Creating Cards

The fact that the first day of school at Hogwarts coincided with a weekend was a pleasant surprise for most students.

In the morning, Albert opened his eyes, climbed out of bed, and saw that it was still pouring rain outside. He covered his mouth to stifle a yawn, looked up at his roommates, who were all still lazing in bed, unwilling to get up.

I always really don't want to get out of bed when it rains.

Albert changed his clothes and prepared to go to the Great Hall for a meal. Before leaving, he took two thick books out of his suitcase.

Albert borrowed these two books from the library before summer vacation, and naturally they need to be returned after the start of the school year. Incidentally, Albert has already read 17 of the 100 books in the library's collection.

As Albert passed through the Common Room, he witnessed a scene that surprised him.

The armchairs in the Common Room were already occupied, and quite a few Gryffindor students were actually... actually doing their homework.

Is the sun about to rise in the west?

Wait a minute, it's still raining outside.

"Good morning." Shanna came down another staircase and greeted Albert, who was also standing at the bottom. Looking at the people in the Common Room, she asked with great surprise, "Are you all doing... summer homework?"

"Yeah, I'm going to copy my summer homework." Albert replied and walked towards the entrance of the Common Room.

Shanna glanced at the students in the Common Room and followed Albert away.

The two talked about the Duplication Charm the whole way.

"Items copied using the Duplication Charm usually have no added value." After giving directions to the lost freshmen, Albert said to Shanna, "If you use the Duplication Charm to copy a silver spoon, the copy itself will only have the function of a spoon, without the effect of the precious metal silver."

Shanna nodded to indicate that she understood.

Before arriving at the Great Hall, they encountered Charlie and Wood in the Entrance Hall, who were discussing the Quidditch selection process.

It is widely known that Wood will be the successor to the next Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

There was no other way; after Charlie graduated, Wood would be the oldest player on the team, and he would have been with the team the longest.

Albert went up to greet the two men and then prepared to go into the Great Hall for a meal.

"Albert," Charlie suddenly called out to Albert.

"What is it?" Albert's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around to ask.

"The Quidditch selection is next Wednesday, don't be late," Charlie reminded him.

"Wednesday? I'm not sure when Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Club starts." Albert hesitated for a moment before speaking. "How about you give me a substitute player position?"

"Don't make excuses," Charlie said, narrowing his eyes. "Order the Flying Broom as soon as possible; your position is Seeker."

Albert paused for a moment, then asked in confusion, "And what about you?"

"I can play the Chaser," Charlie said calmly. "So stop making excuses. I'll allow you to skip Quidditch practice occasionally."

"That's not a good idea," Albert said, tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Seeker don't really need to cooperate with others. You just need to catch the Golden Snitch for us." Charlie waved his hand impatiently, indicating that Albert could leave.

After Albert and Shanna entered the Great Hall, Wood looked at Charlie and asked, "Is this really a good idea?"

"You know how bad Gryffindor's Quidditch skills are," Charlie said dismissively. "Besides, I gave them a chance. If they're not good enough, who can they blame?"

After saying that, Charlie patted Wood on the shoulder again and continued, "You know, Chaser and Beater are relatively easy to find, but Seeker is not. That's why I want to leave you a good Seeker. Otherwise, when you take over the Gryffindor Quidditch Team next year, you'll be in trouble if you don't have a qualified Seeker. You'll definitely lose miserably."

"Albert is perfectly qualified as a Seeker, and you saw his last game."

"I'm just worried..." Wood hesitated for a moment, but didn't say it.

"What's there to worry about? George and Fred are good friends with Albert, Angelina and Albert are on good terms, and everyone else knows him. It's okay if he doesn't come sometimes," Charlie reminded him meaningfully. "The Seeker's job is to find the Golden Snitch."

Albert was unaware of Charlie's conversation with Wood, and even less aware that the original Quidditch players had already been decided internally.

He is teaching Shanna how to use the Duplication Charm.

It's practically impossible to succeed on the first try. So, as expected, Shanna failed miserably when practicing with a spoon.

As the two were chatting about the precautions for the Duplication Charm, Albert's attention was drawn to a white owl.

Despite the torrential rain, Shera still delivered the letter on time.

"You've worked hard!" Albert took out an owl nut from his pocket and placed it in front of Shera.

"What's in the letter?" Shanna asked curiously. The letter made a crisp metallic sound as it landed on the table.

"A piece of gold," Albert said without hesitation. He didn't intend to open the letter in the Great Hall, but instead stuffed the envelope back into his pocket.

As for what to do with the Gold Card, Albert had already figured it out: he planned to hide it in the Room of Requirement.

Yes, right next to Ravenclaw's Diadem.

Next time, when Albert hands the Diadem to Dumbledore, he'll have an excuse to brush Dumbledore off. "I hid the Gold Card nearby; that's when I found it."

"A piece of gold?" Shanna repeated, looking at Albert suspiciously. This guy spoke in a mix of truth and falsehood, making it impossible to tell whether he was telling the truth or not.

"I was just kidding. Actually, it's a metal membership card inside," Albert said jokingly, not giving Shanna time to ask any more questions.

After finishing breakfast, Albert said goodbye to Shanna and then got up to leave. As for Shera, she had already flown back to the Owlery to catch up on her sleep after finishing her nuts.

"Gold, membership cards? What kind of strange things are these?" Shanna shook her head as she watched Albert's departing figure.

It's really hard for ordinary people to associate gold with membership cards.

Well, it's hard to connect the two unless you've actually seen them.

Albert hurried up to the Seventh Floor and, taking advantage of the absence of others, slipped into the Room of Requirement and placed the envelope containing the Gold Card near Ravenclaw's Diadem.

Albert couldn't be sure whether Hertok would try to get his Gold Card back through other means; perhaps he would ask Dumbledore for help.

Keeping the Gold Card on your person makes it easy for the other party to take it back; hiding it is the best option.

As for whether the other party will go and get a replacement membership card?

Of course you can, but the replacement card won't be Gold Card, and it won't have the same benefits as Gold Card.

Unfortunately, Gold Card are unique, Extraordinary Potion Makers Association won't reissue them. After all, it's unheard of for someone to lose a trophy or medal and then have the organizers replace it.

Unless Hertok gives up on his own, he will have to deal with the trouble he caused if he wants to get his Gold Card back.

It's unlikely that Hertok will give up his Gold Card.

Albert walked along, pondering the matter, and before he knew it, he was standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

When I answered the command, walked through the passage, and returned to my dormitory, Lee Jordan was already up and checking his summer homework.

He was shocked by what he saw when he arrived at the Common Room.

"How is it?" Albert asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I didn't forget any holiday homework." Lee Jordan gave an OK sign, then asked, "When do we start making wizard cards?"

"According to the plan, we'll start by making cards for Hogwarts students and professors," Albert said, pulling out his notebook and flipping through a few pages. "They'll be collectively called the Hogwarts Card Set."

"I thought you would House Points."

"Initially, of course, they will be separated, as that would be more conducive to promotion." Albert took out a piece of parchment and drew a simple diagram of the card's general structure. He continued, "However, all these cards will belong to the Hogwarts Card Set. We need to divide them into factions, and each faction needs its own way of playing to increase the game's fun."

"That makes sense," Fred said.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"No, thank you." Fred covered a yawn and started getting up and dressing.

"What's this for?" George asked, pointing to a large empty space on the parchment.

"The one with the portrait." Albert picked up his wand, cut out the image from the parchment, and then used Duplication Charm to make several copies. He then picked up Quill and began crafting a card: Fred Weasley. Attack 1, Health 1. Requires 1 Action Point. Effect: When George is not on the field, George can be immediately summoned from the card deck. When the Weasley Twins are on the field simultaneously, both their Attack increases by 1.

"Our attack power is only 1 point?" Fred and George couldn't help but protest.

"I think your card works pretty well," Lee Jordan said, pointing to his card.

"Lee Jordan. Attack 1, Health 1. Requires 1 Action Point. Effect: As one of the four Founders of Wizard Card, he can draw one card for free."

"Where's your card?" the three asked Albert curiously.

"My card." Albert picked up a blank piece of parchment and filled in his information.

"Albert Anderson. Attack 3, Health 2. Requires 2 Action Points. Effect: When this card is played, it will draw one Shield Charm and one Disarming Charm from your Card Set."

"Why are your cards more effective than ours?" all three couldn't help but protest.

"Because I'm better than you, and I do know how to use both spells," Albert reassured him. "These cards aren't fixed. In the future, we can cast Transformation Charm on the cards to solve the card update problem."

"Hurry up and get it done, I can't wait to play a game," Lee Jordan urged.

"Add Charlie and Percy in too. Oh, and don't forget the Gryffindor Quidditch players," Fred continued. "And the school professors too."

"By the way, how many cards do you need to build Card Set?" George asked.

"Thirty cards for now," Albert replied after a moment's thought. "The Card Set cannot contain more than three duplicate cards."