Late

"Here early?" Albert looked around the Great Hall but saw no sign of George and the other two. He slipped a hand into his pocket, took out his pocket watch, and checked the time: 4:10.

Perfect. Right on time.

"Then again, that makes sense."

Albert suddenly thought of something and could not help sighing. George and the other two were only eleven-year-old children; he could not expect them to have much sense of time.

Besides, none of them had pocket watches!

"Hope they don't keep me waiting too long," he muttered.

With nothing better to do, Albert took out his wand and wiped the fingerprints from it with a handkerchief while recalling the relevant knowledge about the Summoning Charm from Transfiguration Theory.

"Chrysanthemum Bloom," he murmured.

Well, nothing happened.

Albert immediately checked his skill list, only to notice someone sitting beside him.

Not one of the twins, obviously. If it had been all three of them, they would not have been this quiet.

Albert glanced through the skills and found no Summoning Charm. Sure enough, he would have to borrow a Fifth years' book and look it up.

"Is something wrong?" Albert asked, looking at Shanna.

"Um... could you..." Shanna hesitated, but before she could finish, someone interrupted her.

"Albert, over here..." The twins were waving at him from the entrance to the Great Hall.

"I have to go." Albert looked at Shanna. "What were you about to say?"

"Nothing." Shanna looked a little disappointed.

"If you want me to teach you Transfiguration, I'm afraid I can't right now. I have another appointment later." Recalling some of the problems he had encountered when he first learned magic, Albert comforted her, "Don't rush. Getting started is the hardest part. It took me a long time to learn Transfiguration too."

"Oh, thank you." Shanna thought for a moment. "Tonight, could you make some time..."

"If I have time, I suppose I could... Well then... see you tonight!" Albert quickly headed out of the Great Hall.

"See you tonight." Shanna watched Albert's retreating figure and murmured softly, "Why is the gap so huge?"

"What were you talking about just now?" Fred asked curiously.

"About where you lot went," Albert said irritably. "It's almost time for your appointment with Charlie."

"You know, we don't have pocket watches." The three of them looked a little embarrassed. Naturally, they knew they had been late.

"I'm not blaming you. I knew you'd be late." Albert looked up at the sky. The afternoon weather was still a little stifling.

"By the way, will your brother really let us try flying on his broom?" Lee Jordan stiffly changed the subject.

When it came to flying on a broom, Lee Jordan was still a little nervous. After all, he had never actually tried a flying broom. His family had bought him a toy broom before, but it could not fly very high or very fast, and he certainly could not fly it in front of Muggles.

"He will. If he's a qualified captain, he won't mind spending some time seeing whether there are any promising flyers among the new students. Even if first-years can't join the team, they can still be reserve players for next term," Albert reassured him casually.

"Albert's right." George reached out and patted Lee Jordan on the shoulder, scaring him. "I think what you need to worry about most is not falling off the broom."

"You're the one who'll fall out of the sky." Lee Jordan shot George an annoyed glare.

"Albert, have you ever ridden a broom before?" Fred suddenly asked.

"I was born into a Muggle family. What do you think?" Albert rolled his eyes at Fred and bent down to pick up a small stone from the ground.

"What are you picking up that useless stone for?" George asked in confusion.

"You'll find out later." Albert tossed the little stone in his hand without directly answering George's question.

The four of them arrived at the Quidditch pitch amid playful banter. Charlie had indeed not arrived yet; their agreed time was 4:30 in the afternoon.

"I'd say your brother probably won't show up until a little later." Albert reached the entrance to the Quidditch pitch. The gate was locked, but that could not stop them. Albert easily opened the iron gate with the Alohomora.

Below the Quidditch pitch was a stretch of soft grass, while the center was sandy ground, which reduced injuries when players fell onto it during matches.

Several hundred seats were arranged around the stands. At each end of the pitch stood three posts, each fifty feet tall, with large hoops on top, looking a little like the small plastic wands children used to blow soap bubbles.

"Charlie's definitely late," Fred said, somewhat dejected.

"What do we do now? We should've come later." George also regretted arriving early. Besides, they did not have brooms of their own, which made things even worse.

"You can practice spells." Albert sat in the shade on the grass and kindly reminded the three of them, "Practice Lumos. Since you have nothing else to do, find something to occupy yourselves."

"Fine, you're right." The three of them were a little dejected, but they had to admit Albert was right. Since they had nothing to do anyway, they might as well find something to keep themselves busy. That would make time pass faster.

Albert also drew his wand and began using the stone he had picked up to practice the Disillusionment Charm.

"Now I know why you learned spells so quickly." Lee Jordan stared at his flickering wand, looking a little depressed.

If anyone practiced this diligently, unless they were truly stupid, there was no reason they would not learn it!

Of course, if they knew Albert had a cheat, perhaps they would not think that way.

It was nearly five by the time Charlie Weasley hurried over, bringing his broom with him... a Cleansweep Five.

Of course, the twins had specifically introduced it to Albert, which was how he learned its name. He had heard it was a fairly old broom model.

"How did you get in? I remember this place was supposed to be locked." Charlie looked suspiciously at the four approaching him.

"Of course, we used the Unlocking Charm," the twins said as though it were only natural.

"Ahem, don't use that tone. You make it sound like you can use the Unlocking Charm," Lee Jordan could not help quipping.

"Anyway, you weren't the one who opened it." George rolled his eyes at Lee Jordan and spoke irritably.

"All right, the test is very simple. You just need to ride my broom and fly a lap around the Quidditch pitch!" Charlie looked at Albert and Lee Jordan. "Have either of you ridden a flying broom before?"

"No," Albert answered bluntly.

"I've only ridden a toy broom," Lee Jordan muttered quietly.

"After those two have flown, you can give it a try too!" Charlie had no intention of excluding the friends the twins had brought. He then turned to the twin brothers fighting over the broom and warned them, "You two, behave yourselves and fly one lap around the Quidditch pitch. If I catch you pulling any tricks... Hmph!"