from the same year.
"Good morning, Wilson," Albert greeted a girl from his year. She was flipping through Miranda Goshawk's "Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1," probably preparing for the first Transfiguration class in the morning.
"Good morning..." Shana Wilson looked a bit embarrassed because she didn't know the name of the boy who greeted her, even though she knew he was a fellow first-year student.
"Albert Anderson. You can call me Albert," Albert noticed Shana's embarrassment and introduced himself casually. He then added, "Shall we go to the Great Hall for breakfast together?"
"Oh, uh... alright, Albert!" Shana spoke a bit hesitantly, quickly picked up her books, and followed Albert out of the common room.
Along the way, Shana didn't say much. She simply followed closely behind Albert, seemingly looking around, trying hard to remember the places she had passed.
Albert noticed Shana's actions and couldn't help but think, "Could it be that she doesn't know the way?"
It was entirely possible.
In the past, during the first class of university, he had almost gone to the wrong place himself.
Hogwarts was undoubtedly more complicated, so it was normal for someone with a tendency to get lost to have trouble finding their way.
As Albert had expected, Shana really didn't know how to get to the Great Hall, so she waited in the common room until the others would go to the Great Hall together.
To be honest, Gryffindor students are not particularly enthusiastic about guiding others, and a large number of older students even enjoy watching the new students struggle. This habit stems from their own similar experiences in the past, and over time, it has developed into a taste for enjoying the misfortunes of others.
Yesterday, when Albert returned from the kitchen, he saw several older students watching as new students fell into stair traps, laughing heartily before walking away without any intention of helping.
Of course, this can only be considered as some exceptional cases! The vast majority of students would be willing to lend a helping hand, at least the students from Hufflepuff would do so.
Having safely arrived at the Great Hall, Shana Wilson visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Albert sat at the Gryffindor table, poured himself a glass of milk, and gulped it down in one go. He looked up and noticed Shana staring at him, her mouth slightly open as if she wanted to say something.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing. Albert, do you like drinking milk?" Shana attempted to start a conversation with the boy in front of her.
After all, nobody wants to be without any friends, and Albert seemed like the type who was easy to talk to.
"Like it?" Albert shook his head. "Not really. It's just a habit. I've been drinking it since I was seven, a glass every morning. You just get used to it."
Shana opened her mouth, suddenly unsure of what to say. She actually admired Albert; she knew she couldn't do that herself.
Albert spread some jam on a slice of bread and took a big bite, while Shana was eating a fried egg—boiled and peeled, coated with flour, and fried until golden on the outside—what the English call... fried eggs.
Alright! Albert thought that calling it a "Golden Fried Egg" might be more appropriate. He, personally, wasn't interested in this uniquely British style of fried eggs; a regular boiled egg tasted better than that.
After finishing his slice of bread, Albert prepared two more slices and made a sandwich with some vegetable salad, bacon, and sausages. He also had a small bowl of cornmeal porridge. The so-called cornmeal porridge was actually a corn soup made by boiling ground corn with water and a small amount of milk.
Compared to Daisy's corn soup, the cornmeal porridge in school was only so-so. But it wasn't surprising; Daisy's corn soup was one of the best dishes she could make.
After breakfast, Shana and Albert started talking about spells.
"I heard from Angelina that you have mastered many different spells. Is that true? How did you manage to learn all that magic in such a short time?" Shana spoke slowly, seemingly carefully choosing her words.
"Well... it mainly requires having an interest in it and... you also need to spend time studying and practicing," Albert pondered for a moment and replied, "Interest is actually quite important. Once you have an interest, you'll be willing to spend time and dedicate yourself to learning a subject."
"Interest?" Shana pondered.
In fact, students like Shana, who come from Muggle families, never even thought they would be witches or wizards. They are still quite confused about many things since there is so much for Muggle-born witches and wizards to learn.
There's no doubt that students from wizarding families are ahead of them.
"But you don't need to worry too much. The difference between us is not that great. Just spend some extra time on your studies, and you'll soon catch up to them," Albert suddenly felt that his words sounded a bit ridiculous.
Did he just encourage Gryffindor students to love studying?
Not every student is Hermione Granger, and even she almost got sorted into Ravenclaw initially.
"You too?" Shana asked.
"Of course, why would you think otherwise?" Albert replied confidently.
However, when he said these words, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. After all, Albert was different from the others. He had a stat panel that allowed him to learn and master knowledge through self-study as well as level up skills.
If he maxed out his wizarding bloodline, Albert's learning speed in magic would surpass everyone else by a long shot. But he chose not to do so, and he hadn't even accepted the tasks related to the path of a wizard.
Albert was still considering whether he should wait and increase the level of his wizarding bloodline before claiming the task rewards. It would undoubtedly be the most cost-effective approach.
But the problem was that Albert was still struggling with his future career. He didn't really want to stay in the magical world for his development.
If he decided to pursue a career in the Muggle world, he would have to reserve a considerable amount of experience and skill points for upgrading various skills related to economics in the future.
Oh well, let's not think about these issues for now.
Albert shook off these distracting thoughts and slowly flipped through "Nineteenth-Century Spell Selection." He was actually quite satisfied with his current situation. As for the stored experience and skill points, he could use them when he needed them in the future.
(End of this chapter)
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