Bab 315: Chapter 315: Bountiful Harvest
On their way back to the castle, both of them remained silent, but Albert could still sense Isabelle's unstable emotions.
After the excitement of revenge subsided, fear from taking a life took its place. Ultimately, Isabelle was still an underage girl.
When they returned to the castle, they didn't alert anyone.
Hogwarts students were struggling amidst their heavy load of holiday assignments, and the library, Great Hall, and common rooms were where they should be.
Right now, they needed to find Katrina. Smith had hidden her away. When they had broken into the Dark Arts Defense office to retrieve their wands, they hadn't found her.
"Are you sure Katrina is hidden in the Room of Requirement?"
"I can't find her name on the Marauder's Map." Albert pointed to the map and explained, "Only the Room of Requirement can block the tracking magic on the Marauder's Map."
"I need a place to hide, I need a place to hide, I need a place to hide!" Isabelle paced in front of the wall three times, but no door appeared.
Albert was right, but they couldn't keep trying like this forever.
"At times like this, it's time to rely on luck." Albert signaled for Isabelle to wait for a moment.
"Felix Felicis?" Isabelle immediately caught on. Albert had taken Felix Felicis, also known as Liquid Luck. While it couldn't truly bring luck, she was willing to trust Albert's intuition.
"It's still effective. My gut tells me that Rovina Smith might have hidden Katrina in the Ravenclaw common room!" Albert began to silently chant in his mind, "The private library in Ravenclaw."
After pacing back and forth three times, a door appeared on the wall. Isabelle immediately pushed the door open and entered. Albert quickly checked the Marauder's Map, ensuring no one was around, before following her inside. Isabelle had already answered the Eagle Door's riddle, and they entered the Ravenclaw common room.
"She's here, Katrina is here!" Isabelle's voice was filled with unrestrained joy.
Once inside, Albert saw Katrina lying unconscious.
Speaking of which, the MacDougall sisters really did look alike.
Albert approached and helped Katrina up. Together with Isabelle, they brought her out of the Room of Requirement.
Inside Ravenclaw's private library, a sickbed had appeared at some point. They laid her on it.
"Don't worry, Rovina Smith is already dead. The Imperius Curse he cast on her should have disappeared automatically. Katrina's breathing is stable; she should only be under a Sleeping Hex."
Albert took a seat in a chair, offering comfort in a soft voice, "Now, you need to make sure whether Katrina's memories have been tampered with, whether she's forgotten the recent events. It's best not to let her know about this. The two of us will bear the responsibility."
"You're right!" Isabelle took a deep breath, regaining her composure. She sat down across from Albert and started discussing the next steps.
"Do you have any good ideas?" Isabelle asked.
"It's simple. We'll modify Katrina's memories, and I'll take her to the Room of Requirement. I had promised Katrina before to take her somewhere suitable to use a Time-Turner." Albert reached into his Lizard Transfiguration Bag, retrieving an Undetectable Extension Charm box from it. He took out two cups and a large barrel of butterbeer. He poured himself a cup. This barrel of butterbeer was a prize he had prepared for the Wizarding World Cup, but he decided to use it now, celebrating their escape from death.
"Do you want some?"
"Yes!" Isabelle gazed at the brimming cup of butterbeer, falling into momentary silence.
"I think you should consider your own situation. Your mindset hasn't fully adjusted yet." Albert took a sip of butterbeer, continuing, "Actually, even if you didn't want to do it, I would've killed him anyway. I tend to hold grudges."
"I've mentally prepared for it a long time ago." Isabelle looked up at Albert and said softly, "I've considered what needs to be borne. But thank you for caring."
"What do you plan to do in the future? After succeeding in your revenge, if you don't have new goals, you might feel lost." Albert kindly reminded her.
Isabelle held the cup, watching the bubbles inside, and said, "I plan to continue my father's magical experiments."
"Do you need my help?" Albert almost blurted it out.
Isabelle raised her head, looked Albert up and down, with a slightly odd expression. But she soon nodded and smiled, "Sure, if you're willing to help."
"Your smile is lovely. You should smile more often." Albert swiftly claimed the rewards related to his favorability with Isabelle from the mission panel.
Then, he reached out, held Isabelle's hand, and continued the conversation, finding more topics to chat about. "Also, don't read me like an open book. What's it like being a natural Legilimens?"
"It's not that great. Many people are so hypocritical. When you can see through their thoughts with a single glance and yet have to pretend you don't know, it feels quite awful!" Isabelle stared at Albert's eyes. At first, she thought Albert had used his Animagus form to carry her out of the Forbidden Forest, but she had later realized that he had used the Disillusionment Charm. She didn't know how to describe that feeling.
"I learned it by sneaking into Professor Brode's class. You're the only one who knows I can use the Disillusionment Charm, so remember to keep it a secret." Albert winked at Isabelle, smiling.
"You're quite daring. You dared to use Disillusionment Charm to carry someone before you had fully mastered it?" Isabelle began to understand why Albert had been sorted into Gryffindor. This guy's courage was indeed something else, evident from his actions.
"No, I dared because I was confident. I can guarantee that using Disillusionment Charm to carry you wouldn't have gone wrong." Albert shook his head. "Don't forget, I've taken Felix Felicis. With its help, I can easily cast even the nonverbal spells that I couldn't cast successfully before, not to mention Disillusionment Charm."
"That's true!" Isabelle nodded. Albert almost never did something without confidence. While the battle with Rovina Smith seemed dangerous, he had actually been well-prepared.
After finishing the butterbeer, they chatted happily for half an hour. Isabelle found that her nervousness had completely subsided.
The way they handled Katrina was quite straightforward. Albert used the Reviving Spell to awaken her, and while Isabelle, hidden by the Disillusionment Charm, cast the Memory Charm on her, altering Katrina's memories.
Watching the two of them chat and laugh, the girl suddenly let out a soft sigh.
The three of them soon left separately. As Albert returned to the common room, Lee Jordan handed him a letter – a letter from Professor Brode.
The contents of the letter were short, yet it contained much information:
"Don't worry, the situation has been resolved. We'll chat when
we have time."
Isabelle received a similar letter, just like that.
"Efficiency is quite high!" Albert couldn't help but exclaim.
"Such high efficiency?"
"Not really!"
Albert returned the newly cleaned wand to Lee Jordan. He had already retrieved his wand earlier; Smith's office was no match for his lock-picking skills.
"I have something to attend to, see you later."
After saying that, Albert prepared to return to the Room of Requirement. While the effects of Felix Felicis hadn't completely worn off, he decided to claim the remaining rewards from the tasks.
"Where are you going?" Fred hurried over. "Did you take the parchment?"
Initially, the two of them had wanted to use the Marauder's Map to check if Albert had actually gone on a date. However, they found that the Marauder's Map was nowhere to be found, which had caused them some distress.
"I have it here, I'll give it to you later!"
Albert quickly disappeared around the corner and returned to the Room of Requirement. He eagerly opened the task panel to check the rewards for the completed tasks.
The "Hidden Agenda" task had been completed a while ago.
Rovina Smith's secret visit to Hogwarts was probably to confirm the Wilkes-Smith family and to prepare to target the two candidates, which most likely referred to him and Isabelle.
The reward, apart from experience points, was a random skill from Rovina Smith.
What could it be?
That guy knew quite a few spells; Albert was genuinely looking forward to it.
"May Buddha bless, God bless, and Merlin bless, let me receive a useful skill!" Albert muttered to himself as he claimed the rewards.
Upon opening the skill list, he found that he had acquired the Cruciatus Curse.
Albert was at a loss for words.
After completing the Unforgivable task, he had also learned the Killing Curse, because he had used the Avada Kedavra curse in the Forbidden Forest, which coincidentally gave him all three Unforgivable Curses.
He felt like it wasn't of much use.
After all, the Unforgivable Curses couldn't be used casually. If he really wanted to learn them, he could have done so long ago.
Now, he had just mastered all three.
However, after mastering the three Unforgivable Curses, he had triggered a new task.
"The Rise of the Dark Lord."
"You, at such a young age, have mastered the three Unforgivable Curses. It seems you have the potential to become a Dark Wizard. Use Dark Magic to bring pain to others!"
0/10
Reward: 2000 experience, gain a specified Dark Magic skill, +100 reputation in the wizarding world.
It could increase reputation too?
Don't tell me, increasing negative reputation also counts as reputation.
Albert couldn't help but want to complain.
Honestly, even though Albert wasn't shy about using Dark Magic, he didn't have the intention of becoming a Dark Wizard.
Being a Dark Lord or something like that was better off avoided.
Gellert Grindelwald and Voldemort were the best examples.
The appearance of this task caused Albert's good mood to diminish significantly. He also claimed the reward for the "Wrong Decisions" task, which gave him the Muggle-Repelling Charm.
This spell was only so-so. It wasn't useless, but Albert could have learned it elsewhere. Now, he had it without having to spend time and effort on learning it.
Randomly obtaining skills was indeed quite frustrating.
The last time he had obtained the skill of Potion Mastery, it had truly felt like a miracle.
Rovina Smith had a wide range of magical knowledge, and if he randomly received something he already knew, it would be a real letdown. Albert felt he needed the luck aura more than ever.
However, luckily, the "Dueling" reward specified that he would gain a skill, so the Cruciatus Curse wasn't in vain. Albert decided to save the "Dueling" reward for later.
Speaking of the Cruciatus Curse, a task similar to the "Unbreakable" one triggered, but this time it was called "Resilient Bones."
The reward was +1 resistance against the Cruciatus Curse.
Albert suspected that if he managed to survive an Avada Kedavra curse, he might trigger a similar task again.
Completing these three rewards might even trigger new tasks, just like "The Rise of the Dark Lord."
However, Albert quickly gave up on the idea of being reckless. He wasn't Harry Potter; if he acted recklessly, he might actually die.
The next task made Albert want to laugh. It was called "Innocent Wolves."
It was triggered by the two unfortunate werewolves that Rovina Smith had captured. The reward was very small, granting the skill "Friend of the Werewolves," which slightly improved how favorably werewolves viewed you.
Honestly, Albert didn't think those two werewolves were innocent at all.
Isabelle's side triggered a task called "A Girl's Revenge Diary," which involved helping Isabelle complete her revenge. Coincidentally, this overlapped with the "Eye for an Eye" task of killing Rovina Smith. The reward was quite good, providing some skill points and increasing Isabelle's favorability by +40.
Back then, Albert had suggested to Isabelle that she should have the Acromantulas kill Rovina Smith and eat him.
"A Girl's Revenge Diary," revenge, and "Difficult Sibling Relationship" tasks—the completion of these three tasks pushed Isabelle's favorability to above 70.
Their relationship grew even stronger.
"Eye for an Eye" ranked second in terms of rewards, providing Albert with 5000 experience points and 2 skill points.
Lastly, Albert's most anticipated reward arrived. He couldn't help but rub his hands together as he claimed the reward for "Dueling."
The panel suddenly displayed a list of Rovina Smith's skills, which were even more numerous than Albert's. Albert was dazzled by the options, and some of the skill names were things he didn't even understand.
What to choose?
After half an hour of consideration, Albert narrowed it down to a few skills he deemed practical: Dueling, Mastery of Curses, and Finishing Spell Techniques.
Unfortunately, he had run out of Felix Felicis; otherwise, he could've chosen based on his instincts.
After careful thought, Albert decided to choose Mastery of Curses.
Dueling might make him stronger in battles, but with Mastery of Curses preceding it, perhaps Mastery of Curses could bring him unexpected surprises.
As for Finishing Spell Techniques, Albert wasn't considering it for now. He believed that Professor Brode might also teach it, and he might have a chance to learn about this from him.
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(End of this chapter)
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Power 
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