Marmite

As noon approached, Hogwarts Castle, silent through the night, came alive once more.

Albert occasionally ran into other students in the corridors and passageways. Sleeping in was simply human nature for most people, especially on weekends. When there was no need to get up early, most would rather sleep a little longer.

A light rain was still falling outside the castle. Most students stayed in the Great Hall chatting, while a very small number of unlucky souls who had not finished their homework in time were busy copying their summer assignments.

While exploring the castle, the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan could not keep going and slipped away first.

Albert, however, still spent the entire morning touring the enormous castle and took quite a few interesting photographs with his camera. By the time he returned to the Great Hall after making a full circuit, his calves were faintly aching.

The trip had been quite rewarding. Relying on his memory, Albert had sketched out a rough map of the castle.

Although he had heard that some of the staircases in Hogwarts Castle changed position every Friday, that was next Friday's problem. Albert did not take it to heart; there would naturally be a way to deal with it when the time came.

It was worth mentioning that the progress of the task to explore Hogwarts Castle had reached 26.7%.

"Why are you alone? Where are your friends?" Angelina and another girl walked over, sat in the chairs opposite Albert, and greeted him.

"They slipped away halfway through our tour of the castle." Albert took a slice of bread from the platter, intending to make himself a sandwich. "Those three probably found something interesting. Pass me that blueberry jam, please."

"How's your map of the castle coming along? Can I borrow it for a look?" Angelina pushed the jar of blueberry jam over from her right, then pointed at the Parchment to Albert's left.

"I still think you should explore every part of the castle yourself. It's one of the pleasures of being a first-year." Albert casually handed the Parchment to the girl across from him and scooped up the jar of blueberry jam.

"What's this?" Aaliyah leaned over, staring at the simple sketch with a slight frown. She found it a little difficult to read, but she could still make out markings for several Secret Passages and classrooms, as well as notes on which step to skip on certain staircases.

"Oh, right. Here are our timetables." Albert copied two more timetables and handed them to the two girls opposite him.

"What spell was that?" Angelina asked curiously.

"The Copy Charm. It can turn one object into two." Aaliyah, who had been born into a wizarding family, recognized Albert's spell at once.

Not every wizarding family adopted the Weasleys' hands-off approach. Aaliyah had received a proper wizarding education from a young age, giving her a better starting point than most students.

"A useful little trick, isn't it?" Albert winked at them and continued, "With it, you don't have to take notes anymore. You just need to 'borrow' someone else's."

Aaliyah looked at Albert strangely. She always felt that this guy's way of thinking was different from everyone else's.

"Could you make me a copy? Then I won't have to worry about being unable to find the classrooms."

"Aren't you worried the map might be wrong?" Albert asked.

"Of course I'll go check it myself." Aaliyah said it as though it were only natural.

"Do you want one?" Albert looked at Angelina.

"Thank you." Angelina smiled.

Hogwarts Castle was indeed enormous, and first-years could easily get lost. With Albert's map, they would at least know which direction to go.

Being late on the first day of school was hardly a good sign.

"Come to think of it, I remember you're from a Muggle family, right?" Aaliyah put away the map and asked, "How do you know so many spells? I'd wager most first-years don't know nearly as many as you do."

"I learned them while practicing spells before school started. Most spells are pretty simple." Albert spread blueberry jam over a slice of bread and took a large bite. It tasted all right, but eating this stuff all day was really becoming unbearable.

"Simple?" The two exchanged glances, suddenly feeling an inexplicable pressure.

After receiving their own wands, most first-years would try using the magic in their books. Angelina and Aaliyah were naturally no exceptions. They had both learned a few simple spells, but it had never been as effortless as Albert made it sound. His tone made learning magic seem as easy as eating a slice of bread.

After finishing the blueberry-jam-covered bread, Albert began making himself a sandwich.

Lunch in England was always disappointing, and Hogwarts was naturally no exception. Bread and potatoes were forever the staples here.

This lunch included sliced bread, boiled potatoes, fresh vegetable salad, and salty ham. Of course, there was also a large pot of milk tea or Pumpkin Juice.

After finishing his ham sandwich, Albert put two skin-on potatoes onto his plate. He had been wandering around the castle all morning, and his stomach had long since been growling with hunger.

Come to think of it, those three were nowhere to be seen at mealtime. Who knew where they had run off to fool around?

"I really miss rice and noodles," Albert muttered softly, lowering his head to continue working on the skin-on potatoes on his plate.

As one of the English staples, he had eaten potatoes almost every day for years. People in this country could even make a hundred different dishes out of potatoes without repeating a single one.

Potatoes were not bad, but eating them every meal was truly a bit much.

"Italian pasta is delicious," Angelina agreed. "I've had it several times. The taste is very memorable."

"English food is always disappointing, and there are far too few varieties. The chefs here never seriously study how to cook." Albert poured himself a cup of milk tea, took a sip, and complained, "I remember having a whole fish baked in a crust of sea salt and herbs not long ago."

The two exchanged looks, listening with great interest as Albert complained about all sorts of bizarre English foods, such as the chip sandwiches his father loved and the Marmite that only his grandmother liked in the whole family...

Albert still remembered the first time he had tasted Marmite. It had been... the taste of hell. That flavor was truly unforgettable for life.

If he had to describe it, it was probably like a heavy soy sauce flavor mixed with every kind of body odor.

From then on, Albert had kept a respectful distance from Marmite.

"If either of you is interested, I'll mail you a jar at Christmas as a Christmas gift."

"Cough, cough." Aaliyah instantly lost her appetite. "No, thank you. I'd still rather eat normal food, so I don't start feeling sick whenever I see jam in the future."

After finishing the milk tea, lunch came to an end.

Albert sat at the table looking through the photographs he had taken earlier: suits of knight armor, views of the castle, a certain portrait, or an especially exaggerated statue... These photographs revealed a glimpse of Hogwarts.

Still, seeing Albert selecting photos, Angelina really wanted to say, This guy clearly wasn't here to study. He was more like a tourist visiting Hogwarts Castle.