Wizards Have Strange Tastes

Wizards Have Strange Tastes

"Y-you really placed the bet?" George Weasley swallowed. "That's 25 Galleons. What if... what if..."

He never dared say the words "you guessed wrong," afraid that if he did...

"I trust my luck and intuition," Albert said calmly. "Why don't you try it too? If you guess right, you could make a tidy sum."

"We don't have any money." The twins exchanged glances and shook their heads repeatedly. The Weasley family was rather poor. Even if the twins had some savings, they would not waste them on a guessing game.

"Don't look at me. I want to save some money to buy other things." Lee Jordan shook his head repeatedly. He only thought Albert's actions were crazy. If he had that much money, he definitely would not have spent it like that.

As the four chatted, the train had already left London, speeding past meadows and fields.

Albert flipped through the newspaper while listening to the three talk about Quidditch. He could not get a word in on that subject. Even if he knew the Rules, he had to pretend he did not.

After all, Albert came from the Muggle world. Logically, he should not have known anything about Quidditch.

"By the way, did you hear what happened to Gabriel Truman?" George suddenly brought up the incident from a while back.

"Natley nearly got fired by the Ministry of Magic," Fred said quietly. "Later, he personally went to apologize to Gabriel Truman, and that finally settled the matter."

"I heard about it too. But Mum said Rita Skeeter's articles aren't trustworthy," Lee Jordan said. "That woman likes to exaggerate."

"Most newspapers are like that, but there still has to be some truth in them." Albert closed the newspaper. As one of the culprits behind the whole affair, he naturally knew what had happened.

"I went to Truman's compartment earlier and heard him talking to someone about it. He said that during Summer vacation, he ran into a new Hogwarts student practicing magic, and then he somehow received a letter saying he'd been expelled from Hogwarts." Fred suddenly said. "At the time, Dumbledore and someone from the Ministry of Magic came to his door. The Ministry man had a terrible attitude and wouldn't even apologize, so he..."

Albert raised an eyebrow at that. All he could say was that Westerners were rather flamboyant. He had reminded Truman to keep it secret, but apparently Truman had forgotten. At least he had not mentioned Albert's part in it.

Albert's soul was Eastern, after all. The humility and reserve ingrained in his bones had not faded, and he did not like drawing attention to himself.

"By the way, do you know how the school sorts students into houses?" Albert changed the subject.

"No. My family won't tell me," Lee Jordan said, shaking his head.

"Percy said we have to go through some kind of test." George sounded a little annoyed. "They never want to tell us. They think it's supposed to be fun."

"What's a wizard's life like? Is it interesting?" Albert thought for a moment, then added, "When I received the letter, they were all shocked. My mother didn't even welcome Professor McGonagall very much. She was worried I wouldn't be able to find a job after graduation."

"That won't happen. Our eldest brother already graduated," the twins said in unison.

"Bill works for Gringotts in Africa."

"What about your father?" Albert asked, though he already knew.

"He works at the Ministry of Magic." The twins looked at each other and answered together.

"I think I'll probably stay in the Muggle world after I graduate."

"Why?" the three asked in confusion. To them, it was difficult to understand.

"I mainly came to Hogwarts to study magic and learn how to use it. Professor McGonagall said that if I didn't learn magic, it might go out of control in the future."

"But in the Muggle world, we can't use magic whenever we want. And we can't let Muggles know magic exists, or we'll get ourselves into trouble."

"By the way, what do you want to do in the future?"

"I don't want to work for the Ministry of Magic."

"Me neither." The twins looked at each other and could not help laughing.

"Being a Quidditch player would be pretty good. Charlie became Gryffindor's Quidditch captain this year, but it's a shame you can't join Quidditch until second year," George said regretfully.

"I haven't decided yet," Lee Jordan said.

"What about you?" All three looked at Albert.

"Me? Find a simple, easy job that makes good money."

"Is there really such a job?" The three exchanged looks again. If such a job existed, they wanted it too! "There should be. I'm looking for one." Albert smiled. He was curious when the twins would come up with the idea of opening a Joke Shop.

"If you find one, remember to tell me." Lee Jordan solemnly patted Albert on the shoulder, then could not help laughing.

"You don't mind if I take a photo of you, do you?" Albert took out his camera.

"A photo?"

"Yeah. My family wants to know more about the wizarding world." Albert had the three sit together, then raised his camera and took several pictures.

"Why don't the photos move?" Lee Jordan poked one of the pictures with his finger, apparently trying to make them move.

"Muggle photos don't move," Albert explained. He took the photos and looked them over, fairly satisfied. "Looks like my skills have improved a little."

"What's the point of photos that don't move?" The three quickly lost interest in them.

Near noon, a burst of noise came from the train corridor.

A moment later, a witch pushed open the compartment door and leaned in. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"I'll have a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans," Lee Jordan said. He had brought his own food. The twins had brought Sandwiches too, but they did not have much money, so they bought nothing.

"I'll take some of everything," Albert told the kindly smiling witch.

Having just seen Albert's extravagant bet, the three had already grown numb to the way he spent money so freely.

Albert paid one Galleon for a pile of things that filled the table.

"I bet your family is rich," Lee Jordan muttered.

"Not really." Albert opened the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and ate one. It was bean sprout-flavored. "They're both Lawyers."

"What are those?" The three knew nothing about Muggles.

"People who fight lawsuits for others. You could also say they legally exploit loopholes in the law," Albert said after thinking about it.

"Legally exploit loopholes in the law?" The three were a little dumbfounded. What did that even mean? How could exploiting loopholes be legal? What kind of trick was that?

"Introduce these foods to me." Albert made a welcoming gesture. He did not want to eat anything bizarre. Wizards had rather strange tastes. Besides, this was an opportunity. Friendship, when it came down to it, needed to be cultivated and maintained.