First Taste of Magic

That night, Albert showed his family his new Hogwarts uniform: a plain black robe and a black pointed hat, nothing particularly special.

If he had to say something about it, it was that it looked stupid—especially that damned pointed hat. If he wore it out for a stroll, it would definitely turn plenty of heads. At least, that was what Albert thought.

Nia, on the other hand, was very pleased with her gift. She wore a cloak far too large for her and the black pointed hat on her head, striking poses in the living room while Herb took photos of the two of them.

Daisy sat on the sofa, silently flipping through Albert's History of Magic. She wanted to learn more about the place her son was about to go.

"Mom, look, it's a live Chocolate Frog!" Nia opened the Chocolate Frog box and couldn't help giggling when she saw the frog hop away.

Herb was already experienced in this. He quickly reached out, caught the Chocolate Frog that had landed on the table, and handed it to Nia.

Then Herb opened another box, which also contained a Chocolate Frog. He swiftly caught it and held it out in front of Daisy, who was carefully reading her book.

"Can this thing really be eaten?" Daisy raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing the lifelike Chocolate Frog before her with suspicion. She had doubts about whether it was safe to eat.

"Mom, Chocolate Frogs are edible, and they taste great!" Nia had already bitten off the Chocolate Frog's head and was happily eating it, melted chocolate smeared across her face.

"All right, wipe your face clean. You look like a little dirty cat!" Albert handed Nia his handkerchief, then turned to look at Tom, who was facing off against the owl. He picked the cat up, set him beside the sofa, scratched his chin, and cautioned, "Tom, don't bully it."

Albert took out the owl nuts from the package and poured some into the dish inside the cage. Muttering to himself, he said, "What should I call you?"

"Jerry."

After thinking for a moment, Albert gave the snowy owl that name.

Tom and Jerry.

Even though there was no Tom and Jerry cartoon in this world, Albert thought the name was pretty amusing.

The snowy owl seemed to sense its owner's ill intent and had no reaction to the name Jerry.

"Albert, the name you picked is awful!" Nia reached out and picked up the owl, rubbing her cheek against it as she said, "It should be called Shira. That's a much better name."

Why not call it Celebi instead? Albert thought mischievously.

"Albert, the person in the picture suddenly disappeared!" Herb exclaimed in surprise when he noticed that the person on the Chocolate Frog card had vanished.

"A picture?" Albert looked at his father, who was holding a Chocolate Frog card.

"Maybe wizard photographs can move? Chocolate Frogs can move, so why can't the people in photographs move too?"

"That makes sense!" Herb accepted the explanation. He flipped the card over and read the words on the back. "Albus Dumbledore... current headmaster of Hogwarts, widely regarded as the greatest wizard of the modern age."

"Oh, that's the old man who sent Albert the letter." Daisy took the Chocolate Frog card from her husband, wanting to see who had sent her son that invitation.

Unfortunately, the card was empty.

Daisy turned the Chocolate Frog card over and continued reading the rest. "Dumbledore's well-known achievements include: defeating the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, discovering the twelve uses of Dragon's Blood, and conducting highly successful alchemical work with his partner Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling."

"Dragon's Blood?" Daisy's eyes widened as she said incredulously, "There are dragons in this world? And Nicolas Flamel, I remember he was..."

"A famous alchemist from the fourteenth century," Albert added. "He created the legendary Philosopher's Stone. It is said that the Philosopher's Stone can turn stone into gold and grant people immortality. If he's still alive, then it means the Philosopher's Stone allowed Nicolas Flamel to live forever."

"All right, Daisy, cheer up." Herb put an arm around his wife and comforted her softly. "Things aren't as bad as you think. Especially when we still don't understand the magical world, we shouldn't make judgments so easily. Besides, you should believe in our son. He's a genius. No matter where he goes, he'll be able to show his talent."

"By the way, Albert, can you use magic?" Nia pounced on Albert, grabbed his hand, and shook it gently in a pleading manner. Her little face was full of anticipation as she looked at him. "I want to see you do magic."

"Well... I'll need to study it first. I don't know how to use it yet." Albert reached out and ruffled Nia's hair.

"You're awful." Nia covered her head and ran over to Daisy's side to share some Pumpkin Pie with her.

Albert began flipping through Miranda Goshawk's Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. Then he took his wand from the box and prepared to make his first attempt at casting a spell.

"No, Albert, don't try it here!" Herb's face twitched as he recalled what had happened at the wand shop earlier.

"You should have a little more faith in your son!" Albert raised his wand, gave it a light flick, and softly recited, "Lumos."

The tip of the wand suddenly flashed, then went dark again.

"That wand's tip flashed just now, right?" Daisy asked uncertainly.

"Yes, it flashed! He really is my son!" Herb saw that Albert had managed to use magic right away, and the pride on his face was impossible to hide.

"Albert, what was that?" Nia asked excitedly.

"Uh, it was the Lumos spell. It should be a relatively easy spell to master. Let me try again." Albert secretly checked his panel and, sure enough, found that Lumos had been added to his skill list.

The spell was still at level 0, but it had already gained 7 experience points.

Only upon reaching level 1 could it be considered truly mastered. Going from level 0 to level 1 required only 100 experience points, but Albert had no intention of using his precious stored experience to raise Lumos to level 1. Even 100 experience points were quite valuable.

"Let me try again." Albert cleared his throat and recited the spell once more. A pale light emerged from the tip of his wand again.

Albert tried a total of five times before he barely managed to grasp the spell. As long as he concentrated a little, the light on his wand would no longer disappear so easily.

Seeing this, the other three couldn't help applauding. It was only a simple Lumos spell, but in the eyes of the Anderson Family, it was incredibly impressive.

"Albert, Albert, let me try! I want to try too." Nia excitedly threw herself at her brother.

"No." Albert quickly put away his wand. "At the very least, you can't play with it here, understand? The last time I tried using a wand, I nearly blew up the counter in that wand shop."

"Cheapskate."

"This isn't about being stingy. Wands themselves are dangerous, and I don't understand anything about them. What if something dangerous happens?" Albert immediately put on a stern expression and brought out his trump card. "If Nia keeps being this willful, I won't teach you magic in the future."

"Albert is right," Herb quickly said. "You should wait until he's familiar with magic before he teaches you."

"Fine!" Nia pouted unhappily but still gave in. She just looked a little disappointed. She was very envious that Albert could use magic.

"Your grandfather plans to come over in the next couple of days. But I think we'd better visit them together, so we won't have to make another trip." Herb left behind some magical sweets and gifts. He knew his father might not eat them, but he would certainly be happy to see them.