Albert's Gift of the Gab

The weather on Sunday was not very good. It was still raining outside the castle.

At seven in the morning, with dawn barely breaking, Albert, having just washed up and stifling a yawn, was dragged to the Great Hall for breakfast by his excited roommates.

"I really don't understand what there is to be excited about." Albert shook free of the twins' hands and straightened his robes.

"That's Hogsmeade Village, the most fun place in all of England," Lee Jordan said dramatically.

"All of England?" Albert sighed softly. He felt as though he and the other three were not on the same wavelength.

On the way to the Great Hall, the twins practiced Lumos as they walked. Unfortunately, Filch caught them.

Then the unlucky George was seized by Filch and taken to the caretaker's office.

Filch happily pulled out a large roll of parchment from his desk drawer and spread it before him. Then he picked up a long black quill and dipped it into an ink bottle:

Name... George Weasley.

Offense... Casting spells recklessly in the corridor.

Recommendation... Recommended punishment...

"Ahem, I only used Lumos because it was too dark to see. You know, it's still very early, and the corridor..." George lied through his teeth. The corridor they had just passed had quite a few torches.

"...Wash chamber pots for the hospital wing." Filch glanced at George, a malicious smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Perfect. The hospital wing's chamber pots haven't been washed all summer."

George's expression froze.

"You may go now. And you'd better not let me catch you using magic in the corridors again." Filch wore a victor's smile as he drove George out of the caretaker's office.

"Pfft!" After hearing George's story, Albert could not help laughing. He patted George on the shoulder in consolation. "Don't worry. I can teach you a very simple Scouring Charm. Cleaning chamber pots and the like can be dealt with quickly. Besides, Filch can only recommend punishments. He can't actually punish you himself."

"That guy is awful." George glanced at the door to Filch's office, looking utterly miserable. No one wanted to wash chamber pots.

"Don't be so depressed. I'll buy you a Butterbeer later." Albert nearly laughed again and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, what did you see in Filch's office?"

"What did I see? There were lots of drawers, and handcuffs, shackles, and things like that hanging on the wall behind the desk." After thinking carefully, George complained, "That old man—no, that old pervert—must have some kind of weird fetish."

Actually, Albert thought "old good-for-nothing" might suit Filch better. After all, as a Squib, he was about as useful as one.

Still, he did not say it aloud. Giving people such insulting nicknames was not very nice.

"What else?" Albert asked. "He must have confiscated quite a few things, right?"

"Yes, I did see a filing cabinet drawer labeled: Confiscated Items, Highly Dangerous."

"I bet all the things he confiscated are in there." Fred's eyes lit up, clearly interested in whatever was inside the drawer.

"If they were really highly dangerous, they wouldn't be kept in a place like that." Albert recalled something valuable: Hogwarts's Marauder's Map was probably stored in there.

"Exactly. That's what we thought too." The twins exchanged looks and could not help laughing.

"Don't tell me you're planning to..." Albert warned, "Just don't get caught. Otherwise, you'll definitely be in trouble."

The twins protested in unison, "That's slander! How could we possibly do something like that?"

Breakfast in England was always the most lavish. Albert served himself a bowl of Milk Oatmeal, then placed a fried egg, two slices of bacon, two pieces of toast, a sausage, and a small portion of vegetable salad onto his plate.

"Hey, good morning!" A boy greeted the twins as he passed by.

"I remember you're from Hufflepuff..." Lee Jordan could not recall the boy's name for the moment and looked to Albert for help.

"Cedric Diggory," the boy introduced himself.

"Hello, Cedric." The twins greeted their neighbor. "We didn't expect you to end up in Hufflepuff."

"I don't think Hufflepuff is bad." Cedric did not like hearing people speak badly of Hufflepuff.

"We didn't say it was bad."

"It's just that Gryffindor is better."

The Weasley twins spoke one after the other.

"It's been a long time, Albert." Someone else came over to greet him. "I didn't expect you to end up in Gryffindor. It really gave me a shock."

"It's been a long time, Gabriel." Albert smiled as he greeted his pen pal.

"You know each other?" Cedric Diggory asked in confusion. He was quite close to this older student.

"Of course we do. We met over the summer." Gabriel gave Diggory a mysterious smile. "The one I told you about..."

Cedric Diggory stared at Albert in astonishment. He had heard Gabriel mention that matter himself, but Gabriel had never told him the person's name.

After Gabriel left, the twins looked at each other and said in unison, "Could it be..."

"Could what be?" Lee Jordan had not caught on yet.

The twins looked at each other. "That thing!"

"What thing?" He still had not caught on.

"Ahem, it's enough that you know. Remember to keep it secret!" Albert coughed lightly. Otherwise, he would not send them Christmas gifts during the winter holiday.

"We'll keep it secret." The twins said meaningfully, crossing their index fingers over their lips to show that they would keep it strictly confidential.

"Hey, don't leave me out, you three bastards." Lee Jordan was very unhappy, feeling excluded from their little circle.

"Ahem, the newspaper. Do you remember that thing we discussed on the train when we were coming to Hogwarts?" Fred prompted.

"Fifty Galleons," George reminded him.

"Wow, that thing!" Lee Jordan immediately understood. "How did you do it back then..."

"I don't want the whole school finding out about it." Albert held a finger to his lips, telling the three of them to be quiet.

"All right, but you really are amazing!" The Weasley brothers still greatly admired Albert's methods. If only they could earn twenty-five Galleons so easily too.

"No wonder you were willing to gamble away all the Galleons you earned." Lee Jordan said sourly.

"It's not like I was guaranteed to lose." Albert pursed his lips and spun a tale. "Do you know why wands made of redwood are so popular with wizards?"

"They bring good luck?" George said uncertainly.

"That's right." Albert continued spinning his tale. "At the time, I had a feeling that if I made the bet, I might make a huge profit, so I did."