The Anderson family's favorite comedy show was playing on TV in the hall. Herb and Daisy were sitting on the sofa looking through a photo album. The photo showed a family of five cats, and the cat in the photo was lying on Nia's lap and being combed, with no sense of being a father at all.
There were footsteps on the stairs. Albert came down from upstairs, walked behind Daisy, and stretched his head to look at the litter of kittens in the photo album. There were three kittens, and they looked very much like Tom when he was a child.
"Your Grandpa Luke took one home to raise." Herb took the note from his son, glanced at the number on it, put it in his wallet and continued, "Are you really not going to vacation with us in the South?"
"I have to go to France. My teacher, um, Mr. Nicolas Flamel wants me to go to France." Albert explained casually.
"Nicholas Flamel?" Daisy turned off the sound, thinking she had misheard.
"That's the guy you're thinking of. He gave up the Philosopher's Stone last year. Time may not be long. I have to hurry up and learn some skills from him." Albert sat down next to Herb and said as he glanced at the silent TV show.
"Why would he give up the Philosopher's Stone?" Nia simply couldn't understand Nicolas Flamel's thoughts.
Isn’t it good to be alive
"Maybe he has lived too long and wants to rest." Albert didn't quite understand. After all, he didn't live for hundreds of years like Nico.
"Then will he leave the Philosopher's Stone to you?" Daisy hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking.
If Albert became Nicolas Flamel's disciple, he would have a good chance of inheriting his legacy.
"No, the Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed!" Albert shook his head.
The expressions on the faces of the three people froze. Albert could easily see their thoughts and explained: "A very evil wizard set his eyes on the Philosopher's Stone, so Mr. Flamel destroyed it."
"Evil wizards." Daisy frowned and asked, "Is the wizarding world dangerous?"
"If someone possesses great power, they will not be able to bear the loneliness and do things that are not human, just like the country across the ocean. Wizards with extraordinary abilities are no exception. Those guys are more arrogant than you think."
"But... isn't there a Ministry of Magic?" Herb asked doubtfully.
"You should know better than me that most of them are bullies who only care about the weak and the strong. Although the Ministry of Magic is also cracking down on some evil wizards, once they encounter particularly powerful ones, well, how should I put it, they are like the two eggs that Mom accidentally broke this morning."
“Ahem!”
Herb couldn't help but cough lightly. He was not very satisfied with Albert's description, but he understood what it meant.
"There is no doubt that this is the case. Especially during the last wizarding war, the Ministry of Magic performed extremely poorly, or even did nothing."
"Wizard War?" Nia was very interested in this topic. "Aren't there so few people in the wizarding world? How could a war break out?"
"The wizard war is not what you think." Albert organized his speech a little. "It's just a madman who married close relatives. As you know, some wizards like to marry close relatives for the so-called pure blood issue. In the past thousand years, there have been madmen like the German head of state. He has a terrible temper, is arrogant, conceited, and unreasonable genius. Then, he led a group of crazy lackeys who also married close relatives to kill people everywhere. People were so scared that they dared not say his name. The Ministry of Magic even gave him a ridiculous name: the You-Know-Who."
"Oh, my God!" Daisy couldn't help muttering, "I said wizards are a bunch of abnormal guys."
"What happened next?" Herb asked.
"Later, a prophecy came out in the wizarding world, saying that a savior would defeat the Dark Lord, and then the mysterious man began to look for the baby in the prophecy and wanted to kill him."
"He is indeed a madman."
"It turns out that the lunatic did die at the hands of the newborn baby."
"Are you sure you're not telling a joke?" Nia said, moving Tom off her numb knees.
"I'm not kidding at all. There are various signs that we are only experiencing a brief period of peace between the two wars. The prophecy suggests that war will break out again soon." Albert paused and said, "So, in a few years we will have to leave Britain and hide somewhere else."
The hall suddenly fell into an eerie silence. Everyone stared at Albert, as if they wanted to hear from him: I was just joking.
"Leaving Britain, where will we go if we leave Britain?" Herb frowned. He was not interested in immigration.
"The East, I remember Britain had a colony, although that colony will be returned soon." Albert said without hesitation.
"Although our family has some money, leaving..."
"That number should allow us to win the jackpot." Albert said without hesitation.
"Big prize?"
"It's the special prize of the lottery."
"You're not kidding."
"I believe in prophecies. This is the result I got from talking to a few old friends who are good at prophecy. Britain will probably no longer be safe after I graduate from Hogwarts."
"Will you leave with us?" Nia asked suddenly.
"I need to stay in England for a while." Albert didn't lie.
The hall fell into an eerie silence again.
"What are you doing here?" Daisy was the first to break the silence, her tone full of dissatisfaction.
It's like saying, knowing there is danger, yet you still dare to stay.
"It's a rare opportunity for me to get some benefits." Albert said, picking up Tom at his feet.
"If you really win the jackpot, I will believe you." Herb interrupted Daisy who was about to say something, gave him a reassuring look, and continued, "When are you going to get married?"
"Get married?" Nia widened her eyes and looked at Albert in disbelief.
"It's not confirmed yet," said Albert.
"If it's really unsafe here, then take Isobel to the East, and bring his family with you, and you can get married there."
In Herb's opinion, once a man gets married and has a family, he will become mature and stable and will put the safety of his family first.
Albert would not take the risk.
As for whether the lottery number could win the jackpot, Herb actually never doubted it.
He never intended to persuade a young man. At this age, he is so stubborn that even ten oxen cannot pull him back. What's more, Albert is a man with his own ideas.
"I think it's too early for Albert to get married now." Nia disagrees with Albert getting married too early.
"If you don't have money, it will indeed be a heavy burden. However, Albert is not short of money." Daisy agreed with Herb's plan and asked her son to get married quickly and then go to the East with them to seek refuge and stay away from the dangers of Britain.
In fact, Daisy didn't like the magical world very much, but she also knew that there were many benefits to letting her son master this extraordinary power.
Some things don't exist just because you deny them.
If that mysterious man likes killing people everywhere as Albert said, then ordinary people like them who are unaware of the situation may be killed innocently.
Daisy has decided that once she wins the jackpot, she will write a letter to Mrs. McGonagall to finalize the matter.