Daily Life at Hogwarts - Chapter 6

That evening, Albert showcased his new Hogwarts school uniform to his family. A plain black robe and a pointed black hat – nothing particularly special.

Honestly, it looked rather ridiculous, especially that blasted pointy hat. Wearing it out would certainly attract attention, or at least that’s what Albert thought.

Nia, however, was thrilled with her gift. Donning the oversized robe and black hat, she struck poses in the living room. Herbert, with camera in hand, captured the delightful moment of the two siblings.

Daisy sat on the sofa, engrossed in Albert’s history of magic book, eager to understand more about where her son would soon be going.

“Mom, look! A Chocolate Frog that’s alive!” Nia exclaimed as she unwrapped a Chocolate Frog. She giggled at the sight of it hopping away.

Herbert, having had prior experience, swiftly captured the frog as it landed on the table and handed it to Nia.

Opening another package, Herbert revealed yet another Chocolate Frog. He promptly caught it and placed it in front of Daisy, engrossed in her book.

“Is this edible?” Daisy skeptically eyed the lifelike confection, doubting its edibility.

“Mom, Chocolate Frogs are edible, and they taste fantastic!” Nia exclaimed, already having bitten off the head of her frog, her face smeared with melting chocolate.

“Come on, clean up that face, you look like a little chocolate kitten!” Albert handed Nia his handkerchief, then turned to admonish Tom, the family cat, who was eyeing the owl with obvious intent. Holding the owl, Albert set it down near the sofa, stroking its beak and saying, “Tom, don’t bully him.”

Taking out some owl treats, Albert mused aloud, “What should we call you?”

“Jerry.”

Albert settled on this name for the snowy owl.

Tom and Jerry.

Though this world didn’t have that classic cartoon, Albert felt the name was amusing.

But the owl, perhaps sensing some mischief, gave no response.

“Albert, such a terrible name!” Nia exclaimed, cradling the owl and nuzzling it. “It should be named Snowy. That’s a good name.”

“Why not Snowbelle?” Albert teased.

“Albert! The figure in this photo disappeared!” Herbert exclaimed upon realizing that the figure in the Chocolate Frog card had vanished.

“Photo?” Albert turned to his father, who held a Chocolate Frog card.

“Perhaps the photos of wizards naturally move? If a Chocolate Frog can move, why can’t the figure in a picture?”

“That makes sense,” Herbert conceded, flipping the card to read its back. “Albus Dumbledore… current headmaster of Hogwarts, widely recognized as the greatest wizard of our time.”

“Oh, the old man who sent Albert the letter,” Daisy remarked, taking the card to see who had sent her son the mysterious Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Unfortunately, the card was empty.

Flipping it back, Daisy continued reading, “Dumbledore’s widely known contributions include: defeating the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, discovering twelve uses for dragon’s blood, and, alongside his partner Nicolas Flamel, making significant advancements in alchemy. Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and a ten-pin bowling game.”

“Dragon’s blood?” Daisy exclaimed in disbelief. “There are dragons in this world? And Nicolas Flamel… I remember him as…”

“A renowned alchemist from the 14th century,” Albert added. “He reportedly created the legendary Philosopher’s Stone, which is said to have the ability to turn anything into gold and grant immortality. If he’s still alive,

it suggests Nicolas Flamel did achieve immortality through the stone.”

“Come on, Daisy, cheer up,” Herbert whispered softly, wrapping an arm around his wife. “Things aren’t as bad as you imagine. Especially when we don’t fully understand the magical world, it’s best not to make hasty judgments. Besides, you should have faith in our son. He’s a genius and will shine wherever he goes.”

“Speaking of which, Albert, can you use magic?” Nia jumped towards Albert, grabbing his hands, and looked up at him with eager eyes, “I want to see you cast a spell.”

“Well… Let me study it a bit first; I don’t know how to use it right now,” Albert playfully messed up Nia’s hair.

“Annoying,” Nia mumbled, running to Daisy’s side to share some pumpkin pies.

Albert began flipping through Miranda Goshawk’s “Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1”. He took out his wand from its box, ready for his first attempt at casting.

“Wait, Albert, don’t try it here!” Herbert’s face twitched, recalling the incident at the wand shop.

“You should trust your son more!” Albert lifted his wand, softly chanting, “Lumos.”

A faint glow briefly emerged from the wand tip before vanishing.

“That was a light, wasn’t it?” Daisy inquired uncertainly.

“Yes, a flash. That’s my boy!” Herbert exclaimed proudly upon realizing that Albert was already capable of casting spells.

“Albert, what was that?” Nia asked excitedly.

“Well, that was the Lumos spell. It’s one of the simpler spells to master. Let me try again,” Albert said, taking a stealthy glance at his status panel. As expected, he found the Lumos spell listed in his skills.

It was still at level 0, but he had gained 7 experience points. To fully master it, he would need a total of 100 points. Albert decided not to use his stored experience to level up the spell, as even 100 points was quite valuable.

“Let me try again,” Albert cleared his throat and repeated the spell. This time, the tip of the wand emitted a steady pale light.

It took Albert five tries to somewhat master the spell, but he eventually managed to produce a stable glow with a bit of focus.

Witnessing this, the other three couldn’t help but applaud. Although it was just a basic lumination spell, to the Anderson family, it was quite an impressive feat.

“Albert, let me try! I want to give it a shot,” Nia pleaded excitedly.

“No,” Albert quickly put away his wand. “Not here, at least. Did you know, the last time I tried using a wand, I almost blew up a counter at the wand shop?”

“Stingy.”

“It’s not about being stingy. Wands are dangerous, and I don’t know much about them yet. What if something goes wrong?” Albert quickly pulled out his trump card, “If you continue being stubborn, I won’t teach you magic in the future.”

“Albert is right,” Herbert interjected. “You should wait for him to familiarize himself with magic before he teaches you.”

“Fine!” Nia pouted in disappointment. Though she reluctantly agreed, it was clear she felt a bit left out and envied Albert’s magical abilities.

“Your grandparents plan to visit in a few days. But I think we should all visit them together instead of making another trip,” Herbert said, leaving some magical candies and gifts behind. He knew his father might not eat them, but he would be thrilled to see them.