"Will there be a party later?"
Angelina brought the freshly baked egg cake to the table, preparing for the upcoming afternoon tea party.
"No, I have other things to do this afternoon."
Albert took a piece of egg cake and tasted it, and found that it was filled with cheese, which made him raise his eyebrows slightly.
Arya, who was pouring hot water into the teapot, couldn't help but widen her eyes when she heard this. She looked up and down at Albert and couldn't help asking, "So what are you doing here today?"
"You make it sound like I only come here for parties."
After saying thank you, Albert took the tea handed to him by Sana and took a sip.
"I usually only see you at parties anyway."
Angelina counted on her fingers, as if counting the number of times Albert had appeared this month.
"Ahem, I brought you the spoils you recently gained." Albert waved his wand and a suitcase appeared out of thin air, saying with a smile, "If you don't welcome me, then I'll leave."
"At least you have to leave your stuff behind."
Lee Jordan smiled and handed a manuscript to Sana, then stared at the suitcase that Albert had just brought. After opening it, he found a bunch of miscellaneous things inside.
"I don't know why they took these broken things as trophies." Lee Jordan picked up an old Silver Arrow and couldn't help complaining, "This broom is even more broken than the Silver Arrow that Albert bought from Mundungus."
"There aren't many valuables to begin with, and this is one of the more valuable ones."
Albert took out a small bag from his pocket and threw it on the table. "You can discuss what to do with this amount of Galleons."
“I don’t remember much!”
Lee Jordan was quick to grab the purse before Kenneth and dumped the contents onto the table, with coins clattering to the floor.
"Not much?"
Angelina looked at the pile of coins, then looked at Lee Jordan who was picking out Galleons.
"There aren't many, probably just over twenty Galleons. I can't remember the exact number." Albert finished another piece of egg cake, this time with red bean filling, which felt better than the one with cheese filling.
“So little.”
"Not a few."
"Don't forget how many dark wizards we defeated a while ago."
"Most dark wizards are poor, otherwise why do you think they would risk becoming dark wizards." Kenneth knew the situation in Knockturn Alley too well. "If they were really rich, why would they join the search party? You will know if you are willing to use your brain to think about it."
"Are you trying to say I'm stupid?"
Arya narrowed her eyes at Kenneth.
The latter shrugged and said nothing, to avoid getting beaten later.
"Ever since they knew you had the habit of robbing, they rarely kept valuables with them, unless you went to rob those dark wizards in the Hog's Head Inn." Albert poured himself another cup of tea.
"Why?"
"Dark wizards often do some small side jobs there, smuggling potions or..." Kenneth knew it very well, as he and his father had done similar things before.
"We are not robbers," Shanna reminded.
"Yeah, we're just fighting the dark wizards," Lee Jordan laughed.
"Don't go to Hogsmeade." Albert talked about the reason why he mentioned Hogsmeade just now.
"Why?"
Everyone looked at Albert. They all thought that Albert was going to take action against the dark wizards in Hogsmeade.
"It has become the base camp of dark wizards."
"What's going on?"
"A large number of dark wizards have poured into Britain, and it's almost become a paradise for dark wizards." Shanna said with disgust, "Because of this, the number of Muggles who have died inexplicably has increased rapidly recently. Killing Muggles has even become a form of entertainment."
"Are you sure we really want to let it go?" Truman frowned and looked at Albert. They all knew that only Albert was capable of solving this problem.
"The Death Eaters seem to be intent on turning Hogsmeade into the largest black market in Europe. This is also the main reason why a large number of dark wizards have flocked to Hogsmeade. The villagers who originally lived in Hogsmeade have been forced to move away." Albert seemed to have thought of something and added, "Probably only the owner of the Hog's Head Pub is still running a shop. Anyway, that damn place is even more chaotic than Farther Alley."
"If Hogsmeade really becomes that kind of place, Hogwarts students will no longer be able to go to Hogsmeade for the weekend?" George felt that Hogwarts students were very unlucky.
"Is that clear?" Albert asked.
"I've counted it. There's thirteen Galleons and six Sickles missing. Apparently some students didn't pay." Fred was quite annoyed. "We gave them a 20% discount, but there are still people who want to take our stuff for free."
"They betrayed our trust."
George was not angry about the money, they did not need it, but the feeling of having their trust trampled on was really bad, making them feel like fools.
"It's normal. It's human nature to like getting something for free." Albert was indifferent. When the twins suggested giving the things first and then collecting the money, he guessed that this would be the result.
However, this would help Fred and George grow, so he didn't stop it.
"So, we plan to resume our previous mail-order method, where we pay for the reservation first and then receive the goods." Fred gave their solution.
They all felt that they were really stupid and naive in the past.
"You guys didn't really suffer any loss, did you?" Albert stuffed the egg cake into the twins' hands and reminded them, "Thirteen Galleons and six Sieges are a pitfall, so it's undoubtedly a cheap price to buy a lesson."
"You are right."
George found an empty seat, sat down, took a bite of the egg cake, and felt that his original depression was swept away.
"It's potato filling?" Fred was a little surprised.
"What about you, Cedric?"
Albert came to find Cedric, because the current Hogwarts is really messed up by Neville and the DA. If it is not stopped, God knows what will happen next.
After Albert cast a look at him, Cedric quickly explained: "Hogwarts' affairs are not my problem."
The biggest inducement was that the Wesley twins were selling joke props, and he would never take the blame for it.
However, the Weiss brothers do not want to take the blame and are trying hard to make excuses.
"Their opponents are dark wizards. Even if they really want to cause trouble, they must be well-trained and not act like a group of idiots." Albert tapped the table with his index finger to quiet Fred and George. "They need to be moderate so as not to attract all the Death Eaters."
"The You-Know-Who definitely wouldn't want Hogwarts to get out of control, and we don't want the school to get out of control either, so we can only play pranks and jokes that aren't too excessive."
"Neville will probably be disappointed. He dreams of driving the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts." George glanced at Albert and said to himself.
"And use Hogwarts to fight the Death Eaters?"
Fred and George didn't say anything, obviously agreeing.
Albert was sure that the Wesley twins were definitely behind this.
"It's too early now."
After Albert finished the egg cake, he glared at Fred and George and said, "Don't go to Hogwarts any more recently."
Then he turned his head to look at Cedric and said, "Also, ask Neville to be more restrained recently. I think that thing is about to explode."
“It’s not easy.”
Cedric smiled bitterly. He had actually reminded Neville and Ernie more than once, but to no avail. They were almost carried away by the successive victories.
No one wants to stop before victory.
"Perhaps, only a serious setback can make them wake up."
He looked at Albert, hoping that he could give him some good advice.
"You want me to cover for them?" Albert raised his eyebrows.
Cedric nodded.
Albert stared at Cedric for a moment, and after seeing his embarrassment, he said, "It seems that you are also a little impatient."
"I just felt..."
"Just tell them directly that they are bound to fail. Although I can rescue them, they can only hide in the shelter temporarily, and doing so will cause the students of Hogwarts to lose their last ability to resist." Albert thought for a moment and said, "Just tell them directly and let them make their own choice."
"Should I welcome the inevitable failure and suffer for it, or should I give up those seemingly stupid actions, go back to underground to practice spells, continue to deal with the Death Eaters of Hogwarts, and protect the students of Hogwarts at the same time."
He said it very bluntly. As for what Neville would choose, Albert could not interfere, but he hoped that they would choose the latter.
"You're being too... harsh."
Cedric opened his mouth and gave a helpless smile.
"I dared to bring you to cause trouble for Umbridge because I had the ability to cover for you and clean up the mess for you, but they don't have that ability. Moreover, this time it is more serious because their enemy is the notorious Death Eaters, not a loser like Umbridge who only relies on power."
"Your words are so hurtful," Angelina said.
"Umbridge won't kill people, but Death Eaters will," Albert said unhappily, "and this is a war, not a joke, and most of you don't even understand this."
“We know this is war.”
"I don't want to have to wait until someone in the association loses his life before others realize that we are at war." Although Albert was reluctant to admit it, he felt that this was the most likely possibility.
Because humans are that kind of creatures.
To most members of the Defense Association, war today looks like a more thrilling game.
It's exciting and interesting.
Moreover, their dueling skills are also growing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The cost of getting everyone to readjust their mindset is a bit high.
"Where are you going?"
"Do something serious."
"Isn't the party a serious matter?" Qiu Zhang asked doubtfully.
"There is something more important to do now." Albert waved his hand and prepared to leave.
"So when do you plan to continue your training on resistance to the Imperius Curse?" Kenneth suddenly asked.
"You should work on your basics first. When I'm not around, you can help keep an eye on them. The same goes for the shelter. Don't make it too hard for the students who join us." Albert stopped and turned to everyone present and said, "If any of you complete the most basic training, I will teach you some of my special moves as this year's Christmas present. So, you only have more than two months left."
"I feel like he's coaxing a child." Qiu Zhang turned his head and said to Cedric.
"In Albert's eyes, probably all of us are just little kids who need his care." Sana was not surprised.
"Okay little Georgie, let's go tell everyone the good news!"
"Shut up, little Freddy."
The twins walked to the training room arm in arm.