"What about asking a professor?" Lee suggested.
"We can only check the library for now," said Albert. "Of course, if we don't find anything there, we could ask the Charms professor, though I rather doubt he'd be willing to teach us that particular spell. He'd probably suspect us of wanting to go wandering at night."
They exchanged glances and sighed helplessly. If they could master that magic, many things would be much easier in the future.
Albert stopped by the viaduct, resting his hands on the stone railing to look down. He still remembered how, at the very end of the books, Harry Potter had snapped the Elder Wand right here and tossed it down into the gorge.
Such a wasteful idiot.
The Elder Wand was a brilliant piece of work; even if you weren't going to use it, you could at least hide it somewhere no one would ever find it.
It was one of the true divine artifacts of the Harry Potter stories, along with the Sorcerer's Stone, and yet both of them ended up destroyed.
"Anyway, let's find the library first."
"Even if we find it, we probably won't be able to learn the spell right away, right?" Lee said, sounding a bit deflated. He hadn't forgotten that he hadn't even mastered the simplest magic yet.
"Don't talk such nonsense," Albert glanced at Lee with a look of disdain. "How do you think I managed to master other spells?"
"How *did* you do it?" the twins asked curiously.
"By spending a massive amount of time practicing, of course. What did you expect, learning them the second you look at them?" Albert retorted.
The four of them walked and chatted about the Disillusionment Charm, wandering around the first floor of the Castle for a long time. They found a few empty classrooms piled high with junk and a spot that looked suspiciously like a secret passage, but none of them could figure out how to open it, leaving all four feeling quite gloomy.
"Most secret passages require a specific password or a particular rhythmic knock to open," Albert explained as they walked. "Finding one is mostly a matter of luck, or else asking someone else who knows where it is—though I bet they wouldn't easily tell us."
"The Transfiguration classroom," George reminded him. "I remember Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration."
Lee Jordan lowered his voice. "I heard that class is incredibly hard."
"It's certainly got some difficulty to it." Albert had discovered that much while studying on his own. He had spent the most time turning matches into needles, but once he got the hang of it, most Transfiguration wasn't actually all that hard anymore.
Of course, that might also have something to do with his system skills.
On the second floor, the four of them found the History of Magic classroom. Fortunately, the rooms were clearly labeled; otherwise, they wouldn't have had the foggiest notion where to look.
"There's a wooden door here. I think it has to be a secret passage," Lee Jordan said excitedly, pointing to an entrance hidden behind a stone statue.
"Looks like it's locked." Albert pulled out his wand and cast the Alohomora Charm on the wooden door in front of him.
Fred reached out and jiggled the handle. "Your spell didn't work." It still wouldn't open.
"Probably needs some kind of password," Albert muttered.
"What kind of password do you suppose it is?" Lee Jordan countered.
"How on earth should I know?" Albert gave Lee a sideways look, thought for a moment, and added, "The most famous secret-door password in the Muggle world is 'Open Sesame,' from the story of *Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves*."
Right as he said this, Albert's wand happened to tap against that very wooden door.
The next instant, the wooden boards on the door were actually ripped straight from their hinges, looking as though they were about to splinter into a pile of firewood.
All four of them dropped their jaws, their eyes bulging out of their sockets, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
Chapter 27: Taking the Blame
"Finite Incantatem."
Looking at the wooden door that had almost been dismantled into scrap, Albert's eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
"Merlin's beard, what do we do now?"
The three Weasleys stared at the wrecked wooden door, swallowed hard in unison, and took an involuntary step back, still barely processing what had just occurred.
"Did we just..." Fred raised a hand, gesturing that they should make a run for it before they got caught.
"Don't be an idiot. Powerful wizards usually use tracking and revealing magic to find out who was here recently," Albert said, reaching out to press down on Fred's shoulder to warn him against bolting.
"Then what do we do?" George looked anxiously at Albert.
"I should be able to fix it. I remember the spell is—Reparo." Albert quickly regained his composure, raised his wand at the shattered wooden door, and concentrated as he cast the Mending Charm.
The wooden panels that had been torn from the hinges flew back onto the door, the cracks slowly knitting together until it was as good as new.
However, before the door could completely restore itself, it suddenly swung open from the inside.
All four of them froze dead in their tracks as Professor McGonagall stepped out from behind the door. She looked at the wooden door that was slowly repairing itself, then back at the four boys standing before her, and the atmosphere in the hallway instantly turned rather awkward.
"What on earth are you lot playing at?" Professor McGonagall's face twitched as she glared sternly at the four of them. Just a moment ago, she had heard a commotion at the secret door to her office, and when she came to investigate, she found that the door to her own office had practically been taken apart.
The sight left her utterly stunned.
"Sorry, Professor, we didn't know 'Open Sesame' was actually a spell," Albert immediately straightened up and apologized, owning up to his mistake. "I suppose it was just an... accident."
"Say no more, Mr. Anderson. Come inside, the rest of you too." Professor McGonagall looked expressionlessly at the four of them, ushering them into her office.
"It really was just an accident, Professor," Albert repeated softly. Behind him, the twins and Lee Jordan were holding their breath, too nervous to utter a word.
"A very fine Mending Charm. However, Mr. Anderson, I must remind you that 'Open Sesame' is an unlocking charm from several centuries ago; modern wizards do not employ such crude magic." Professor McGonagall looked at him in warning. "If you had bothered to read *The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1*, you would know that nowadays everyone prefers the delicate Alohomora."
"I know. But Alohomora didn't work on this door."
"Because an Anti-Alohomora Charm was cast upon it," Professor McGonagall explained. "That is why your spell failed. That is basic charm-work knowledge, and I imagine Professor Flitwick would be quite delighted to have you consult him on such matters."
"I'll do that."
"Let this be your last warning, gentlemen, or it will be detention." Professor McGonagall didn't seem inclined to punish them further. She turned, picked up a piece of parchment from her desk, handed it to Albert, and instructed, "This is the first-year schedule. Please help me post it on the Gryffindor notice board."
"There won't be a next time, I promise." Albert gave a light cough, took the new student schedule from Professor McGonagall, and hurriedly nudged the twins and Lee in the back, steering them swiftly out of the office.
"That nearly gave me a heart attack." Only once they were well away from Professor McGonagall's office did the others dare to speak.
"We actually wrecked the door to Professor McGonagall's office?" Lee Jordan still looked half-disbelieving.
"We got lucky. No points lost, and no detention." Albert glanced at the schedule Professor McGonagall had given him; their very first class next Monday morning was Charms.
"Still, that was brilliant, Albert! Your opening spell literally tore the door off its hinges." Excitement flickered in Fred's eyes.
"It was just an accident, I had no idea it was a real spell." Albert tapped the parchment with his wand, splitting the original schedule in two, and then into four.
He handed the schedules out to the other three.
"We don't have Flying lessons until Thursday afternoon?" George looked a bit disappointed after checking his schedule; he was really looking forward to soaring through the sky on a broomstick.
"Don't you think the number of classes is a bit small?" Albert frowned after reviewing the week's timetable. Hogwarts gave him the impression of a rather hands-off, self-study kind of school.
"Classes are *too small*? Are you out of your mind?" Lee stared at Albert in disbelief, as if he had been struck by some bizarre curse.
"In a Muggle school, there'd be at least twice as many classes." Albert thought about it and quickly guessed the reason.
There were only so many professors in the school. If a single grade had two classes a week per subject, a single professor would have to teach twenty-four sessions (with all four houses combined for the sixth and seventh years).
With Saturdays and Sundays off, that meant their entire week was already packed.
Thinking about it that way, it actually made sense.
"What are you thinking about?" George asked.
"Nothing. Come on, let's keep looking for classrooms." Albert shoved his schedule into his pocket and took the lead toward the marble staircase.
So far, the four of them had located the Transfiguration classroom, the History of Magic classroom, and a disused girls' bathroom on the second floor. He remembered that bathroom was the entrance to the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets, which housed a dangerous Basilisk inside.
Since it was the girls' lavatory, the four of them merely walked past without any intention of going in, lest they be misunderstood.
Their exploration of the Castle had been fairly productive. Near the Charms classroom corridor on the fourth floor, they discovered another secret passage hidden behind a tapestry; this one ended near the armor gallery and the trophy room.
"I reckon every tapestry in Hogwarts hides a secret passage," Lee Jordan joked as he clambered out of the tunnel.
There was no helping it; every single secret passage they'd found today had been tucked away behind a tapestry, so having that misconception was hardly surprising.
"I bet almost anybody could find these particular passages." George looked a little disappointed; he had hoped to find something more hidden, something nobody else knew about.
"We'll find one. Let's go take a look—the trophy room," Albert suggested. Truth be told, he was rather curious whether those medals and trophies were actually made of solid gold and silver.
"George, Fred," Lee Jordan pointed at a display case. "Look at this. Your older brother Charlie used to be the Quidditch Captain, and he even won the Quidditch Cup for the House."
"Yeah. Though he only managed it once." George looked somewhat glum at the sea of Slytherin trophies; Gryffindor and Slytherin never got along.
"That lot in Slytherin sometimes use whatever means necessary to get the job done," Fred muttered, adding, "Percy told me."
"Right, those bastards in Slytherin House are the worst," Fred chimed in. "Percy said that the moment Slytherin drops out of first place, they'll resort to any dirty trick to make the second-place house lose points. And Snape plays favorites with his students, never docking them any points at all. A lot of kids in school hate him; they always call him the old bat."
Hearing the twins chatter away, Albert's face twitched.
Jokes were jokes, but they shouldn't just pin every single grievance on Percy! No matter what, he was still their big brother, not a scapegoat!
Chapter 28: A True Glutton for Punishment
Hogwarts had accumulated quite a few trophies. In the trophy room, Albert even found the Triwizard Tournament cup, the International Wizarding Chess Championship cup, the Golden Cauldron from the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship, and a creative award medal from the Cairo International Alchemy Competition... and, of course, the Special Award for Services to the School won by Tom Riddle—otherwise known as Voldemort.
"I wish I could win a trophy and have it put up here," Lee Jordan said, staring at the cups inside the glass case with a face full of envy and admiration.
"I reckon Albert has a shot at it. As for you... forget it!" The twins popped up on either side of Lee, throwing an arm around each of his shoulders and comforting him with grins.
"You never know what the future holds," Albert casually consoled him. "Maybe you'll manage to get a trophy or something to put in here. That Special Award for Services to the School seems simple enough—you just talk to Dumbledore, donate five or ten thousand Galleons to the school, and I'm sure he'd help you arrange one."
Hearing this, the three of them twitched. What did he mean, *donate five or ten thousand Galleons*? Why could he say something like that with such a straight face?!
Those were *Galleons*!
Neither of the twins even had a single Galleon in their pockets, and they seriously doubted whether their family's entire fortune combined was worth that much.
Lee Jordan shook off the twins' arms and retorted, "Don't you even *want*—"
"Actually, I'd be much more curious about how much prize money comes with it. Everything else is pretty much empty show to me," Albert interrupted, shaking his head.
Compared to glory, he valued gold coins far more; cold, hard cash was the only thing that truly mattered.
Especially coming from the era he lived in in his past life, where there were sayings like "Money makes things happen" and "Money brings confidence"...
"Don't look at me like that, I'm just being realistic," Albert gave a soft cough and quickly changed the subject. "Come on, let's head up to the fifth floor. I have a feeling the library is probably up there."
"You've got a point, money's a good thing. I hate being poor." The twins exchanged glances, not bothering to refute Albert's words.
Or rather, nobody liked being poor.
Especially the Weasley brothers, whose family wasn't particularly well off; they felt that sentiment more keenly than most.
The four of them shoved and jostled their way up to the fifth floor, and sure enough, they managed to locate the library, though it wasn't open at this time of day.
"Let's check somewhere else first," Albert suggested. It proved to be a remarkably wise choice, as the four of them soon discovered another suspected secret-passage entrance behind a suspiciously tall mirror.
"What are you boys up to?"
Just as they were inspecting the entrance, Snape materialized silently behind them.
"We're looking for shortcuts, Professor." Albert didn't seem particularly bothered by the man's gloomy expression; he could easily guess who was standing in front of them.
"Shortcuts." Snape fixed his eyes on Albert's, but Albert immediately turned his head to avoid direct eye contact. "We figured there might be shortcuts connecting different floors here."
As everyone knew, the simplest way to avoid being subjected to Legilimency was never to look your opponent in the eye.
"Oh look, it opened!" The mirror suddenly slid to one side, revealing a gap.
At that, Snape frowned, looking as though he were about to say something, but Albert cut him off.
"Oh, by the way, Professor, would you mind if I took your picture?" Albert lifted his camera and asked with the utmost sincerity.
Not only Snape, but George and the other two froze, their expressions turning rather bizarre.
Snape stared expressionlessly at Albert, while the latter kept a bright smile plastered across his face, completely ignoring Snape's death glare.
"Sir? Is that not allowed?" Albert asked again.
"If you have the time to go wandering about..."
"No, sir, we aren't just wandering about," Albert said with absolute solemnity. "We're simply making the most of our free time to figure out the Castle's classroom layout as quickly as possible. That's very necessary for any first-year, isn't it? After all, Hogwarts doesn't hand out maps, does it? Knowing the shortcuts around the castle helps prevent new students from accidentally being late."
At that, even Snape was left momentarily speechless, while the three boys beside Albert were struck utterly dumb.
*How on earth can you say something like that with such a straight face?*
Yet, somehow, it sounded almost reasonable.
Hogwarts Castle really was like a labyrinth, and since the school didn't pass out maps, wasn't allowing them out to familiarize themselves with the layout only fair?
Snape's lips twitched slightly. He glared coldly at Albert. "If you have so much time to spare, why don't you spend it reading *Magical Drafts and Potions* a few more times? Next class, I'll be questioning you first. Now, vanish from my sight—immediately, this instant."
"See you Friday, then, Professor." Albert smiled brightly, waved, gave the three boys beside him a nudge, and slipped around the corner, disappearing down the end of the corridor.
"Blimey, you actually wanted to take a picture of Snape?"
"You actually had the guts to talk back to him right to his face." The twins both gave Albert a thumbs-up, unable to hold back their laughter. "Didn't you know? He's notoriously..."
"I didn't talk back to him, I was just stating facts," Albert refused to admit it at all. How had he talked back to Snape? He was merely pointing out the truth.
"Right, right, it *was* a fact," George nodded repeatedly. Even the other three had to admit that it was, indeed, a fact.
Therefore, Snape couldn't really do a thing to him.
"By the way, what was that you were about to say about Snape earlier?" Albert changed the subject. "Notoriously what?"
"—Notoriously unreasonable," George couldn't help laughing. "Though his face just then was genuinely hilarious."
"Where do you suppose that passageway leads?" Lee Jordan was far more curious about that question.
"No idea. We can go check it out this afternoon when we've got some free time!" Albert noticed that his system interface had popped up with a new task:
*Glutton for Punishment.*
*Snape is one of the most unpopular professors in Hogwarts history. You have successfully provoked him once; why not keep the streak going?*
*Task Progress: 1/5.*
*Reward: 2000 XP.*
Talk about being a glutton for punishment!
"Oh, by the way... what are you going to do about *that*?" Fred suddenly asked.
"That?" Albert asked, bewildered. "Which 'that'?"
"The questioning, obviously!" Lee Jordan reminded him. "Didn't Snape say he was going to quiz you in the first class?"
"It's fine, it's just a quiz. As long as it doesn't go beyond the contents of *Magical Drafts and Potions*, there won't be any major problems." Albert had absolute confidence in his own memory; pop quizzes were a complete breeze.
"I almost forgot about that. Suddenly, I'm actually looking forward to next Friday's Potions class." The three of them looked at each other, remembering that the fellow standing in front of them possessed a freakishly strong memory and an exceptionally sharp mind, so handling Snape's questioning ought to be a walk in the park.
"If you get every single question right, do you think Snape will give you points?" George suddenly asked.
"Definitely not," Albert said with absolute certainty.
"I suppose not. At least then everyone will get to see what kind of professor he really is."
Chapter 29: Marmite
As noon approached, the Hogwarts Castle, which had lain dormant through the night, burst back into vibrant life.
Albert occasionally ran into other students in the corridors and hallways. It had to be said that sleeping in was part of human nature—especially on weekends, when there was no need to get up early, most people preferred to linger in bed a little longer.
A light drizzle was still falling outside the castle, and the majority of the students were chatting away in the Great Hall, save for a tiny handful of unlucky souls who hadn't finished their assignments in time and were frantically scrambling to copy their summer homework.
Midway through their exploration of the castle, the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan finally hit their limit and slipped away first.
Nevertheless, Albert spent the entire morning roaming the massive castle from top to bottom, snapping plenty of interesting photos with his camera. By the time he finished his tour and headed back to the Great Hall, his calves were aching faintly.