Hmm, Definitely Magical
"Hey, Albert, come down!" Charlie looked up at the dark figure soaring up and down in the sky above the field, feeling both relieved and helpless. When he turned to look at Fred and George beside him, the two immediately turned their heads away, avoiding Charlie's gaze, indicating that this was none of their business.
"He's come down," Angelina suddenly said.
In everyone's sight, Albert was falling at an astonishing speed, as if he were jumping directly from the plane without a parachute. In the blink of an eye, he was almost making intimate contact with the ground.
"Ah!"
"He's going to crash into the ground."
In the chaos, someone was screaming, and some people even closed their eyes in terror, refusing to look at the horrific sight of Albert falling to the ground.
However, Albert stopped diving just a few feet from the ground and began to rise again. The force of the dive, combined with the strong wind, made everyone's hair fly.
The next moment, gasps and applause rang out simultaneously.
"My God, how did he do that?" Aylia's face turned pale. The Weasley Twins next to her were cheering loudly, while Cormac McLagen was also a substitute, clenched his fists.
Whether the players are willing to admit it or not, Albert's flying skills far surpass those of most people. His risky maneuver was something even Charlie wouldn't dare to attempt, as it would have resulted in a direct crash to the ground. Yet, Albert succeeded; for him, such a gamble was merely a thrilling game.
A few seconds later, Albert slowly descended, his feet touching the ground. He closed his eyes, savoring the wonderful feeling of flying at high speed on the broomstick. Cleansweep Six was even better than he had expected; with just a light touch, the broomstick would turn as he wished.
Admittedly, the broom itself has some flaws, but Albert is still very satisfied with Cleansweep Six.
"That sudden dive almost made my heart stop beating," Angelina said with a laugh.
"Flying brilliantly." Charlie raised his fist and lightly punched Albert's shoulder, then put his arm around his neck and said with a smile, "Now that you've finally got the chance to come to the Quidditch Pitch, don't think you can just slip away like that!"
After a fantastic day of flying, Albert returned to the Gryffindor Common Room with everyone after training. When they entered the Common Room, they found people buzzing with excitement.
"What happened?" Albert asked Lee Jordan, who was sitting by the fireplace playing Wizard Card with Shanna.
"The first Hogsmeade Weekend," Lee Jordan said, pointing to the notice on the bulletin board and winking at the three of them. "It's in early November."
A trip to Hogsmeade! The three exchanged knowing smiles. Hogsmeade was nothing to them; they could travel Hogsmeade anytime via the secret passage if they wished.
"None of our business, is it?" Fred chuckled and shrugged. The three returned to their dorm, took a nice hot shower, and when they went back to the Common Room, George had somehow gotten hold of a mouse.
"Where did you get this mouse?" Albert asked, his gaze falling on the mouse George was holding.
"Guess?" George's lips curled into a malicious smile.
"Percy's pet?" Albert reached into his pocket, pulled out a cookie, unwrapped it, and handed it to the mouse.
Scabbers happily began to eat. No wonder, after all, he was still a human. Even if he had been turned into a rat, he would still want to eat some decent food.
"This mouse has suffered a lot." Albert clicked his tongue and glanced at his forepaw, where a toe was missing. "It probably won't live much longer. A mouse's lifespan of 3 or 4 years is considered very long. It's quite old. I doubt it will live past next summer."
"Hmm, are we going there?" Fred asked in a low voice, not concerned about the rats' lifespan. "We'd better get that sorted out before Percy finds out."
"Okay." Albert took out his wand and waved it. The cookie wrapper turned into a long, narrow cage. Albert put the mouse inside, leaving some cookies inside before putting it in his backpack.
The four hurriedly left the Gryffindor Common Room and headed to the Room of Requirement.
"No problem, no one's here." Albert glanced at the Marauder's Map, and a pleasant smile crept onto his lips as he looked at Peter Pettigrew's name on it.
Albert was delighted to find new quests on his Task Panel! However, instead of checking the quests, Albert went to the Room of Requirement, which turned into an empty room with only four walls and a door, with torches burning on the walls.
"Alright, let's begin!"
Albert gestured for everyone to put on their earmuffs, and then took Scabbers out of his backpack.
"Why didn't you bring it?" Albert looked at Lee Jordan with a puzzled expression.
"The Mandrakes isn't mature yet; at most, it'll just fall into a coma?" Lee Jordan didn't seem to care much about that. "Besides, you weren't wearing one either, were you?"
"I'll plug my ears," Albert said, taking out earplugs.
"If I pass out, remember to take me to the School Hospital." Lee Jordan seemed to be testing the power of the Mandrakes's cry on himself.
The three looked at each other in bewilderment.
Albert didn't press the matter further. The Mandrakes would take at least a few more months to fully mature, and its cries weren't particularly dangerous.
Once everyone was ready, Albert put on his earplugs and took out the magical item from his pocket that contained the sound of the Mandrakes crying.
He raised his hand towards everyone, made a three, two, one gesture, then pressed the switch to open the container, and a piercing sound immediately rang out in the room.
The sharp, piercing sound was amplified countless times by the Sonorus Charm, and even Albert could vaguely hear it, but he did not feel faint.
Lee Jordan frowned slightly and covered his ears to block out the cries of the Mandrakes. He felt a little dizzy, but he didn't faint.
However, the unlucky Scabbers fainted, perhaps because her crying was too loud.
The next second, the Mandrakes's cries disappeared from the room.
Albert gestured for everyone to remove their earmuffs, then looked at Lee Jordan and asked, "How was it?"
"It seems to be working a little; I feel dizzy," Lee Jordan said.
"The cry of the Mandrakes is deadly, probably because of some kind of Charms contained in the sound. However, when I recorded the cry and played it back, it meant that the power of the Charms was greatly weakened," Albert explained.
The principle is the same as the Basilisk's direct gaze. A basilisk's eyes can kill, but their power is weakened when reflected through a mirror, only able to petrify a person. While the Mandrakes's cry can indeed kill, it is not yet fully mature, its power is inherently insufficient, and it is severely weakened, so its lack of power is not incomprehensible.
The Mandrakes's cry was indeed Charms, and had nothing to do with infrasound or anything like that, which is pretty normal.
"Let's go. We'd better get this poor rat back before Percy finds it." Albert didn't want anything unpleasant to happen to the three brothers because of this.
That said, Scabbers is essentially a wizard, and using him for this experiment was a mistake in itself.