At dusk, the shops on both sides of the main street of Hogsmeade village were preparing to close.
After sunset every day, Dementors will patrol the streets. In order to avoid dealing with these dark creatures, closing the store early is the best option.
Albert was walking alone on the deserted street. When he was about to go to the Three Broomsticks Inn, there was a crackling sound of Apparition in front of him, and Mog MacDougal appeared out of thin air without any warning. He took out his pocket watch from his pocket, checked the time, and looked up at Albert who was walking towards him.
“It’s just the right time.”
Mog smiled and reached out to Albert. After the latter grabbed it, the two disappeared out of thin air, as if they had never appeared.
Albert opened his eyes again and found himself in a remote wilderness. The wind blowing in his face carried a faint smell of the salty sea.
Mog led the way in front and introduced the situation here to Albert.
They are located in a remote seaside estate somewhere in south Wales, where this year's Easter party will be held.
As soon as the two men reached the edge of a cliff, Albert clearly felt that there was something in front of him, and the traces left by the spell were very obvious.
"We're here."
Mog raised his wand and chanted a spell softly. The air in front of him began to distort, and an iron door that looked like a figment of fog appeared out of thin air.
After the two entered, the entrance disappeared.
"We have many similar manors, many of which are legacies left by other heirs." Mog introduced to Albert, "The manor allocated to you is one of them. These houses were originally given to us to live in, but not everyone is willing to live in such a place. After all, the heirs are not short of money. Later, those manors were protected by magic and used for temporary gatherings, emergency shelters, or as factories for Floo powder."
"Master, Mr. Budd and Mr. Gerber have arrived. Only Mr. Tiberus has not arrived yet." The house elf bowed slightly to Mog and said, "The banquet can start at any time."
"Just start at the scheduled time." When Mog took Albert into the hall, Bud and Gerber were eating and chatting.
After seeing them come in, he gave them a gentle smile and recommended to Albert a dessert that was very soft and a bit like pudding. It was said to be some kind of magical dessert that could keep the user in a good mood.
Albert suspected that there was a stimulant in it. However, it tasted good and tasted a bit like custard.
"Good evening, I hope I'm not late."
Tiberus Ogden appeared in the hall just as the banquet was about to start, and greeted several people in the seats with a smile.
"You are always so punctual. Now that everyone is here, let's start the dinner!" Mog was the first to raise the champagne and said, "First of all, we should congratulate our champion, Mr. Champion, and congratulate Albert for winning the Magic School Potions Championship."
"You probably don't know that the stubborn old guys in the Wizengamot were so angry when they heard the news." Tiberus raised his glass happily towards Albert and said, "Those bad-hearted guys would rather you lose the game than see you win the championship."
“I’ve heard similar news.”
Gerber Smith raised his glass towards Albert and said, "They are very unhappy, but they have to hold back their unhappiness. It was you who won the Potions Championship for Britain!"
"How does it feel to win a second international championship?" Bud asked, smiling and raising his glass.
"It was a terrible game. It was never a fair competition. Everyone was cheating." Albert took a sip of champagne and shook his head in disappointment. "The so-called golden crucible is not made of gold, but a gold-plated one. I originally wanted to experience what it feels like to use a golden crucible to boil medicine."
"It's normal to feel disappointed. In fact, a long time ago, the golden crucible was really made of gold," Gerber recalled. "Then, I don't know when, the golden crucible became a gold-plated crucible."
"About two hundred years ago, the organizers of that tournament claimed that they didn't have enough funds, but in fact someone had embezzled a large sum of money, so they could only give the champion a gilded cauldron. Since then, all the golden cauldrons that symbolize the championship trophy have been replaced with gilded cauldrons. Later, someone finally couldn't stand it anymore and gave the champion a bag of gold coins as a reward for winning." Tiberus said with disgust: "Since the golden crucible was replaced with a gilded crucible, the Potions Championship has lost its glory. It was probably after the gilded crucible incident that the Potions Championship gradually evolved into what it is now."
"I didn't expect there was such a history." Albert felt that he had learned something new today.
"Are you a little disappointed?"
"After all, even if we restore the Golden Crucible, it would be a thankless task." Albert said he could understand, "Besides, the Golden Crucible is more of a symbol."
"No, the original purpose of the golden crucible is to allow the winner to exchange the crucible for money when necessary, so as not to become poor." Tiberus said, "After all, if you want an excellent pharmacist to concentrate on potion research, you must at least ensure that he has enough food and clothing, so that he can focus on potion research."
"By the way, is the title of the British Youth Representative of the Wizengamot stuck like this?" Mog suddenly remembered something and reminded: "I remember that Albert will come of age at the end of October this year. When he comes of age, the Ministry of Magic will have a reason to cancel his title of British Youth Representative of the Wizengamot."
"It's just a crappy title. If they don't want to give it to me, forget it." Albert ate his plate of grilled prawns slowly, not caring about the so-called "title of British Youth Representative of Wizengamot".
"They will give it to him," Tiberus consoled him, "Besides, Albert probably doesn't lack the title."
In fact, few people present really cared about the title, mainly because Albert already had enough titles.
Even if they don't want to give it, they will still have to give it in the future. This is no longer the era when pure-bloodedness has everything under the sun.
Abraxas Malfoy being killed by dragon pox is a prime example.
"I remember you seemed to have a spell to restore werewolves. How is the spell now? Have you tested the effect of the spell on a werewolf?"
"I haven't used it on werewolves yet, so I don't know how effective it is." Albert didn't hide anything and continued, "You should also know that I basically have no chance to try this spell."
"We have to try it out on werewolves." Mog said without hesitation, "A Medal of the Order of Merlin is much more valuable than the title of British Youth Representative of the Wizengamot. Even Dumbledore failed to obtain the Medal of the Order of Merlin during his school years."
"The human-shape restoration spell is a very difficult transformation spell." Bard said to everyone, "I think the first successful cast of this spell should be completed by Albert."
"I don't mind these things." Albert ate his lobster, saying that he didn't care about these false reputations at all. "Besides, werewolves are dangerous."
"Yes, werewolves are dangerous, but we can make him take wolfsbane potion in advance and lock him in a sturdy cage to ensure that he poses no threat after he transforms." Bard suddenly asked, "I remember that your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor seems to be Remus John Lupin, right?"
"Yes, it's Professor Lupin." Albert guessed what they were thinking and said with a frown, "You want me to try it on him. This is not a good idea."
"No, we can wait until Lupin resigns from Hogwarts and then invite him to participate in the test. He will agree. You probably don't know that Dolores Umbridge drafted an anti-werewolf law last June, making it almost impossible for werewolves who are willing to abide by the law to find jobs. He must be in need of this considerable salary. Moreover, if the test is successful, countless werewolves will benefit from it, and people will be safer when facing werewolves."
"It's very similar to what that pink toad would do." Albert didn't have a good impression of Dolores Umbridge. He never forgot that one of his mission rewards would deduct Dolores Umbridge's favorability.
"Toad? This description is quite appropriate." Tiberus drank the red wine gracefully and commented with a smile: "She is a hypocritical and vicious woman. It's always better to stay away from her."
"You probably don't know that Umbridge always claimed in the Ministry of Magic that her late father was an outstanding member of the Wizengamot." Gerber seemed to want to laugh when he talked about this. "But in fact, Umbridge's father worked in the Department of Magical Maintenance. His name was Orford Umbridge, and his mother was a Muggle named Ellen. Later, she persuaded Orford Umbridge to retire early and gave him a small sum of money to ensure that he disappeared from the Ministry of Magic quietly to avoid embarrassing her. Then, Umbridge began to make up a lot of beautiful life stories for herself."
"You have investigated it very clearly?" Albert was very surprised.
"Of course we know which people in the Ministry of Magic need our attention, and we have been keeping an eye on them so that we can stay away from them. By the way, your British youth representative in the Wizengamot is stuck because of this guy."
"By the way, there's a Barnabus Finkley spell-casting competition this summer. Do you want to participate?" Gerber suddenly said.
"I don't know much about that award." Albert almost couldn't react to the change of topic.
"It's okay. Let Bud explain it to you in detail. I'm sure you will win the award easily." Tiberus suggested: "If I were you, I would sweep all the awards I can get before graduation and graduate from Hogwarts with countless halos. After you graduate from school, you will be able to do whatever job you want smoothly."
"Speaking of competitions, I heard that the Ministry of Magic is trying to restore the Triwizard Tournament." Bud interrupted, "Maybe, you can win the Triwizard Tournament next semester."
"I've heard of this competition. It seems that it was banned because of the frequent deaths."
Albert certainly knew that the Triwizard Tournament would be held next semester, and he had already planned to participate in the competition and use it to trigger a mission and earn a large amount of experience rewards. "
"Yes, it is a bit dangerous." Budd said, "If you want, I will help you sign up for the Barnabus Finkley Excellent Spellcasting Competition. After the competition is over, you can also watch this year's Quidditch World Cup final."
"Who else is going to the Quidditch World Cup?" Tiberius Ogden asked, looking around.
"I need three. How many does Albert want?" Mog asked with his head tilted.
"About four?" Albert said uncertainly.
"That's good too. You can go watch the Quidditch final with them then." Mog nodded.
"I'll send an owl to you." Tiberus suddenly asked, "When are you and Isobel going to get married? I can be your witness then."
"Haha, it's too late, Tiberus." Bard laughed particularly unscrupulously when he talked about this.
"Bud, I am older than you and more suitable to be the witness." Tiberus reminded
"Look, I'm useless. I'm not their witness."
"Gerber, could it be you?" Tiberus asked suspiciously. He actually knew that Gerber wanted this position more.
"No." Gerber shook his head and said, "I just heard about this now."
He never wanted to get involved in that damn relationship with Albert, as that would only make their relationship worse.
Anyway, they all now carry the Wildsmith surname, and that’s enough for Gerber.
"Could it be Sera Harris?" McGonagall asked suspiciously. "Could it be Dumbledore?"
"You will never guess it. Do you want me to give you the answer?" Bud actually wanted to be the witness, but later he found out that someone else had already taken it, and he was depressed for a while.
Now, it's other people's turn to be depressed.
Everyone no longer gave Bud the chance to keep him on suspense and looked directly at Albert.
"It's Mr. Nico." Albert announced the answer: "He is my teacher."
Albert told them about his visit to Nico's house last year.
"It seems that Nico really thinks highly of you. He has prepared everything for you." Tiberus was a little disappointed, but he had no better solution.
The party lasted until the evening, and most of the time was spent chatting about trivial matters to enhance everyone's friendship.
When Albert returned to Hogwarts Castle, it was almost eleven o'clock curfew.
When he returned to the Gryffindor common room with his box of sweets, there were almost no other students in the place.
“You’re still working so hard during the Easter holiday?”
"Where have you been?" Hermione smelled a faint smell of alcohol from Albert. "Did you drink?"
"I'm going to the party. By the way, this is for you." Albert took out a dessert from the box and placed it in front of Hermione.
When he came back, he took a lot. In addition to the portion that he had asked the house-elf to deliver to Isobel, there were still five portions left in the box, enough for others to share.
"What is this, pudding?" Hermione looked at the pudding-like dessert in front of her curiously.
"I don't know. It is said to be a magical dessert that can make people happy." Albert said and prepared to go back to the dormitory to share the dessert in the box with Fred, George and Lee Jordan.