The snow had stopped overnight, and the view was covered with white snow, which sparkled in the sun. The house-elf Noel was using magic to clear a path in the snow for people to walk on.
In the villa, Albert put on a formal wizard robe and sat in the armchair in the library, flipping through books carelessly, waiting for the arrival of other wizards. It would be a lie to say that he was not curious about the alchemy party.
Albert's patience was not tested for long as a very old wizard, supported by a house-elf, slowly walked towards the villa hall.
"... Those guys have no sense of time now." Albert vaguely heard the old wizard's nagging and complaints.
"No, old man, I'm sure your pocket watch is a few minutes ahead of the others." Another younger old wizard glanced at his pocket watch and greeted the other party with a smile, "The agreed time has just arrived."
Not long after, everyone appeared outside the villa one after another, as if they had made an appointment in advance, and entered the villa hall under the guidance of the house-elves.
Albert closed the book, tidied his clothes, and walked towards the villa hall.
As soon as he walked outside the hall of the villa, the noisy conversation inside reached Albert's ears.
"There are a lot fewer familiar faces than last time."
"Why didn't Nico come? I remember he seemed to be living in seclusion in Devon."
"You mean Nico? I remember Dumbledore invited him to the party last time."
"Don't even think about it. Nico hasn't been to the party in years. He probably doesn't want to come."
"Why didn't Dumbledore come this year?"
"Who knows?"
"I wrote to Dumbledore, but he said he had something else to do this year and would not be attending."
The wizards spoke one after another without lowering their voices. The hall was filled with noise. Albert did not go in immediately, but leaned against the wall to listen to what was happening inside.
"What about Gerber Smith? Why didn't he come this year?" asked a loud voice.
“I guess it’s still on the way.”
"If this continues, I'm afraid we won't even be able to gather five people for the next gathering." Another wizard with a low-level voice couldn't help but complain.
"It's not as exaggerated as you say."
"We haven't had any new blood for a long time."
"It's very difficult for wizards today to learn formal alchemy."
"How about letting Dumbledore start alchemy at Hogwarts School?"
"You're going to teach?"
"No one is back to teach. Most of the people here are semi-retired. Didn't Bud say that he would invite a new person to the party? Has anyone seen him?"
A middle-aged wizard quickly changed the subject. He had encountered this kind of thing at the last gathering. If he didn't say something, he would have to listen to these old people nagging for a long time.
"No, Bard said he would give us an unexpected surprise," said another thin old man wearing a monocle and gloves. He was a metalworker named Yeron Bard.
"Last time, the one from Gerber Smith's family barely made it. But I heard that he won't come this year. Don't invite me to the next party. It feels boring if no one comes." Another bald, short old man in his seventies couldn't help but complain. He is the famous Gorbarot, a potion master who is good at preparing antidotes or using alchemy to extract potion ingredients. People who are good at potions must know Gorbarot, or know Gorbarot's third law.
"Well, old friend, let's just think of it as a reunion where we meet. Who knows who will leave that day." Another old wizard was very optimistic.
"Come on, Tofty. You're much older than us." Someone couldn't help but mutter.
"Next time, don't invite me. This trip is so tiring that my bones are about to fall apart." Another old wizard complained.
"You're not even older than me. Besides, you're not Nico. How can you have osteoporosis at this age?"
Tofty shook his head and said, "Remember to drink some milk every day."
"By the way, didn't you say for a while that you wouldn't come to the party?"
"Bud told me that there will be a newcomer this year, and he is said to be a genius. I must come and see him." Professor Tofty was not very good at alchemy, but he was interested in the genius that Bud Brod mentioned. Moreover, their so-called poor skills were only poor compared to those people sitting here.
A moment later, the house-elves appeared in the hall with drinks and served everyone their favorite drinks.
"Toles, if you don't like it, you can add some sugar cubes to the milk." Professor Tofty suggested with a smile.
"Only Dumbledore would do this. At my age, I can't eat too sweet food." The old wizard named Thors couldn't help complaining.
"Dumbledore never considered himself old."
Several old people made fun of Dumbledore for not coming to the party. Most of them had known each other for many years and didn't care much about these things.
Maybe it’s because we are all a little old and our hearing is a little unclear, so we all speak very loudly.
The famous Nicolas Flamel was actually teased by them as suffering from osteoporosis? And Dumbledore often ate sweets but was not afraid of having diabetes.
Albert's face trembled slightly. He heard everything clearly outside the hall, but he really didn't know what to say.
"Why don't you go in?" Professor Broad asked with a smile.
"It's very interesting to listen to them chatting." Albert explained casually. If he went in, he would probably become the topic of conversation and would not be able to hear those interesting things.
There were only nine people in total, most of them were very old wizards, with only a few younger middle-aged wizards. After Albert followed him into the hall, he unsurprisingly became the focus of everyone, and the wizards in the hall all turned their heads to look over.
"Albert, you sit over there!" Professor Broad pointed to the seat next to him.
"Bud, is this the Mr. Anderson you mentioned?" Everyone looked at Albert curiously. Fortunately, he had practiced before, so he sat down next to Professor Broad very calmly and nodded to the old men who were looking at him as a greeting.
Then, he said to the two old men who were speaking French: "I admit that I am indeed relatively young, but knowledge has no age limit, right?"
The two old men looked at each other. They were not embarrassed about being overheard while whispering. Instead, they were surprised that Albert could speak French fluently.
"French?"
"British."
This time, Albert used English.
"He is indeed a genius," the old man said to Professor Brod, "at least, in terms of language."