The warm summer breeze blew across the sparkling lake, bringing the happy laughter of the girls on the lakeshore.
Ever since the final exams were over, everyone had become lazy and left the stuffy castle to go outside to spend the last leisure time before summer vacation.
In the shadow of the beech trees by the lake, Albert and Isobel sat talking quietly.
"How does it feel to graduate?" Albert asked the slightly distracted girl next to him with a smile.
"I feel a little lost and confused." Isobel tilted her head and looked at the older boy beside her and said, "And a little reluctant."
"Because of me?" Albert asked knowingly.
"Well, I feel a little sorry that I can't graduate with you." Isobel looked at the group of girls who took off their shoes and socks and dipped their feet in the lake to cool down, and said softly, "When leaving school and facing real life, many people will change, become unfamiliar, realistic, and drift away from the past."
"I should be the one who needs to worry. Maybe after you get out and see the colorful world outside, you will dump me." Albert lifted Isobel's hair, put his head close to the girl's ear and whispered, "Maybe, I should..."
A blush floated across Isobel's cheeks, and she couldn't help but give Albert a blank look, "Why are you thinking about all this right now?"
"I'm almost an adult." Albert blinked and said, "As long as I have money and a worry-free life, I don't have to care about many things, and I don't have to be restricted by them."
"No." Isobel shook her head. "This is ridiculous. Can't you be serious?"
"I'm not kidding. As far as I know, Porter's parents got married right after graduation and had children soon after." Albert gave an example: "They are not as mature as us in mentality."
Of course, this is just talk. They are too young, not ready, and the timing is not right.
An owl flapped its wings across the blue sky and flew towards the school. It had a letter in its mouth. As it flew over the lake, it landed under the shade of a beech tree and handed the envelope to Albert.
"Thank you for your hard work." Albert took out some owl nuts and fed them to it.
"You are such a busy man," Isobel said jokingly. "It is said that the famous Mr. Anderson receives a letter every two days on average."
"I'm doing this to earn money to support you." Albert asked with a smile, "How are you going to repay me?"
"Don't you want to see who sent it?"
"Old fellow Tiberius Ogden."
Albert glanced at the sender and guessed what was in the envelope. He opened the envelope and pulled out a small stack of Quidditch World Cup tickets from the letter. Albert was speechless when he saw them, and they were all top-notch tickets.
"I dare say these tickets are free."
"Internal tickets?" Isobel guessed the reason.
"Oh, by the way, is Mrs. McDougal really not going to the game?" Albert asked, "Here are tickets for four people."
"I don't know. My mother is always busy. I'll write to you when the time comes," said Isobel.
"No need to rush. There's still more than a month until the Quidditch World Cup anyway."
The few days before the holiday are the most comfortable days for everyone. They don’t have to attend classes, and don’t have to worry about final exams.
Albert and Isobel were chatting about the summer vacation. He had already arranged to meet at the Hogsmeade house during the summer vacation. The house was basically completed, and if Isobel was willing, she could work there. The two could also meet there through the Vanishing Cabinet.
Yes, using the Vanishing Cabinet does not count as using magic, just like riding a broomstick does not attract a warning from the Ministry of Magic.
Albert has decided to pack the Vanishing Cabinet from the Room of Requirement into his suitcase and take it with him.
Sending letters to your girlfriend via owl is not as fun as chatting with her through a two-way mirror. Chatting with a two-way mirror is not as real as meeting in person.
You know, men and women in love can't wait to be together all day long.
On the last night of the semester, everyone went to the hall in twos and threes to attend the end-of-year banquet. Looking at the scarlet and gold decorations in the hall, it is not difficult to guess that Gryffindor won the house cup this year.
In the teachers' seats, Professor McGonagall was shaking hands with Professor Snape, who had an awkward smile, because Hogwarts won the Potions Championship, which was undoubtedly something worth celebrating.
Gryffindor House seemed to have become the protagonist of the banquet tonight. The long table was extremely lively, and every Gryffindor student was celebrating the victory of the house cup.
The next day, when dragging the suitcase onto the Thestral carriage, Albert's eyes involuntarily looked in the direction of Black Lake. The seventh grade graduates had a ceremony to cross the lake by boat.
The students will once again board the magical boat that they used when they arrived at the castle as first years, leaving the castle in a poetic and symbolic way.
"We were lucky enough to get a few orders before the summer vacation."
In the Thestral carriage, Fred and George told Albert about their gains in the past few days. Although they were ultimately unable to post an advertisement on the bulletin board due to Percy, the display of their achievements a few days before leaving school still aroused the curiosity of many students. In addition, the selling price was not expensive, so there were actually quite a few students willing to spend money to buy them.
Fred and George had smiles on their faces. Even though there were only a few orders, they were still very happy. This was undoubtedly the first step to success.
"By the way, are you all planning to go to the Quidditch World Cup this summer?" Lee Jordan suddenly asked Albert, "If you can't get tickets, you can ask my dad to find a way. He will definitely welcome you."
"Don't be silly, Albert will definitely be able to get tickets. I remember Blake seemed to be planning to invite him to watch the game." Fred was not worried at all that Albert wouldn't be able to get tickets. That guy had so many connections that he didn't have to worry about not being able to buy tickets.
"I got the tickets. They were given to me by someone else."
"Blake?"
"No, an old friend."
"What about you?"
"My dad always gets tickets from work." George couldn't help but ask, "What have you been looking at?"
"The lake crossing ceremony for the seventh grade graduates." Albert looked away and said.
"When did you become interested in the graduation ceremony?" Fred asked in confusion. There was a sea crossing ceremony every year at Hogwarts, but Albert had never been so interested in it.
"Stupid, Isobel graduated this year," George reminded.
"By the way, that idiot Percy actually plans to apply for a job at the Ministry of Magic." Fred suddenly said, "Mom always wants us to work at the Ministry of Magic, but she doesn't know that my dad's reputation makes many pure-bloods in the Ministry of Magic dislike him. They even call us pure-blood traitors."
"Bill served as a curse breaker in Egypt not just because he liked the excitement, but because he saw more clearly than anyone that it was too difficult to get promoted in the Ministry of Magic." George was not optimistic about Percy's choice. "Bill once secretly told us that it was very difficult for Muggle wizards to get promoted in the Ministry of Magic. They had to please others every day. It was simply not a life for human beings."
After boarding the train, Albert rarely separated from the three. Isobel left directly after crossing the lake, and her luggage was packed and sent away by the house elves.
The four of them played a few games, and when the witch pushing the cart arrived, they bought some lunch and chatted about some trivial things during the summer vacation while eating.
Fred and George also got a simple list of magic props from Albert, which included many very interesting gadgets.
"I think we can sell invisibility cloaks in the future," Fred muttered. "Headless things are only good for scaring people."
"At best you can only make some third-rate invisibility cloaks. Well, they are made by casting a disillusionment spell or a sleight of hand on ordinary travel cloaks. However, with your abilities, it usually doesn't take long for them to reveal their physical form. If you only sell them to students, I think it's enough. However, I suggest you start with the simplest ones, as everything requires experience."
In a few years, defensive magic items will become very popular, and Albert plans to help them make a fortune.
To this end, Albert had already prepared gift packs for the wizards of the Ministry of Magic and ordinary wizard families, which could effectively help them resist the invasion of dark magic.
In that chaotic era, I believe many wizards were willing to pay for peace.
The manufacturing of the product needs to be entrusted to Fred and George, and Albert plans to ask Lupin to help produce magical items as well.
After all, Lupin also needs a job, and this is a very meaningful job. Albert believes that he will not refuse.
The Hogwarts Express gradually slowed down. Albert followed the crowd and got off the train. He saw a familiar figure on the platform.
"You adapt to your identity very quickly." Albert found out that Isobel was here to take Katrina home.
"Since I've graduated, I'll be the one to pick them up." Isobel waved towards somewhere, "Katrina, this way..."
"Where's Mom?" Katrina asked confusedly.
"I'll pick you up from now on," Isobel said.
Katrina was a little stunned and found it hard to accept such a change.
"Well, we should go home now. See you another day."
Isobel smiled and kissed Albert on the cheek, then took the suitcase while holding Katrina's hand and Apparated away.
"Sister control is really hard to deal with."
Albert dragged his luggage through the entrance alone and returned to the Muggle world.
After walking out of King's Cross Station, Albert couldn't find Herb's car and raised his eyebrows slightly. He thought they were late, but then he heard a car horn in the distance.
"This way." Nia was standing outside a car and waving at him.
"What's going on?" Albert walked over with his luggage and found that it was Grandpa Luke who came to pick him up.
"Herb and Daisy went to the East not long ago, so you can stay with us during the summer vacation." Luke explained with a smile.
Nia carried Tom's cage and sat in the back seat.
Albert stuffed the rest of the luggage into the back of the car, got into the passenger seat and asked, "Why didn't they write to tell me about this?"
"I didn't give in. I prepared a surprise for you." Luke winked and said, "Sansa should have prepared something you like."
"It's a bit surprising," said Albert.
"He seems to have seen what you call a money-making opportunity over there." Nia, who had been fiddling with Fat Cat Tom's ears, said, "They have been investigating the market over there in preparation for your prediction."
"That's good. Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared."
Albert agreed with Herb's approach. As long as he seized the opportunity, he could make a fortune.
"I don't like it there." Nia reached out and scratched Tom's chin. "There's a language barrier, and I always feel it's a mess there."
"Didn't you learn the language there?" Albert asked.
"I learned it, but I can't speak it well, and I can't understand it very well. I heard that the language spoken in the colonies is different." Nia complained, "But not everyone is like you."
"If you don't want to stay there, you can come back after this is over," Albert comforted him, "just treat this period of time as a vacation abroad."
(End of this volume)