บท 24: Chapter 24

During these days, Albert was busy learning various kinds of knowledge to enhance his intellectual level.

What made him happiest was finding an old book belonging to a student who had studied at the school. This book was about potions.

It was clear that this book would provide Albert with a lot of help in Potions class. As we all know, potion-making involves three elements: magic, understanding the magic itself, and controlling the properties of different ingredients. By knowing how much of each ingredient to use, Albert could help Gryffindor score many points in Potions class.

Perhaps because he was so busy now, in addition to homework for various subjects, he also had to find time to practice Quidditch training since the competition was approaching and his role was crucial for the Gryffindor team.

One morning, when Albert woke up, he smelled the scent of fried pumpkin wafting through the castle, signaling that Halloween was approaching.

Albert thought, "It seems the house-elf is about to come out of the cage. I need to keep an eye on him in the coming days."

As Albert pondered how to handle potential house-elf mishaps, he walked to Charms class with his textbook tucked under his arm.

Professor Flitwick appeared to be in high spirits that day, possibly because Halloween was near and the festive atmosphere was growing stronger.

After the lesson, the professor announced that they could start making objects fly. Since they had seen Professor Flitwick make Neville's frogs fly around the classroom, the students were eager to try this skill themselves.

Professor Flitwick divided the class into pairs for practice: Harry was paired with Seamus Finnigan, and Ron worked with Hermione Granger.

Harry looked pleased because Neville had always wanted to switch places with Seamus. Albert glanced at Harry with a bit of melancholy. After all, no one liked being paired with someone prone to causing accidents.

Ron and Hermione seemed annoyed and had not spoken to each other since the day Harry's broomstick was handed over. In the past, they could only dislike each other, but they still nodded and greeted each other when they met.

Now, however, both sides mainly treated each other as if they were invisible, completely ignoring one another.

This made it difficult for Albert and Hermione to meet Harry or Ron when they returned to the common room after studying in the library.

"Okay, don't forget the subtle wrist movement we practiced!" Professor Flitwick said sharply, standing on his pile of books as usual. "Wave and flick, remember, wave and flick. It's also important to pronounce the spell correctly. Don't forget Barufio the wizard, who said the letter 'f' instead of 's' and found himself flat on the ground—dead."

After Professor Flitwick instructed them to start practicing the spell, Albert pulled out his wand and began practicing. Since he was proficient in both simple and advanced spells, Albert used the Levitation Charm to make a feather float in the air until it reached Professor Flitwick's desk.

"Oh, look! Albert has managed to get the feather to me. This means he has been practicing this spell diligently. By the way, due to your impressive Levitation Charm in this lesson, Albert, I'll award Gryffindor five points," Professor Flitwick announced loudly.

Over time, Albert began helping Neville master the spell. In reality, as long as Neville wasn't panicking and had a bit of confidence, his magical ability wasn't that bad. After reciting the spell repeatedly and practicing several times while watching Albert's demonstration, Neville managed to levitate the feather, though only to a height barely above his finger.

Without proper learning methods, most young witches and wizards struggled to master this magic.

Harry and Seamus waved their wands repeatedly, but the feather they were supposed to lift remained motionless on the table.

Finally, a worried Seamus jabbed the feather with his wand, causing it to flare up in flames.

Fortunately, Harry's quick reflexes and swift hands extinguished the small fire, but this also forced the surrounding students to wave and fan the air to get rid of the burnt feather smell.

On the other side of the classroom, Ron's progress wasn't much better.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like windmills.

"You're wrong," Albert heard Hermione say casually. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa. The word 'Leviosa' should be pronounced clearly and distinctly." Hermione had mastered the spell before the class.

"Since you're so clever, you should try it," Ron grumbled.

Hermione rolled up her sleeves, waved her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Her feather rose from the table and hung four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" Professor Flitwick clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Look, Miss Granger has succeeded as well! This spell isn't as difficult as you think. Just be more careful, and you can do it too."

After the lesson, Albert rushed to the professor to ask questions about the spell.

"Professor, I'd like to ask, can anyone lift more than one object at a time with this spell?"

Professor Flitwick was surprised by the question and also excited because few students asked about this. "Well, as we know, novice witches and wizards find it difficult to lift even one feather. However, experienced adult wizards like myself can indeed lift multiple objects at the same time. You'll understand this better when you reach your fifth year."

Albert listened to his teacher's answer and said, "Thank you, Professor."

The professor smiled at Albert, feeling proud that one of his outstanding students thanked him.

Albert left the classroom.

The corridor was very crowded, with students packed together after class, and everyone could only move forward slowly.

Albert heard Ron's voice coming from ahead. "No wonder everyone can't stand it. To be honest, it's really annoying."

As soon as he finished speaking, Albert saw a girl with brown hair carrying a book walking beside Ron and Harry, her head down, bumping into Ron as she passed by.

That girl was supposed to be Hermione, but she kept her head down as if she were crying.

Albert squeezed in beside Harry and Ron and listened to Ron say to Harry, "She must have noticed that, except for Albert, who had no friends, she was always gathering with him. I wonder how Albert tolerates this girl?"

Albert shook his head and then patted both of their shoulders.

Ron said, "Why did you suddenly show up? You really scared me to death."

Albert replied, "I think you really lack a sense of friendship by talking about a girl behind her back. Ron, this behavior of yours isn't good; it might make you lose friends."

Harry lowered his head, looking slightly embarrassed, and instead asked Ron, "What is a sense of friendship?"

Only then did Albert realize that magic had contributed to closing the physical gap between men and women, making the wizarding world in the UK the most gender-equal place. This also meant that many common British customs, like the sense of friendship, were absent in the wizarding world.

"What I mean is that someone who talks behind a friend's back is always unethical. You're now talking badly about your friend behind her back. I think you should apologize to Hermione."

Harry and Ron nodded. Albert heard Ron muttering, "I can apologize for you. I'm really curious how you can tolerate a friend like Hermione."

The three of them then went to their next class together.

During the class, Albert was surprised to find that Hermione, the top student, had not shown up. This made Albert feel a bit anxious, considering the giant beast was definitely not something a first-year student like Hermione could handle.

Fortunately, perhaps due to the class, Quirrell couldn't leave Voldemort's hideout and release the giant beast, creating a calm and peaceful atmosphere inside the castle.

Albert asked students around him in the common room about Hermione's whereabouts. Patel, an Indian witch in the same year as Albert, told him she had seen Hermione crying sadly in the girls' bathroom and refusing to let anyone comfort her.

After thanking Patel, Albert rushed downstairs, passed through the Halloween-decorated hall, and went directly to the public bathroom on the first floor.