This harvest had been quite rewarding; relying on his own memory, Albert had managed to sketch out a rough map of the Castle.
Though others had mentioned that some of the staircases in Hogwarts Castle tended to shift positions every Friday, that was a matter for next Friday, and Albert wasn't losing any sleep over it—by then, he would naturally find a way to deal with it.
Worth noting was that the progress for the "Explore Hogwarts Castle" quest had reached 26.7%.
"How come you're all by yourself? Where are your friends?" Angelina and another girl walked over, taking seats at the table opposite Albert to greet him.
"They wandered off halfway while we were exploring the Castle." Albert picked up a slice of bread from his plate, preparing to make himself a sandwich. "Those three probably found something interesting. Pass me the blueberry jam over there, would you? Thanks."
"How's your Castle map coming along? Can I borrow a look?" Angelina pushed the jar of blueberry jam across with her right hand while gesturing toward the piece of parchment on Albert's left.
"I still think people should wander around the Castle on their own; that's half the fun for first-years." Albert casually passed the parchment to the girl opposite, scooping up the jar of blueberry jam in the same motion.
"What's that?" Alicia leaned in closer, staring at the simple rough sketch with a slight frown. It was a bit of a struggle for her to read, but she could still make out markings for secret passages and classrooms, and notes on which staircases required skipping a certain number of steps.
"Right, here are our timetables." Albert duplicated two more copies of the schedule and handed them to the two girls across from him.
"What kind of magic is that?" Angelina asked curiously.
"The Duplication Charm. It turns one item into two." Coming from a wizarding family, Alicia recognized the spell Albert used at a glance.
Not all wizarding families adopted the hands-off approach of the Weasley family; Alicia had received a proper wizarding education since childhood, giving her a head start over most students.
"A very useful little trick, wouldn't you say?" Albert winked at the two of them and continued, "With this, you don't even have to take notes—you can just 'borrow' a copy from someone else."
Alicia looked at Albert with a strange expression, feeling that this guy's thought process was entirely different from everyone else's.
"Can you whip up a copy for me? That way I won't have to worry about not finding my way to the classrooms."
"Aren't you worried the map might be wrong?" Albert countered.
"Of course I'll go check it myself," Alicia said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Do you want one?" Albert looked at Angelina.
"Thanks," Angelina said with a smile.
Hogwarts Castle was undeniably large, and first-years easily lost their way. With Albert's map, they would at least know which direction they ought to be heading.
Being late on the very first day of term was hardly a good omen.
"Say, I seem to remember you're from a Muggle family, aren't you?" Alicia tucked the map away and asked, "How is it that you've mastered so many charms? I'd wager most first-years don't know half as many spells as you do."
"I learned them while practicing charms before the term started; most of them are pretty simple." Albert spread blueberry jam over his slice of bread and took a large bite. While the taste wasn't bad, eating this sort of food day in and day out was a bit much to bear.
"Simple?" The two exchanged glances, suddenly feeling an inexplicable sense of pressure.
After receiving their own wands, most first-years would try out the magic found in their books. Angelina and Alicia were naturally no exception, and they had both learned a few basic spells, but certainly none of them as effortlessly as Albert made it sound—his tone made learning magic seem as easy as eating a piece of bread.
Having finished off the slice of bread coated in blueberry jam, Albert set about making himself a sandwich.
British lunches were always disappointing, and Hogwarts was naturally no exception; bread and potatoes were forever the staples here.
This lunch featured sliced bread, boiled potatoes, a fresh vegetable salad, and cured ham. Naturally, there was also a large pitcher of milk tea or pumpkin juice.
Once Albert finished his ham sandwich, he placed two jacket potatoes onto his plate. Having spent the entire morning wandering around the Castle, he had long since worked up a ravenous appetite.
Besides, come mealtime, there was no sign of those three scoundrels anywhere—heaven knew where they had run off to fool around.
"How I miss rice and noodles," Albert muttered quietly under his breath, keeping his head down as he finished off the jacket potatoes on his plate.
As a staple of the British diet, he had eaten potatoes nearly every day for years; people in this country could apparently make a hundred different dishes out of potatoes without a single repeat.
While potatoes weren't unpalatable, having them at every single meal was truly hard to stomach.
"Pasta is quite nice," Angelina chimed in. "I've had it a few times. That flavor is truly nostalgic."
"British cuisine is always disappointing, and the variety is so poor. The cooks here never seriously bother learning how to cook properly." Albert poured himself a cup of milk tea, took a small sip, and complained, "I remember eating a whole baked fish with sea salt and herbal breadcrumbs a while back."
The two girls looked at each other in dismay, listening with keen interest as Albert ranted about various bizarre British culinary creations, such as his father's beloved crisp sandwiches, or Marmite—which only his grandmother in the entire family actually liked...
Albert still remembered the first time he tasted Marmite; it tasted like... the depths of hell, a flavor truly impossible to forget for the rest of one's life.
If forced to describe it, it must have been a heavy soy sauce flavor mixed with all sorts of body odors.
Ever since then, Albert kept a wide berth from Marmite.
"If either of you is interested, I can mail a jar to her as a Christmas present come December."
"Ahem." Alicia instantly lost all appetite. "No thanks, I'd rather stick to normal food, lest I lose my appetite for jam from now on."
After finishing his milk tea, lunch came to an end.
Albert sat at the table reviewing the photographs he had taken earlier—there were suits of knight's armor, views of the Castle, a certain painting, or a rather exaggerated sculpture... These pictures offered glimpses into the various corners of Hogwarts.
Yet, seeing Albert sorting through his photos, Angelina was very tempted to remark that he wasn't really a student here for school at all, but rather resembled a tourist visiting Hogwarts Castle.
***
Chapter 30: The Disillusionment Charm
The Gryffindor common room in the afternoon was packed with students, everyone sitting on the sofas chatting.
Seating in the common room was limited, and with so many people around, it was cramped and noisy. Albert had no desire to linger in the common room; after pinning the first-year timetable onto the notice board and putting his camera and photos back in the dormitory, he headed straight for the library on the fifth floor.
There were no other students in the library—which made sense; even among the Ravenclaw students, very few would set foot in the library before the term officially began.
The only person in the library was the librarian, Madam Pince, who sat quietly behind her desk reading a book by herself.
As Albert approached the desk, Madam Pince raised her head, looking somewhat surprised that anyone would come to the library at this hour.
"Madam, excuse me. I'm looking for some books on charms. Would you happen to know which shelf they're on?" Albert asked softly.
In truth, Albert could have searched for them himself, but the collection here was vast, and doing so would be time-consuming, laborious, and unrewarding. Asking the librarian directly was the fastest way.
Madam Pince glanced at Albert, raised a hand, and pointed toward a row of wooden shelves. "Section C, fifth bookcase."
Albert looked in the direction she indicated, muttered a word of thanks, and headed toward the bookcases in Section C. His gaze paused briefly as he lingered on the ropes leading to the Restricted Section before continuing inward. In the fifth bookcase, there were plenty of books concerning charms.
As Albert's hand brushed across the spines of the books, his fingers paused suddenly because his system panel unexpectedly popped up two quests.
[Reading Fanatic]
As someone who loves to read, how could you possibly miss the largest magic library in Britain?
Accumulate 100 books read that are at least 1 inch thick.
Reward: Randomly master 3 spells and raise them to Level 3.
Current: 0/100
[Forbidden Magic Zone]
The Restricted Section at Hogwarts conceals quite a few secrets; as someone who loves magic, how could you miss it? Being able to borrow a few books from inside for careful study will help elevate your magical proficiency.
Successfully persuade five professors to allow you to borrow five books from the Restricted Section.
Reward: Skill level +1.
Current: 0/5
Talk about a pair of bottomless pits for quests!
Reading a hundred books was no easy feat, and they had to be an inch thick each—was this asking him to read a hundred brick-sized books?
They could crush someone to death just by falling on them.
These quests couldn't be completed anytime soon; if he managed to finish them within three years, he'd have to thank Merlin's protection.
The second quest was even more treacherous. Getting permission slips for the Restricted Section from the professors was by no means easy.
What's more, he had to secure signed slips from five different professors individually, which made it harder still.
In Albert's memory, the easiest one might just be Gilderoy Lockhart.
Still, high difficulty meant rich rewards—raising a skill level by 1 was far more powerful than getting skill points.
This was no time to dwell on those quests, however. Albert pushed distractions aside, casually pulling out a book of spells titled *Eighteenth-Century Spell Selections*.
He opened the table of contents and counted: it recorded thirty-three kinds of charms, detailing for each the inventor, how to properly execute the spell, and the significance brought by its invention...
After glancing through the contents, Albert lost interest in the book, having failed to find the Disillusionment Charm listed.
While the other spells were decent, they were of no immediate use to the current Albert; mastering those spells would require a massive expenditure of time and energy, or tapping into his stored experience pool.
Though his experience pool still held a fair amount, Albert had no desire to use it.
Tucking *Eighteenth-Century Spell Selections* back onto the shelf, Albert pulled out *Achievements in Charmwork* instead. This was a book introducing various charms, and within it, Albert found the Disillusionment Charm.
Unfortunately, the book did not introduce how to cast the Disillusionment Charm, merely touching upon some theoretical aspects of the spell.
However, based on the information provided there, Albert managed to find relevant records of the Disillusionment Charm in *Nineteenth-Century Spell Selections*.
This was undoubtedly good news.
Holding *Nineteenth-Century Spell Selections*, Albert sat down at a library desk, opened the book, and began to read carefully.
The invention of the Disillusionment Charm took its inspiration from the chameleon; the spell allowed a person to blend into their surrounding environment to achieve an invisibility effect.
Skilful wizards using the Disillusionment Charm were not easily detected, but clumsy ones found it difficult to fool others because their bodies failed to blend with the surroundings, creating an awkward and conspicuous sense of out-of-placeness.
While Albert was deeply engrossed in reading the knowledge related to the Disillusionment Charm, the chair across from him was pulled out. He raised his head and saw that the other person was the Ravenclaw girl he had met in the Great Hall that morning.
Seeming to notice Albert's gaze, she looked up as well, gave Albert a slight nod, and redirected her attention back to her book.
"True to a Ravenclaw," Albert muttered under his breath, continuing to read the precautions for the Disillusionment Charm as he prepared to find a place to practice it.
Next, what he needed to do was find the counter-curse for the Disillusionment Charm.
Although the duration of the Disillusionment Charm wasn't particularly long, if one didn't master the method for breaking it, they might have to wait for the spell's effect to wear off naturally before becoming visible again—which was hardly a good idea.
There were no records of it at the end of the charm's description, but Albert found the Revealing Charm in *Achievements in Charmwork*.
Holding *Nineteenth-Century Spell Selections*, Albert went over to Madam Pince to check the book out, then picked up a stone from outside the Castle to serve as a target for practice. Naturally, he wasn't foolish enough to cast an unmastered spell on himself.
Just as Albert was pondering where he should go to practice his charms, the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan appeared breathless in the entrance hall.
"Where did you two go at noon?" Albert asked, looking at the three of them.
"The fifth floor. A mirror," George panted, out of breath and barely able to speak clearly.
"Where does that passage lead?" Albert asked.
"Outside the Castle. We went to Hogsmeade Village," Fred said, his face beaming with an excited smile. On their very first day at Hogwarts, they had actually discovered a secret passage leading out of school grounds.
Albert raised an eyebrow and said, "So... you spent a few hours hanging out in Hogsmeade before coming back?"
"No, that secret passage is very long; we walked for nearly an hour at least."
"You guys... are truly amazing!" Albert forced out those words. Walking for an hour each way was a form of torture to him.
After all, being a lazy slacker, if he could sit on a sofa and read a book, why bother struggling to crawl through a secret passage, taking two hours round trip?
Why put oneself through that?
"This is my achievement," Albert said, lifting the books in his hands. "I borrowed these from the library."
"You found that spell then?" Fred realized what Albert was referring to.
"Er, found it." Albert admired Fred's quick wits a little. "Though mastering this spell is a bit of a challenge. If you fellows want to learn it, you'd better mentally prepare yourselves."
***
Chapter 31: A Night-Walking Invitation
"So, you guys want to... go night-walking tonight?"
At nine o'clock in the evening, as Albert was writing a letter to his family, he heard the twins' conversation and his face twitched involuntarily.
Didn't he seemingly have an unfinished quest related to night-walking?
No!
Absolutely not!
Mustn't court death!
Not right now!
Albert reached out and gently patted his cheeks; going night-walking right now meant practically guaranteeing he'd get caught by Filch.
"Albert, fancy coming with us?" the twins asked in unison.
"I heard..." Albert put down his quill, turned his head to look at the twins, and said, "Filch the caretaker knows most of the secret passages inside the Castle. That means he can easily catch the likes of you who don't know Hogwarts yet."
"If you don't want to be dragged off to detention before the term even officially starts, you'd better not take uncalculated risks."
"That's what I said, too. Going night-walking now is bound to get us nabbed by the caretaker," Lee Jordan quickly changed his tune and chimed in.
"No, no, I don't think that's the main point. If you want to go night-walking, you have to be properly prepared, otherwise you're definitely going to get yourselves booked," Albert shook his head in warning. "Gryffindor courage isn't mere recklessness; at the very least, you need to master the Wand-Lighting Charm first."
"Don't you think carrying an oil lamp around is troublesome? It won't be easy to run when the time comes." Albert put down his wand and pointed at the copy of *Nineteenth-Century Spell Selections* he had borrowed from the library. "The book has records regarding the Disillusionment Charm. Once you thoroughly master this magic, it'll be much harder for Filch to easily catch you."
"So you're willing to come night-walking with us after all?" The twins clapped each other's hands, seemingly celebrating some joyous occasion.
"You guys couldn't possibly..." Albert instantly figured out what they were plotting and shook his head helplessly. "Wanting me to join you for a night walk isn't out of the question, but not right now. I have no wish to be caught by Filch. I suggest you first master a few useful charms so that we can wander around the school without getting caught by him later."
"Brilliant! With you on board, we're even more confident about our night-walking plan." George excitedly grabbed Fred's arm, and the two of them broke into a strange tap dance.
In the eyes of the Weasley twins, their roommate was exceptionally reliable indeed.
"Tomorrow, me, George, and Lee are planning to make another trip to Hogsmeade. Are you coming along?" Fred brought up tomorrow's plan again and added, "Only third-year students are permitted to go to Hogsmeade, but we can sneak over through the secret passage. It's the only all-wizard village in Britain."
"I want to buy some things at Zonko's Joke Shop; I didn't bring any money last time we went," George said excitedly.
"That place is the most..." Lee Jordan started to chime in before Albert cut him off.
"I don't have much interest in those prank items, but... checking out a wizarding village sounds alright."
Speaking of which, today's system quests were truly numerous. He glanced at one and instantly froze.
[The Beginning of Adventure]
This is the start of a great adventure: head to Hogsmeade via the secret passage and experience the thrill and fun brought by adventure.
Reward: 100 experience points, George Weasley affection +5, Fred Weasley affection +5, Lee Jordan affection +5.
Affection—what on earth was this?
Why did it feel like a dating sim all of a sudden?
Could it be that once mutual affection reached 100, they could become legendary best bros?
Albert hurriedly shook the creepy thought out of his head.
Bros or whatever could stay as far away as possible.
"Let's go together after we finish breakfast tomorrow," Albert agreed, then went back to burying his head in letter-writing. He would describe many things about Hogwarts in the letter based on his photographs. Albert was a professional at this; though he hadn't picked up a pen in ages, it was still a skill he used to make a living by in the old days.
Neither Fred nor George disturbed him; the three of them were flipping through *The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1*, looking for charms they could actually use. Albert was right—an oil lamp was too heavy; they really ought to master a few spells instead.
A few minutes later, Albert suddenly caught the scent of burning paper. He glanced sideways to find *The Daily Prophet* actually on fire, and the twins were hopping around trying to stomp out the flames.
"What on earth are you lot playing at!" Albert put his unfinished letter back into its box, walked over, and opened the window to let the smoke in the room clear out.
"George just tried the Fire-Making Spell," Fred coughed lightly. "The newspaper caught fire successfully."
"You nearly burned the carpet, too. Stop casting fire spells in the room," Albert said with exasperation. "None of you can control magic perfectly yet. What would you do if you set the room on fire?"
"I reckon I might have a bit of a knack for charms."
"How did you pull that off?" Lee Jordan asked curiously, unable to wait to try casting a spell himself.
"Don't use it in here; go to the common room and aim at the fireplace!" Albert irritably shooed the lot of them away.
What a truly troublesome bunch of fellows.
"If you guys still want to go to Hogsmeade Village tomorrow, you'd better learn the Wand-Lighting Charm. I have no intention of lugging an oil lamp through the secret passage, and don't expect me to carry that thing for you either."
"All right, I suppose you're right. Let's practice the Wand-Lighting Charm first—that spell seems quite useful."