Wizards Have Strange Tastes

"Y-you really placed a bet?" George Weasley swallowed hard. "That was twenty-five Galleons. What if... what if..."

He never dared say the words "you guessed wrong," afraid that if he did, it would somehow come true.

"I trust my luck and my instincts," Albert said calmly. "Why don't you give it a try? If you guess right, you could make quite a bit of money."

"We don't have any money," the twins said, shaking their heads after exchanging a look. The Weasley Family was rather poor. Even if the twins had some savings, they would not waste them on betting.

"Don't look at me. I want to save some money to buy other things," Lee Jordan said, shaking his head repeatedly. He only thought Albert's actions were crazy. If he had that kind of money, he certainly would not have used it this way.

As the four chatted, the train left London and sped past grasslands and fields.

Albert flipped through the newspaper while listening to the other three chat about Quidditch. He could not get a word in on that subject. Even if he knew the rules, he had to pretend he did not.

After all, Albert came from the Muggle world. Logically, he could not possibly know anything about Quidditch.

"By the way, did you hear about Gabriel Truman?" George suddenly brought up the matter from some time ago.

"Nott was nearly expelled by the Ministry of Magic," Fred said quietly. "Later, he went to apologize to Gabriel Truman in person, and that settled the matter."

"I heard about it too. But Mum said Rita Skeeter's articles can't be trusted," Lee Jordan said. "That woman likes exaggerating the facts."

"Most newspapers are like that, but there still has to be some truth in them," Albert said, folding up the newspaper. As one of the culprits behind the whole affair, he naturally knew exactly what had happened.

"I went to Truman's compartment earlier and heard him talking about it with someone. He said that during the summer, he came across a new Hogwarts student practicing magic, then somehow received a letter saying he'd been expelled from Hogwarts," Fred suddenly said. "Then Dumbledore and someone from the Ministry came to his door. The Ministry man had a terrible attitude and wouldn't even apologize, so he..."

Albert raised an eyebrow at that. All he could say was that Westerners tended to be more outspoken. He had reminded Truman to keep it secret, but clearly, Truman had forgotten. At least he had not mentioned Albert's involvement.

Albert's soul was still Eastern at heart. The humility and reserve in his bones had not vanished, and he did not like drawing attention to himself either.

"By the way, do you know how the school sorts students into houses?" Albert changed the subject.

"No. My family won't tell me," Lee Jordan said, shaking his head.

"Percy said we have to go through some kind of test," George said irritably. "They never want to tell us. They think it's supposed to be fun."

"What's a wizard's life like? Is it interesting?" Albert thought for a moment, then continued, "When I got my letter, everyone was shocked. My mother didn't even really welcome Professor McGonagall. She was worried I wouldn't be able to find work after graduation."

"That won't be a problem. Our eldest brother has already graduated," the twins said in unison.

"Bill works for Gringotts in Africa."

"What about your father?" Albert asked, though he already knew the answer.

"He works at the Ministry of Magic," the twins said together after looking at each other.

"I think I'll probably stay in the Muggle world after I graduate."

"Why?" the three asked in confusion. To them, that was hard to understand.

"I came to Hogwarts mainly to learn magic and master how to use it. Professor McGonagall said that if I don't learn magic, it could get out of control in the future."

"But in the Muggle world, we can't use magic freely, and we can't let Muggles know magic exists either. Otherwise, we'll get ourselves into trouble."

"By the way, what do you want to do in the future?"

"I don't want to work at the Ministry of Magic."

"Me neither." The twins looked at each other and could not help laughing.

"Being a Quidditch player wouldn't be bad. Charlie became Gryffindor's Quidditch captain this year, but it's a shame you can't join the Quidditch team until second year," George said regretfully.

"I haven't figured it out yet," Lee Jordan said.

"What about you?" All three looked at Albert.

"Me? Find a simple, easy job that makes good money."

"Is there really a job like that?" The three exchanged looks again. If such a job existed, they wanted it too!

"There should be. I'm looking for one," Albert said with a smile. He was curious when the twins would come up with the idea of opening a joke shop.

"If you find one, remember to tell me," Lee Jordan said solemnly, patting Albert on the shoulder before breaking into laughter.

"You don't mind if I take a picture of you, do you?" Albert asked, taking out his camera.

"A picture?"

"Yeah. My family wants to know more about the wizarding world." Albert had the three sit together, then raised the camera and took several pictures.

"Why don't the photos move?" Lee Jordan poked one of the pictures, apparently trying to make them move.

"Muggle photos don't move," Albert explained. He took the photo and looked it over, fairly satisfied. "Looks like my skills have improved a little."

"What's the point of photos that don't move?" The three quickly lost interest in them.

Near noon, a noisy commotion rose from the train corridor.

A moment later, a witch pushed open the compartment door and leaned in. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"I'll have a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans," Lee Jordan said. He had brought his own food. The twins had brought sandwiches too, but they did not have much money, so they bought nothing.

"I'll take some of everything," Albert told the kindly smiling witch.

Having just seen Albert's extravagant bet, the three had already grown numb to his lavish spending.

Albert paid one Galleon for a pile of food that filled the table.

"I bet your family is rich," Lee Jordan muttered.

"Not really." Albert opened the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and ate one. It was bean sprout flavored. "They're both lawyers."

"What's that?" None of the three knew much about Muggles.

"They argue cases for people. You could also say they legally exploit loopholes in the law," Albert said after thinking about it.

"Legally exploit loopholes in the law?" The three were baffled. What did that even mean? How could exploiting loopholes be legal?

What kind of nonsense was that?

"Introduce these foods to me, will you?" Albert made an inviting gesture. He did not want to eat anything too bizarre. Wizards had rather strange tastes. Besides, this was an opportunity. Friendship, when it came down to it, needed to be cultivated and maintained.