Coincidence and Inevitability
In the last week of the semester, the sky suddenly cleared up, as if the snow that had lasted for several days had been wiped away by an invisible hand, and the winter sun shone through the frost-covered window onto the round table in front of the bed.
Albert gazed at the clear sky, his mood improving. He stifled a yawn, sat back in his armchair, and, using the sunlight streaming through the window, flipped through the Eagle Ring Riddle he had previously recorded. Albert planned to use the time while everyone was away at Hogsmeade to complete the "Greedy Plunderer" quest on the Task Panel, attempting to answer over a hundred Eagle Ring Riddle —a task that was hardly difficult for Albert now.
Especially after drinking the Baruffio's Brain Elixir, completing the task of "Open Mind," and acquiring new skills and active thinking.
Having a quick mind is another peculiar skill; unlike other skills, it cannot be upgraded.
Yes, the ability to activate mental activity cannot be upgraded, which is somewhat of a double-edged sword. However, it is undeniable that after acquiring this ability, Albert's mind did become more agile, his instant memory became incredibly strong, and he became more sensitive to certain things, as if he had taken a small amount of Baruffio's Brain Elixir.
Perhaps, this is what geniuses are all about!
Albert always felt that one day, he, this pseudo-genius, might be able to become a true genius through the accumulation of skills.
"Are you really not coming to Hogsmeade with us?" Fred asked again, feeling that the group of four would lose a lot of fun without one of them.
"I'm not going. I have other things to do today, and I have two letters to write." Albert thought for a moment and then added, "When you come back, bring me a bottle of Butterbeer and some candies from the list."
"Okay, see you this afternoon, we'll bring you back a bunch of candy!" Lee Jordan greeted Albert and began counting the coins in his purse.
"And I want Dungbombs too!" George suddenly said.
"Thanks, but I don't need that thing," Albert said irritably.
"But we know who needs it!" Fred winked mischievously at Albert.
"Who? You?" Albert asked back.
"No, it's Peeves. It doesn't get along with Filch very well. We don't mind giving Peeves a few Dungbombs so it can cause trouble for Filch!" George said mischievously. "We've already made an agreement with Peeves."
"Why are you going up against Filch again?" Albert frowned. Although he didn't like Filch, he would never deliberately cause trouble for him.
"It happened a few days ago. After Quidditch practice, Filch ran into me and called me to his office, accusing me of defiling the castle." Fred's face showed undisguised disgust. He had no choice but to practice in the snow and wind, and then be bothered by someone afterward. How could he be happy about it?
"That's a fairly common charge," Albert nodded. The main problem was that Filch didn't know magic, making it difficult for him to clean up muddy footprints. If Filch were a wizard, he could finish in three seconds at most.
Unfortunately, he wasn't.
"Peeves promised us he'd send Filch a few Dungbombs for Christmas," Fred said cheerfully. "Alright, see you later."
The three hurried to the secret passage behind the mirror on the fifth floor, Albert also set off for the Room of Requirement.
After skillfully entering the Ravenclaw Knowledge Vault within the Room of Requirement, he casually pulled up an armchair for himself and sat down in front of the Eagle Bronze Door Knocker, then gently tapped the wooden board twice.
The next moment, the Eagle Bronze Door Knocker knocker spoke, asking, "Two pairs of fathers and sons are fishing together. Each of them catches one fish, and they catch three fish in total. Why?" "Grandpa, father and son, that's exactly two pairs of fathers and sons, three fish." Albert answered the riddle easily, almost without thinking.
"That makes sense."
In fact, Albert had heard many of the riddles about the Eagle Bronze Door Knocker before. They weren't too difficult, and the "Greedy Plunderer" quest wasn't continuous. Now, he only needed to answer 96 more riddles to complete the quest.
"It's easier than I thought," Albert murmured. He raised his hand and continued to knock on the door to answer the riddles on the Eagle Bronze Door Knocker. He answered one riddle after another with ease, and in about half an hour, he had already answered more than fifty riddles correctly. These riddles had not caused him any trouble at all.
Albert had memorized all one hundred riddles and answers Katrina had given him last time, and he really had Katrina to thank for that. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to answer them so easily. She's such a good person! Albert mentally gave Katrina a "Good Person Card.
Just as Albert was about to continue answering the riddle, the door to the Room of Requirement was suddenly opened. Startled to find someone had broken in, Albert almost instinctively drew his wand and pointed it at the intruder.
"Oh, it's you. You startled me," Albert muttered, putting away his wand.
"What are you doing here?" Isobel glanced at Albert's wand, completely unconcerned, and was instead a little curious as to why Albert was here.
Although Isobel knew that Albert knew about Ravenclaw's Chamber, it still felt very strange to actually meet him in such a place.
"What are we doing? Solving riddles!" Albert pointed to the Eagle Bronze Door Knocker and said, "I'm challenging my limits to see if I can solve a hundred riddles in one go."
Upon hearing this, Isobel's gaze turned strange, as if he were looking at some rare creature.
"Is this interesting?" she asked slowly.
"Interesting," Albert nodded. This involves a panel-based quest; how could it not be interesting?
"So, what are you doing here?" Albert changed the subject.
"Investigate Ravenclaw's Chamber and find a way to open it." Isobel's answer was almost identical to Albert's guess, undoubtedly related to the Treasury of Knowledge.
"Any new research findings?" Albert asked curiously.
"Yes." Isobel's answer surprised Albert a little, but he didn't seem to care much and simply asked, "What is it?"
"Let's go inside and talk," Isobel didn't tell Albert directly.
"You go in first, I'm planning to continue with the riddles!" Albert gestured for Isobel to go into the Chamber of Secrets first.
"You're not even a little curious?" Isobel looked at Albert in surprise. She regretted teaching him Occlumency; she couldn't understand the man in front of her anymore.
"I'm curious. But there's no rush. You're not going to run away. I can ask you later. I have that much patience." Albert really wasn't in a hurry. He wanted to get the reward from the "Greedy Plunderer" quest first.
As for the new discovery Isobel mentioned, he didn't really care. After all, he also had his own new discoveries, and there was also the matter of Professor Smith. Perhaps he could get some information from Isobel.