Death Wish Master

Hogwarts had won quite a few trophies. In the trophy room, Albert found the Triwizard Tournament trophy, the International Wizard's Chess Competition trophy, the Golden Cauldron from the Magical School Potion Championship, the Creative Medal from the Cairo International Alchemy Competition... and, of course, Voldemort's—Tom Riddle's—Special Contribution Award was here too.

"I wish I could win a trophy and put it here someday." Lee Jordan stared at the trophies in the display case, his face full of envy and admiration.

"I think Albert might have a chance. As for you... forget it!" The twins appeared behind Lee from either side, each placing a hand on his shoulder as they comforted him with cheerful grins.

"No one can predict the future." Albert casually reassured him. "Maybe you'll get some sort of trophy to put here too. That Special Contribution Award is easy enough—you just need to discuss it with Dumbledore, donate five or ten thousand Galleons to the school, and he'll definitely get one for you."

The three of them could not help twitching at that. What did he mean, donate five or ten thousand Galleons? How could he say something like that so casually?

Those were Galleons!

The Weasley twins did not even have a single Galleon in their pockets. They even doubted whether their family's entire fortune was worth that much.

Lee Jordan shook off the twins' hands and asked, "Don't you want—"

"Honestly, I'm more curious about how much prize money I could get. Everything else is just empty to me." Albert shook his head, cutting him off.

Compared to glory, he valued gold more. Money was the most tangible thing.

Especially in the era of his previous life, there had been a saying: money made things easier. There was another one too: money gave you confidence...

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just being realistic." Albert gave a light cough and quickly changed the subject. "Come on, let's go to the fifth floor. I have a feeling the library is probably there."

"You're right. Money is a good thing. I hate being poor." The twins exchanged glances and did not deny Albert's words.

Or rather, no one liked poverty.

The Weasley twins, whose family was not particularly well-off, understood that especially well.

The four of them jostled their way to the fifth floor and really did find the library. It just was not open at this hour.

"Let's look around somewhere else first," Albert suggested. It was quite a wise choice, because the four of them soon discovered another entrance that seemed to lead to a Secret Passage, hidden behind a suspicious mirror as tall as a person.

"What are you doing here?"

As they inspected the entrance, Snape appeared silently behind them.

"We're looking for shortcuts, Professor." Albert did not pay much attention to the man's gloomy expression. Of course, he could guess who the fellow in front of him was.

"Shortcuts." Snape stared into Albert's eyes, but Albert turned away and avoided meeting his gaze. "We think there's a shortcut here leading to other floors."

As everyone knew, the simplest way to avoid being subjected to Legilimency was not to meet the other person's eyes.

"Oh, it opened!" The mirror suddenly slid aside, revealing an opening.

Snape frowned at the sight, seemingly about to say something, but Albert interrupted him.

"Oh, Professor, could I take a photograph of you?" Albert raised his camera and asked with complete sincerity.

Not only Snape, but George and the other two froze as well, their expressions turning rather strange.

Snape stared expressionlessly at Albert, whose face remained smiling as he completely ignored Snape's death glare.

"Sir, may I not?" Albert asked again.

"If you have time to wander around—"

"No, sir, we aren't wandering around." Albert spoke with perfect seriousness. "We're simply using our spare time to familiarize ourselves with the layout of the castle's classrooms as quickly as possible. For any first-year student, that is necessary. After all, Hogwarts doesn't give us maps, does it? The castle's shortcuts can also keep new students from being late by accident."

This time, even Snape could not finish what he had been about to say. The three beside Albert were utterly stunned.

How could he say that with such righteous confidence?

Still, it actually sounded somewhat reasonable.

Hogwarts Castle really was like a maze. If the school did not give them maps, were they not even allowed to come out and familiarize themselves with the castle's layout?

Snape's lips trembled slightly. He fixed Albert with a cold stare. "If you have so much free time, why don't you read Magical Potions and Brews a few more times? I'll question you first in the next class. Now disappear from my sight immediately."

"Then I'll see you on Friday, Professor." Albert waved with a smile, nudged the three beside him, and vanished around the corner at the end of the corridor.

"Wow, you actually wanted to take a picture of Snape."

"You even dared to confront him head-on." The twins gave Albert thumbs-ups in unison and could not help laughing. "Don't you know? He's famously—"

"I wasn't confronting him. I was only stating the facts." Albert refused to admit it at all. How had he confronted Snape? He had merely stated the facts.

"Yes, yes, they were indeed facts." George nodded repeatedly. Even the other three had to admit that it was true.

So Snape could not really do anything to him.

"By the way, what did you say Snape was famous for?" Albert changed the subject. "Famous for what?"

"...Famously unreasonable." George could not help laughing. "But his expression just now was really hilarious."

"Where do you think that passage leads?" Lee Jordan was more curious about that.

"No idea. We can check it out this afternoon if we have time." Albert noticed that a new quest had appeared on his panel again:

Death Wish Master.

Snape was one of the least popular professors among the other houses in Hogwarts history. You have successfully teased him once, so why not continue this great feat?

Quest Progress: 1/5.

Reward: 2,000 experience points.

What a true Death Wish Master!

"By the way, um... what are you going to do?" Fred suddenly asked.

"That?" Albert asked in confusion. "Which one?"

"The questioning!" Lee Jordan reminded him. "Didn't Snape say he'd question you first in the next class?"

"It's fine. It's only a few questions. As long as they don't go beyond the knowledge in Magical Potions and Brews, there won't be any major problem." Albert was quite confident in his memory. A few questions were nothing at all.

"I almost forgot about that. Suddenly, I'm looking forward to Potions Class next Friday." The three of them looked at one another, remembering that the person before them had an incredible memory and a brilliant mind. He should have no trouble handling Snape's questions.

"If you answer all of them correctly, will Snape give you points?" George suddenly asked.

"Definitely not," Albert said with certainty.

"That's what I thought. When the time comes, everyone will see what kind of professor he is."