Make a Quick Profit

"Is anyone sitting here?" the Black boy asked, pointing at the seat opposite Albert.

"No, go ahead and sit down." Albert smiled. "I'm Albert Anderson."

"Lee Jordan." The Black boy flashed a white-toothed grin. After noticing the book on the table, he said seriously, "I feel like you'll be sorted into Ravenclaw. I heard that people who... like reading are mostly sorted into Ravenclaw."

"As long as it isn't Slytherin, I don't really mind the others." Albert took several chocolate-flavored candies from his pocket and asked, "Would you like some candy?"

"Thanks, it tastes good." Lee Jordan took one, unwrapped it, and tossed it into his mouth. "I like chocolate-flavored ones."

"That's good. Help yourself to whatever you want." Albert placed hard candies of various flavors on the table. Sharing food was an effective way to bring people closer together.

He had used that trick time and again at his old school.

"I think Gryffindor would be best. I heard it's the best house. Headmaster Dumbledore came from Gryffindor, you know. He's the greatest wizard of all time." Lee Jordan was very talkative. Even with candy in his mouth, he kept chattering away.

However, someone soon interrupted his rambling.

A pair of red-haired twins were knocking on the door.

"You don't mind squeezing in one more person, do you?" one of the twins asked, pretending to be shy. "We arrived late, and all the other compartments are full. The girls don't welcome us either."

Before Albert could answer, the other twin spoke up. "I'm George, George Weasley."

"If I were you, I'd find a way to dry off those wet clothes," Lee Jordan kindly reminded him. "I'm Lee Jordan."

"Albert Anderson." Albert closed his book and put it back into his leather case, then pointed to the seat beside Lee Jordan.

"See you later, George." The other twin turned and left.

In fact, the other twin returned very quickly, bringing his leather case with him.

The train compartment could naturally accommodate four people, since it was originally meant to seat six.

It was just that some students shared compartments with their friends, and even if there were empty seats, they did not welcome others in. That was why the Weasley twins, who had arrived late, could not find a compartment.

"This is Fred, my twin brother," George introduced.

"Even if you hadn't said so, we could tell," Lee Jordan said. "I simply can't tell which of you is which. Maybe you should give yourselves some sort of mark so people can distinguish you."

"Would you like some candy?" Albert asked again.

"Oh, thanks. Mum never likes us eating too much of this stuff." Each twin took one, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.

"It really tastes great."

"This is your owl, right? It's really pretty." One of the twins wanted to reach out and stroke it, but Shira gave him a fierce glare, and he gave up. He had no desire to get pecked.

"She doesn't like strangers much," Albert explained casually. "But you could try feeding her some nuts. Maybe then she'll let you touch her."

Lee Jordan gave it a try, but failed. Shira ignored him completely and continued resting with her eyes closed.

The train started moving, slowly accelerating as it pulled away from the platform.

"What's the Wizarding World like?" Albert casually found a topic. "You're all from the Wizarding World, right?"

"How did you know?" Lee Jordan was quite surprised.

"Your clothes. The way you dress is obviously rather off." Albert pointed at the three of them. "Ordinary people don't dress like that. Obviously, only wizards wouldn't understand these things, just like we don't understand wizards in the magical world."

"Impressive." Lee Jordan gave him a thumbs-up. "By the way, there seems to be something outside the window."

Albert turned his head and saw an owl by the window. He quickly pulled it open and let it in.

It was a gray owl. After entering, it shook itself, scattering rainwater everywhere.

Shira hooted in displeasure, leapt onto Albert's shoulder, and glared fiercely at the uninvited guest. She was very unhappy that her nuts had been stolen.

"Don't be angry. It's only a few nuts. I'll buy you more after you finish them." Albert watched the owl fly away and stroked Shira's head to comfort her.

"I keep feeling that you don't seem like a Muggle-born wizard at all," Lee Jordan muttered softly. "Muggle Wizards wouldn't know about this. Can I take a look?"

"Go ahead." Albert lifted Shira from his shoulder. He did not like having an owl perched there; the little thing had some weight to her.

"Any news?"

"Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold announced that she'll retire after 1990." Lee Jordan spread the newspaper across the table. "There are rumors that Headmaster Dumbledore is very likely to become the next Minister."

"My dad said that if Headmaster Dumbledore wanted to be Minister for Magic, he would have become one long ago." Fred clearly did not believe it.

"Who do you think has a better chance?" George asked in return. "Oh, the Daily Prophet is actually holding a betting event."

"I don't know, but I'm a little interested in the betting." Albert naturally knew who would become the next Minister. "If I wanted to take part, how would I do it?"

Why turn down free Galleons?

"Gambling isn't a good idea, Albert," Lee Jordan said seriously.

"A small bet is harmless." Albert took out his wand and placed it vertically on the table, allowing it to fall freely to one side. He casually explained, "Ollivander said my wand could bring me luck, so I'm going to choose... hmm, Cornelius Fudge. I'll bet that he'll become the next Minister for Magic, provided this wager is trustworthy."

The other three in the compartment were instantly dumbfounded. What kind of bizarre move was that? It completely blew them away.

"Are you really going to take part in the betting?" Fred swallowed. He thought it was absurd.

"I haven't decided yet. After all, I don't know much about the magical world." Albert did not want his spending money to go down the drain either.

"No, the betting events run by the Daily Prophet are quite reliable. Quite a few people have won in the past. But there are fifteen favored wizards in total. Are you really going to..." George pointed out. "Fudge's odds are four to one. He isn't the most favored candidate."

"Of course. The most favored candidate usually won't succeed. They're usually just sacrificial offerings thrown out there, um, unlucky fools meant to attract attention." Albert took the newspaper and carefully studied how to participate. Then he took a quill from his leather case and wrote his name on a piece of parchment, selected a candidate and the amount of his wager, then took out Galleons and counted twenty-five into a money pouch.

When they saw Albert count out twenty-five Galleons, all three of them could not help swallowing. That was a huge sum of money.

Seriously, this guy was rich. The three of them were incredibly envious. When had they ever held so many Galleons? If they had even one Galleon in their pockets, they would be grinning for days.

Even after Shira carried the money pouch and envelope into the curtain of rain and disappeared, the three of them had yet to recover their senses.