"The popularity of wizard cards is gradually declining. You should have gone there in person to host the wizard card club last month. Didn't you see how disappointed those girls were when they found out you weren't there? Many people thought you had given up on wizard cards."
In the window seat of the Gryffindor common room, Lee Jordan, who was playing wizard cards with Fred, was complaining to Albert about the wizard card club being thrown to him.
"If wizard cards are not popular with players, then this game is doomed to not last long." Albert reached out and touched Tom's head, flipping through the manuscript in his hand, helping Isobel check some contents of the "Guide to Ancient Magic Runes", and occasionally picking up his wand to make changes to the manuscript and marking it with other colors.
"I think you should help the Wizard Cards." Lee Jordan felt that Albert himself didn't care much about the Wizard Cards, so he reminded him, "Don't forget, we will be in the seventh grade next semester and will graduate from school soon. By then, without your support and no one to inherit the Wizard Card Club, the Wizard Cards will soon disappear from the school and be forgotten by people, and all our efforts in the past few years will be wasted."
"Didn't you deal with this matter last semester?" Albert asked puzzledly.
"My words are not as effective as yours. So, I think it's best for you to handle this matter yourself." Lee Jordan was very depressed, but he had to admit that the popularity of Wizard Cards in school was largely due to Albert. Once Albert gave up, it was hard to say how long the club could last.
"Perhaps, we should start organizing the competition now to avoid conflicts with the Triwizard Tournament later. As for the championship reward, in addition to Galleons, we can add an additional reward."
"What extra reward?"
"I can dance with Albert at the Christmas ball. That's a good idea. It will definitely attract a lot of girls."
Albert looked up suddenly, glared at Fred who came up with this bad idea, and reminded him unhappily: "I have a dance partner."
"What does it matter? I'm not going to be your dance partner. Besides, you have to dance at the Christmas ball anyway. The extra reward is to dance one, not three dances with you." George was talking without thinking. "I bet there will be a lot of girls willing to participate in the competition for the chance to dance with you."
"I think it's a good idea too. You just have to sacrifice your looks a little. A dance only takes a few minutes anyway. I'll post a notice to inform everyone of the good news." Lee Jordan clapped his hands and happily finalized the plan.
"Tom, tickle him and give him a snack tonight."
Albert commanded Fat Cat Tom to launch a surprise attack on Lee Jordan, and suddenly a scream was heard in the common room.
The originally noisy lounge suddenly fell into silence. The students turned their heads to look over here, seemingly curious about what had just happened.
"Ahem, it's okay, I was scratched by a cat."
Lee Jordan apologized to everyone awkwardly. He was just startled, but he didn't expect the chubby Tom to be so agile that he scratched his arm until it bled.
Fred and George laughed heartily.
However, they all thought that this was indeed a good idea. If they wanted to make Wizard cards popular again, the best way was to leverage Albert's popularity, which would surely attract a large group of girls.
As long as there are girls joining the Wizard Card Club, boys will naturally be willing to join. As the number of people increases, the members who had gradually given up will naturally pick up the Wizard Cards again and return.
After all, playing games is fun when you play together.
"Don't be so cruel. Your arm is bleeding." Lee Jordan directed his fire at the Weasley twins who were gloating over his misfortune. "You didn't get angry even when Fred and George sold the love potion."
"Ahem." George coughed lightly, trying to change the subject, "Who will be the next manager of the Wizard Card Club?"
"By the way, how many aphrodisiacs have you sold these days?" Lee Jordan was not fooled and continued to ask.
"Thirty-seven copies. Many girls in the school paid Galleons for one copy," Fred said proudly. "Of course, we also sell the antidote for the love potion."
George put his hands to his face. Fred was such a fool. He got so carried away.
Although they did earn a sum of Galleons from selling aphrodisiacs and antidotes, you can't say in front of Albert that they were fooled by Lee Jordan.
"Is the aphrodisiac you make really reliable?" Lee Jordan expressed his doubt. Fred and George were unable to attend Professor Snape's advanced potions class, so how could anyone dare to buy the potion they made
"I told you guys that the aphrodisiac recipe we found in Albert's Potions Notes is easier to make than other recipes," Fred said proudly.
Then, another scream was heard in the common room.
This time it was Lee Jordan's turn to gloat. He ignored Fred and George, threw down the wizard card and stood up, "I'll write the notice and tell everyone the good news."
"That bastard actually ran away. I was almost winning!" Fred stared at the wizard cards in his hand and said gritting his teeth.
"I don't know when the rain will stop. I feel like I'm going moldy lately." George looked at the drizzling rain outside the window and quickly changed the subject. "I heard that Professor Moody used the Imperius Curse on students in class. He said that he wanted everyone to experience the feeling of being controlled by the Imperius Curse so that they could learn how to resist it."
When he said this, George secretly glanced at Albert, and found that he didn't react. He continued, "I think it will be our turn in a while. Do you think Dumbledore will agree with Professor Moody doing this?"
"I don't know, but Professor Moody's intention should be good. At least he can teach everyone how to resist the Imperius Curse." Albert did not condemn them outright. He actually felt that it was necessary to let everyone experience the feeling of being controlled by the Imperius Curse, at least in a safe and reliable environment.
"I didn't expect you would agree with his approach." George was a little surprised.
"Any questions?"
"No."
"However, I won't give anyone the chance to use the Imperius Curse on me." Albert took out a bag of dried fish from his pocket, tore open the bag and put it on the table.
"You still suspect he has a problem?"
During this period of observation, Fred did not see anything wrong with Professor Moody, and he rarely even saw him drink from the curved bottle.
"I won't take any risks." Albert said calmly, "When the time comes, I'll find an excuse to ask for leave. Well, I remember you seem to have some quick-acting candy for skipping classes."
"What effect do you want?"
"Is the fever candy ready?" asked Albert.
"No problem, we've tested it," Fred assured.
"That sounds like your style." George was not surprised. He looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. He then quietly cast an ear-blocking spell and whispered, "Who do you think that guy is in disguise? I know you must know something."
"It's no use telling you. It's enough for you to know that guy is a fake." Albert did not intend to tell the three people the truth. He told them that Professor Moody was a fake so that they would be on guard against him.
“I think he looks like him.”
"If it wasn't like that, Dumbledore would have discovered it long ago. How could he still be able to stay in school to teach?" George looked at Albert and asked, "Actually, I'm more curious about how Albert discovered the flaws of the fake."
"Is this important?" Fred thought Albert would not tell them, so he suggested, "I think we should take some time to practice magic and strengthen our practical ability."
"I heard that if you are controlled by the Imperius Curse many times, you will develop resistance to the spell." Albert gave the two of them a malicious smile, "How about it, do you want to try it?"
"Didn't you listen to Professor Moody?" Fred looked at Albert in surprise. "If you use the Imperius Curse on someone, you will go to Azkaban."
"Just don't let them know." George also felt quite bored recently. They only had three classes and most of their time was spent studying joke props.
"Come and do intensive training with me some other day!" Albert said without hesitation.
"We should really strengthen our defense against the dark arts." Fred and George looked at each other and both thought it was a good idea. After all, if the wizarding world really experienced turmoil in a few years, it would be a good thing to master more magic to protect themselves.
After Lee Jordan posted the news on the Gryffindor notice board that the wizarding card would hold the competition ahead of schedule, several girls came to Albert to ask about the dance.
"Look what you've done." Albert glared at Lee Jordan with dissatisfaction. After patiently sending the girls away, he immediately packed up and prepared to leave. He didn't want to be pestered by a group of girls about this matter.
"Albert, please wait a moment."
When Albert picked up the fat cat Tom and was about to sneak into the stairs, a voice called him from behind.
"Hermione, is there something wrong?" Albert stopped and turned to ask.
"Dumbledore asked me to give this to you." Hermione hurried over and handed the note to Albert breathlessly.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Albert took the note suspiciously, opened it and saw the following words:
Dear Albert:
Please come to my office at 8 o'clock next Wednesday evening.
I wish you a happy life
Albus Dumbledore
PS: I like cockroach piles.
That’s it
Albert looked at the message on the parchment and fell into a short silence. He put the parchment in his pocket and smiled at Hermione, "Thank you, Hermione."
"Um... Could you please take me to the kitchen some time?" Hermione looked at Albert with pleading eyes.
"You don't want to rush into the kitchen and mobilize the house-elves to stop working, do you?" Albert looked into Hermione's eyes and said jokingly.
"No, I don't plan to do that. I just want to find out where the kitchen is and see what's going on with the house-elves." Hermione looked away. She felt that Albert's gaze was very aggressive, which made her a little uncomfortable.
"I have to remind you." Albert knew that Hermione just wanted to get some information first. "If you do that, believe me, not only will you not be appreciated, you will also become the object of disgust of the house-elves."
"I know." Hermione said awkwardly. She felt that Albert saw through her thoughts, so he reminded her like that.
"The kitchen is down the hall, and the entrance is hidden behind the painting of a bowl of fruit. Just scratch the pear gently and it will giggle, and the door handle will appear. Push open the door and you will see the kitchen." Albert told Hermione the location of the kitchen.
"Thank you." Hermione turned and walked away.
"You shouldn't have told Hermione where the kitchen is." Fred looked at Hermione's back as she left and said, "I always feel like she's planning to mobilize the house elves to rebel."
"You should convince her. I'm sure you can do it," said George.
"I've tried, but I never feel I can convince anyone, especially those stubborn people. It's too difficult to convince them." Albert shook his head.
"You just convinced the three of us."
"Hermione is very immature and stubborn. She will never come to her senses unless she suffers a little. Even if I don't tell her where the kitchen is, she will find it sooner or later." Albert was very open-minded. Maybe after Hermione was looked down upon by the house-elves, she would calm down and rethink whether her actions were reasonable.
"I hope she doesn't make the house-elves unwilling to work." George also disagreed with Hermione's approach.
"No, if she promotes those things among the house-elves, she will probably be regarded as the most unpopular person!" Albert said as he returned to the dormitory. He actually admired Hermione's approach. Perhaps it was because he was an adult and a time traveler, so Albert would usually take the initiative to avoid danger and protect himself, instead of being as stubborn as Hermione.
Honestly, Albert was more concerned about what Dumbledore wanted to talk to him about than the issue of his house-elves.
The relationship between the two sides is pretty good, but that's all. Albert usually takes the initiative to avoid Dumbledore, and the two sides don't have much interaction.
There aren't many things that could make the other party look for him. It could be the Triwizard Tournament, or he could ask him for divination, or it could be the information he leaked through Harry and Sirius.
Although Dumbledore didn't believe in divination very much, if he could peek into the crystal ball, he might be able to make some judgments about what might happen next.
Well, if Dumbledore asked, how should I answer
Give him some tips
A smart person like Dumbledore would definitely prefer to trust his own judgment.
Albert thought it would be better for him to be conservative. He mentioned Voldemort's conspiracy and let Dumbledore continue to suspect Moody. He believed that without evidence, the headmaster would not take action against his old friend. At most, it would be a little test, and Crouch Jr. would definitely be able to withstand it.
He also needs to use Crouch Jr. to get the rewards for the panel tasks. If he accidentally kills the person, his own panel tasks will also be ruined.