The castle, which had become deserted due to the Christmas holidays, became lively again after the students returned.
The Gryffindor students gathered in twos and threes to chat about trivial matters during the holidays, and a few students were working hard on their holiday assignments.
After Albert had tidied up the dormitory, he sat by the window with Lee Jordan and played Wizard cards. This deck was different from the original one, with more detailed classifications and even the cards were very formal, ready to be sold.
Although Wizard Cards is not as popular as it was in the beginning, there are still many students in the school who are willing to join the Wizard Card Club.
People come not just for the championship reward, but more because they can always find friends to play cards with in the club.
It's really great to get together and play cards.
The only regret is that Wizard Cards have not been mass-produced, and selling them is a loss-making business. Today, the Wizard Card Club relies more on Lee Jordan's enthusiasm for management, and he himself is also enthusiastic about it.
"I finally beat you once. It wasn't easy." Lee Jordan raised his hands and stretched lazily, then said with a smile, "You haven't played Wizard cards for a long time."
"Yeah, I haven't played for a long time." Albert put down the wizard card in his hand, turned his head to look at Fred and George who were copying their homework, and asked with a smile: "How is it, have you finished copying?"
"Almost there is only one last bit left."
"It will be finished soon."
"I really don't know why they are unwilling to spend some time on this." Lee Jordan was not surprised by this. After every holiday, Fred and George had to rush to copy homework in order to complete their holiday assignments.
"Who's seen Harry?"
Wood looked around the common room and walked towards Fred and George.
"Wood, what do you want to talk to Harry about? He seemed to have something to do in the dormitory just now. He should be coming down soon." Lee Jordan raised his hand and greeted Wood. "Oh, he's here."
"Something." Wood didn't say much, he had already seen Harry.
"Guess what they are talking about?" Lee Jordan said, looking at the two people over there.
"It's probably about Quidditch. Wood is only concerned about Quidditch right now." Albert speculated, "He's probably asking Potter if he's bought a new broomstick and if there's any way to solve the Dementor problem."
"I guess so."
Lee Jordan hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but quietly lean over to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Albert collected the cards on the table and put them back in the box. He turned his eyes to the sneaky Lee Jordan and couldn't help feeling amused.
"Firebolt? Seriously? A real Firebolt?"
Wood's voice was very loud, almost a roar, and the atmosphere in the entire common room froze. Everyone could feel his excitement and excitement from Wood's voice. They all looked towards where Harry and Wood were, and quietly pricked up their ears to eavesdrop.
"Cursed? How could it be cursed?" Wood couldn't believe what he heard.
"No, I'm going to talk to Professor McGonagall and ask her to be reasonable."
Then, everyone saw that Wood seemed to be stimulated by something, his face turned pale, and he walked hurriedly out of the common room.
"Harry got a Firebolt for Christmas."
When Lee Jordan came back, he told Albert and the twins the news, "But the Firebolt was not signed, and no one knew who gave it to Harry as a Christmas gift. Professor McGonagall thought the Firebolt was suspicious and worried that there was some evil spell on it, so she took it away for inspection."
"It's normal for Professor McGonagall to find the Firebolt suspicious. After all, it's not signed, and the Firebolt is very expensive. If someone deliberately tampered with it, Potter might be in danger after riding his flying broom." Albert understood Professor McGonagall's approach. She was just concerned about Harry Potter's safety, even though the other party might not appreciate it.
"The whole country is looking for Black, how can he walk into a Quidditch boutique and buy a broom?" Ron, who was sitting not far from them, retorted in a low voice.
"Why do we need to go to a Quidditch boutique?" Albert looked at Ron in confusion and reminded him, "As long as someone is willing to pay and can afford it, let the owl help pre-order. As for the buyer, just come up with a random name to deal with it."
"Do you also think that the Firebolt was given by Black?" Hermione had just crawled into the common room through the hole and happened to hear them talking about this, so she couldn't help but interrupt.
"I'm not sure. As long as we don't find the person who sent the Firebolt, everything is possible, right?" Albert certainly knew that the Firebolt was a gift from Black to Harry.
"Albert, can we talk in private?" Hermione said in a low voice, "I have something to tell you."
"Is it important?"
“Very important.”
"Okay." Albert stood up and followed Hermione out of the common room.
The two found a hidden passage that was remote and deserted. After making sure that no one was eavesdropping, Hermione took a few deep breaths, tried to calm herself down, and said, "I found that Professor Lupin seemed to be... a werewolf."
Hermione quickly recounted how she discovered Professor Lupin's identity.
It turned out that during the Christmas holidays, Hermione completed the homework assigned by Snape on how to identify and kill werewolves, and discovered that Professor Lupin always took leave during the full moon, and his Boggart was a moon.
After Hermione finished talking about her discovery, she noticed that Albert didn't react much, so she couldn't help asking, "You actually knew it a long time ago, right?"
"Well, I guessed it. I guessed it when I noticed that Professor Lupin always got sick during the full moon." Albert did not deny it. As for the excuse, of course he made it up casually, as Hermione had just mentioned the lunar phase table.
"Why would Dumbledore let a werewolf teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Hermione looked uneasy. Although she came from the Muggle world, she still knew very well what a werewolf meant.
In the wizarding world, werewolves are more notorious than giants, because once bitten by a werewolf, it basically means that your life is ruined.
"Although many werewolves have become very evil due to the torture of lycanthropy and isolation from other wizards, there are still a small number of werewolves with kind hearts." Albert gently soothed Hermione's uneasy mood and continued, "Professor Lupin is obviously not an evil wizard, otherwise Dumbledore would not have invited him to work in the school."
"But when I turned into a werewolf..."
"As long as he is properly controlled, Professor Lupin will not pose a threat to students."
"Reasonable control?"
"Yes, since Professor Dumbledore appointed Professor Lupin as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, I think he should have asked Professor Snape to prepare wolfsbane potion for Professor Lupin. As long as the werewolf takes this potion, he will still be able to remain rational after the transformation and will no longer be so dangerous."
Hermione remembered that Harry had mentioned that Snape tried to murder Lupin with medicine, and the potion at that time should be the so-called "wolfsbane potion".
"In fact, most werewolves have a hard life, which can be easily seen from Professor Lupin's clothes." Albert sighed softly and said, "Professor Dumbledore undoubtedly gave Professor Lupin a decent job, but there is one thing you need to understand, being a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts is also a very risky job."
"Are you referring to the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Hermione had also heard that almost no Defense Against the Dark Arts professor could serve for more than a year.
"You probably don't know that since I came to Hogwarts, Professor Smith has disappeared, Professor Quirrell has died, and Professor Lockhart has become a fool, except for Professor Bard who resigned early and was not injured." Albert continued, "I guess there are not many wizards willing to come to Hogwarts to serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. This position is too unlucky, and Professor Lupin just needs a decent job, so Professor Dumbledore happened to be short of talent and invited him to the school."
"Of course. I think in order to prevent Professor Lupin from getting into any accidents, it would be best to remind him to resign in advance and avoid possible danger."
Hermione opened her mouth, suddenly not knowing what to say.
"Please keep it a secret, okay?"
Hermione nodded.
"By the way, did you have a fight with Potter and Weasley?" Albert asked, changing the subject.
"Because of the Firebolt, both of them ignored me." Hermione was a little depressed.
"Well... I can only say that we are still young and don't see things that clearly." Albert comforted him softly, "Most people actually care more about their own feelings, whether it's you, me, Ron or Harry. We care more about our own affairs."
"I think Harry knows that you are doing this for his own good, but sometimes it's like this. People are complex creatures, and sometimes they don't want you to do this for their own good." Albert suddenly said, "I think you look very tired. The twelve courses must have put a lot of pressure on you. If I were you, I would give up Divination and Muggle Studies."
"I can't do it. I don't want to give up." Hermione shook her head.
"That's how it is sometimes." Albert said calmly, "As a friend, all I can do to help you is to persuade you to give up a few courses and give you some advice, that's all."
"Of course, I'm not qualified to say these things." Albert said self-deprecatingly.