An Unwarranted Disaster

No one knew how Luke had comforted Nia and brought his sulking granddaughter around.

Over the next few days, Herb and Daisy returned to work, while Albert and Nia continued spending the summer on Charles Street.

Albert shared the contents of History of Magic and other books with the two elders, demonstrated the magic he had mastered in front of them, and spent a Galleon ordering a set of Wizard's Chess from Wizex. He and Nick began studying how to play.

At first, Nia had been startled by Wizard's Chess, but she quickly came to enjoy the game.

Of course, the result was that no one wanted to play Albert anymore, because his chess skills had clearly surpassed everyone else's.

Wizard's Chess was actually the same as regular chess, except all the pieces were alive. You usually needed verbal commands to direct them, making it more like commanding an army in battle.

If you reached out to pick them up, the pieces would jab your hand with their weapons.

Ordinary people could use them too, of course, but they could not command them very well. The pieces seemed to possess minds of their own, constantly chattering and complaining, saying things like, "Do you even know how to play chess? Don't send me there, send the pawn. It doesn't matter if you sacrifice it."

Albert progressed quickly in his studies. During this time, he also completed the "Luke's Regret" quest and gained 1,500 experience points.

His experience had accumulated to thirty thousand again. Though the Experience Pool looked substantial, it was nowhere near enough.

The higher a skill level became, the harder it was to improve. Later on, he could only level up by consuming Experience Pool points or skill points.

"Albert, are you sure this leaf will float?" Nia kept staring at the leaf, but it remained completely unresponsive.

"I think I got the gesture wrong." Albert was a little frustrated. Wrist movements were just as important when casting spells. Sometimes, a wrong movement or an improperly pronounced incantation could cause magic to fail. It was a mistake beginners often made.

With no one to teach him, he could only slowly figure it out for himself, or use the experience in the Experience Pool to raise the skill to Level 1 and master it directly.

Albert would choose the former unless he truly could not master it, in which case he would consider the latter. He was not particularly concerned about a Levitation Charm. It was not too difficult to learn.

"So magic really isn't that easy to learn." Nia rather admired Albert's patience. At least, she did not have that much patience for this sort of thing.

"Of course. It's like learning mathematics. You have to take it one step at a time." Albert pushed his sister on the swing and comforted her casually. "Don't give up until the very end."

"Ugh, that kind of comforting talk again. I'm sick of hearing it." Nia curled her lip, but she was still happy.

In truth, Nia had guessed that she might not really have the talent to become a wizard. After talking with her grandfather last time, she no longer cared about it as much.

Once there were not many people left in the park, Albert tried the Levitation Charm again. This time, he succeeded. After saying "Wingardium Leviosa," the leaf floated into the air.

At that moment, Albert noticed someone watching them. He put away his wand, followed the feeling, and looked over at the onlooker. It was a boy slightly older than him.

"Is there something you need?" Albert raised an eyebrow at the boy. He was not afraid of the other party trying to pick a fight. His karate had reached Level 2, and even without his wand, he could knock an ordinary person to the ground.

Albert had learned karate when he was eight, mainly to deal with troublesome brats who liked causing trouble. Especially after he had made three children cry in school last time, everyone in the school knew Albert Anderson knew karate, and was very good at it.

Because of that, Daisy had been called to the school and scolded by the teacher. But she firmly stood by Albert's side and called her husband over.

The couple fully displayed their skills as lawyers, leaving everyone else speechless.

After all, the three children had all been older than Albert. They could not beat him, yet they still had the nerve to cry to the teacher?

In the end, the matter was dropped.

It was also then that Albert formally accepted this family.

"You're a new Hogwarts student, right? Don't try magic in a place like this. People will notice, and ordinary people are very afraid of the power of magic." The boy stared in astonishment at the leaf floating in midair. He had not expected to encounter a student who was just about to enroll, much less one who had successfully made a leaf float.

"Thank you. I'll be careful." Albert sensed no hostility from him, thanked him, and prepared to leave with his sister.

"I'm Gabriel, Gabriel Truman, a student from Hufflepuff House. I live nearby." Gabriel Truman offered Albert his hand in a friendly manner. "You're a first-year student, right? I hope you'll come to Hufflepuff House."

"Hufflepuff?" Albert asked, pretending to be confused.

"Oh, right. You don't know about the four Houses or the Sorting Ceremony yet." Truman had just started to explain when he saw an owl flying toward them and dropping a letter at his feet.

"Why would there be an owl at this time?" Truman picked up the letter in confusion and opened it in front of Albert. His expression froze, and his face immediately turned ugly.

Nia sensed the shift in atmosphere and quickly hid behind Albert.

"What's wrong?" Albert also sensed that something was off and asked cautiously.

"I've been expelled. Why? Why did this happen?" Truman's face was filled with confusion and rage, and he looked as though he might go mad at any moment. He could not understand why the Ministry of Magic had sent him a letter saying he had been expelled for using the Levitation Charm in front of Muggles.

"Right, it was you. It must have been you." The moment Truman saw Albert, he understood what had happened. He lunged madly at the new student in front of him, only to suddenly feel the world spin. He had been thrown to the ground by a child younger than himself.

The next moment, pain shot through Truman's wrist, and he could not help screaming.

"Calm down. It's not as bad as you think." Albert had already guessed the reason from Truman's words. This unlucky fellow had been expelled from school.

"I never used the Levitation Charm!" Truman roared furiously. "I didn't even bring my wand!"

"I know. I was the one who used that spell." Albert calmly reminded him, "Maybe we should write to the school and explain the situation. If necessary, I'll testify for you. Don't worry, they won't expel you so easily. We should write the letters now, one each, and explain the current situation to the headmaster. Do you have an owl?"

"No." Truman was a little depressed. He realized that he was actually less calm than Albert.

"Brother, it's Shira." Nia pointed at the owl flying toward them.

"Looks like Shira knew we needed her. Owls really are amazing creatures." Albert could not help sighing.