Evening... Self-Study?

At dinner that evening, Charlie sat beside Albert, talking to him about the rules of Quidditch as they ate. He also suggested that Albert read Quidditch Origins when he had the time.

"What was the longest Quidditch match at Hogwarts?" Albert asked curiously. If a Quidditch match only ended after the Golden Snitch was caught, what happened if the Snitch was lost?

"I heard it was three days," Charlie said after thinking for a moment. "In the end, they simply couldn't find the Golden Snitch, so they ended the match early. The side with the higher score won."

As they chatted about Quidditch, a sudden female voice interrupted their conversation.

"Albert, Professor McGonagall asked me to give this to you." Angelina handed Albert a folded piece of parchment.

"Thanks, Angelina." Albert took the parchment and unfolded it, finding the following written on it:

Thursday, 7 p.m. Sixth floor of the castle, Classroom 21. Remember Gamp's Basic Laws of Transfiguration.

"What's this?" Fred tossed down his fork, still chewing on a skin-on potato, and leaned over.

"A notice from Professor McGonagall. The time and place for the next Transfiguration Club meeting." Albert had no intention of hiding it and handed the parchment directly to Fred.

The twins and Lee Jordan immediately scrambled to read the contents of the parchment.

"Transfiguration Club? What's that?" Charlie suddenly stopped talking and looked at Albert in confusion.

"A club Professor McGonagall set up," Albert explained.

"What does 'remember Gamp's Basic Laws of Transfiguration' mean?" George asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It's probably the password for getting into the classroom," Albert guessed after giving it some thought.

"Sorry, Charlie. If Quidditch practice clashes with a Transfiguration Club meeting, I'm afraid I'll have to put the Transfiguration Club first."

"Oh, right, that was this afternoon, wasn't it?" Lee Jordan recalled as well. The twins exchanged glances beside him; they knew about it too.

All four of them could tell that Charlie wanted to train Albert as a Chaser or Seeker, but before it had even begun, it was already over.

None of them knew that Albert had never intended to join the Quidditch team in the first place. To him, flying on a broomstick was an enjoyment. Quidditch might be interesting, but Albert had no desire to undergo strict Quidditch training, much less become a Quidditch player.

As for joining some Quidditch team after graduation, forget it!

Charlie felt a little stunned. What happened to his secret weapon?

How had it slipped away without a sound before he had even had the chance to keep it in his hands?

Charlie decided to find out what was going on first.

"Charlie has always wanted to win Gryffindor another Quidditch Cup before he leaves," Fred said, shaking his head as he watched Charlie's departing back.

After dinner, the four returned to the Gryffindor common room. It was packed with people, and the constant racket made Albert feel as though his head were about to explode.

It was probably because school had just started, and Gryffindor's little lions had yet to recover from the summer break. Let them fool around for a few more days. Once their homework piled up, they would have neither the inclination nor the energy to play about here.

"Let's go to the Great Hall." After thinking it over, Albert decided to take a book there to read and practice some magic in his spare moments.

There were far fewer people in the Great Hall, and Albert found himself a quiet spot.

When Shanna, who was sitting near the entrance to the Great Hall, noticed Albert, she went over to him and began practicing Lumos.

After watching her try several times without success, Albert offered a reminder. "You need to have confidence in yourself and focus. When you cast the spell, imagine your wand lighting up."

Shanna's face turned slightly red with strain, but she still failed.

"Your mindset is wrong, and that affects your success rate. If you keep thinking you can't do it, your chances of failure will increase by at least thirty percent." Albert pointed at the little box beside him. "Want one? Don't worry, they're chocolate beans."

"How do you know?" After eating several chocolate beans, Shanna could not help asking, "I mean, how do you know this helps with casting spells successfully?"

"Would you believe me if I said I guessed?" Albert said with a smile.

"No."

"Well, I actually came to that conclusion after failing Transfiguration too many times." Albert was not lying. Or rather, half of what he said was true. "A wizard's emotions affect their spellcasting."

"I'll try again." The chocolate beans tasted rather sweet in Shanna's mouth. She took a deep breath and tried a few more times, finally succeeding in lighting her wand. The tense little face she had been wearing broke into an excited smile.

However, the light on Shanna's wand soon went out again.

"You need to focus, and you need more practice. You'll definitely succeed," Albert reassured her.

"I thought you'd be in the library." Lee Jordan sat down beside Albert and looked suspiciously at Shanna, who was practicing spells. "I'm not interrupting you two, am I?"

"Where are those two?"

"No idea." Seeing Shanna practicing Lumos, George also took out his wand to practice. His Lumos was still rather mediocre.

"What's going on with mine?"

"Probably because you aren't focusing enough!"

"What do you mean, probably?" Lee Jordan said gloomily, but he still began practicing with concentration. There was still time before the next Charms class, but the sooner one mastered a spell, the better.

"How do you know when you've truly mastered it?"

"If you can keep it lit without focusing your attention on your wand, I think that should count as mastering it." Albert stopped turning the pages of his book and thought for a moment before answering.

After some hard practice, Lee Jordan's Lumos no longer went out so easily.

Of course, that was when he concentrated on his wand. Shanna's progress was a little slower, but her results were still quite good.

The truth proved that as long as one practiced diligently, most spells were not actually that difficult to master.

"Where did you go?"

At around eight-thirty, the twins finally appeared in the Great Hall, both looking rather sour.

"Filch just confiscated more than half of our U-No-Poo," Fred said through gritted teeth.

"What happened?" Albert asked suspiciously as he looked at them. "Don't tell me you got caught throwing U-No-Poo?"

This was what happened... George, who was still comparatively level-headed, gave them a rough account.

Not long ago, the two had been viciously pranked by Peeves. They had then returned to their dormitory to get U-No-Poo, intending to smear it all over Peeves's face. But before they could put their plan into action, Filch caught them and confiscated most of their U-No-Poo.

Filch said it was contraband and confiscated the U-No-Poo they had prepared to deal with Peeves.

The twins were so angry their noses nearly went crooked.

After listening to their account, Albert was left utterly speechless.

What kind of ridiculous mess was this?