Bountiful Harvest

On the way back to the castle, the two remained silent, but Albert could still tell that Isobel was emotionally unstable.

Unfortunately, the excitement of avenging her great enemy had barely subsided when she was gripped by the fear of killing. After all, Isobel was still just a minor.

They returned to the castle without alerting anyone.

Hogwarts students struggle with piles of holiday homework; the library, Great Hall, and Common Room are where they should be.

Now, the two need to find Katrina first. Smith has hidden her; they didn't find her when they broke into the Defence Against the Dark Arts office to retrieve their wands.

"Are you sure Katrina is hidden in the Room of Requirement?"

"I can't find her name on the Marauder's Map," Albert explained, pointing to the Marauder's Map. "Only the Room of Requirement can block the Marauder's Map's Tracking Magic."

"I need a place to hide, I need a place to hide, I need a place to hide!" Isobel paced back and forth in front of the wall three times, but the door did not appear.

Albert is right, but now they need to figure out how to get in; they can't keep trying here forever.

"At this point, it's all about luck," Albert said, gesturing for Isobel to wait a moment.

"Felix Felicis?" Isobel immediately realized that Albert had taken Felix Felicis. Although the lucky water couldn't actually bring good luck, she was willing to trust Albert's intuition.

"The effect is still there. My gut feeling tells me that Rowena Smith might be hiding Katrina in the Ravenclaw's Chamber!" Albert began to mutter to himself, "Ravenclaw's Private Library."

After pacing back and forth three times, a door appeared on the wall. Isobel immediately pushed the door open and went in. Albert glanced at the Marauder's Map, and after confirming that no one was around, he immediately followed her inside. Isobel had already answered the Eagle Ring's question and entered Ravenclaw's Chamber.

"She's here, Katrina's here!" Isobel's voice was filled with undisguised joy.

After Albert entered the Chamber of Secrets, he found Katrina unconscious.

That said, the McDougal sisters really do look alike.

Albert stepped forward to help Katrina up, and together with Isobel, led her out of Ravenclaw's Chamber.

In Ravenclaw's Private Library, a hospital bed appeared out of nowhere, and the two men put her on it.

"Don't worry, Rowena Smith is dead. The Imperius Curse he cast should disappear on its own. Katrina's breathing is steady; she's probably just under Stunning Spell."

Albert pulled up a chair and sat down, gently comforting her, "Now, you need to confirm whether Katrina's memory has been altered, whether she has forgotten that part of the memory. It's best not to let her know about this; the two of us can handle it."

"You're right!" Isobel took a deep breath, regained his composure, and sat down opposite Albert to discuss what to do next.

"Do you have any good ideas?" Isobel asked.

"This is simple. We just need to modify Katrina's memories so that I brought her to the Room of Requirement. I already promised Katrina I'd take her to a place suitable for using the Time-Turner." Albert took out Undetectable Extension Charm Box from his Transfiguration Lizard pouch, retrieved two cups and a large keg of Butterbeer, and poured himself a glass. This keg of Butterbeer was a prize he'd prepared for the Wizard Card Competition; now he was drinking it to celebrate their narrow escape.

Do you want it?

"Hmm!" Isobel stared at the full Butterbeer mug and fell into a brief silence.

"I think you should consider your own situation. You haven't fully adjusted your mindset." Albert took a sip of his Butterbeer and continued, "Actually, even if you hadn't done that, I would have killed him anyway. I've always been a vengeful person."

"I've been mentally prepared for this for a long time," Isobel said softly, looking up at Albert. "I've also thought about the responsibilities I'll have to bear. But thank you for your concern."

"What do you plan to do after this? If you don't have a new goal after you've succeeded in your revenge, you'll feel lost," Albert kindly reminded him.

Isobel held his glass, staring at the bubbles inside, and said, "I intend to continue my father's magical experiments."

"Do you need my help?" Albert blurted out almost immediately.

Isobel looked up and sized Albert up and down with a strange expression, but quickly nodded and said with a smile, "Sure, if you'd like to help."

"Your smile is very nice; you should smile more often." Albert swiftly claimed the reward related to Isobel's favorability on the Task Panel.

Then, he reached out and took Isobel's hand, continuing to chat casually, "Also, don't be so honest with me, what's it like to be a natural Legilimens?"

"It doesn't feel good. A lot of people are too hypocritical. When you can see right through someone's thoughts, but you have to pretend you don't know, that feeling is terrible!"

Isobel glanced at the hand that Albert was holding, but made no move to pull it back. She simply calmly recounted some of her secrets.

The year she came to Hogwarts, she displayed exceptional talent, and it was only then that Uncle Morg began to teach her about Occlumency, and she learned how to control her abilities.

"And you? You can Apparition?" Isobel stared into Albert's eyes. At first, she thought Albert had carried her out of the Forbidden Forest, but when she discovered that Albert used Apparition, she couldn't quite describe the feeling.

"I learned it from Professor Broad. You're the only one who knows I can Apparition, so remember to keep it a secret for me." Albert winked at Isobel and smiled.

"You're really bold. You dared to Apparition people before you've fully mastered Apparition?" Isobel understood why Albert was assigned to Gryffindor. This guy's audacity was truly extraordinary, as could be seen from his actions.

"No, I dared to do that because I was confident that I could guarantee that nothing would happen if I Apparition you." Albert shook his head and said, "Don't forget, I drank Felix Felicis. With its help, I can even easily use the Silent Spell, which I couldn't use smoothly before, let alone Apparition."

"That's true!" Isobel nodded. Albert almost never did anything without being sure of success. The battle with Rowena Smith seemed dangerous, but he had already made preparations.

After finishing their Butterbeer, the two chatted pleasantly for half an hour, and Isobel found that his nervousness had completely subsided.

Their treatment of Katrina was actually quite simple: Albert used Rennervate to wake her up, while Isobel was hiding under the Disillusionment Charm, secretly used the False Memory Charm to alter Katrina's memories.

Watching the two chatting and laughing, the girl suddenly sighed softly.

The three quickly went their separate ways. Just as Albert returned to the Common Room, Lee Jordan handed him a letter from Professor Broad.

The letter was short, but it contained a lot of information: Don't worry, the matter has been resolved, and we can talk again another day when we have time.

Isobel's situation was similar; she also received a similar letter.

"That's incredibly efficient!" Albert couldn't help but exclaim.

"What do you mean by 'high efficiency'?"

"Nothing!"

Albert returned the cleaned wand to Lee Jordan, whose wand had long since been retrieved; Smith's office was no match for his lock-picking skills.

"I have something to do, see you later."

After saying that, Albert prepared to return to the Room of Requirement to collect the remaining mission rewards before the effects of the Felix Felicis completely wore off.

"Where are you going?" Fred strode over. "Did you take the parchment?"

Originally, the two wanted to use the Marauder's Map to see if Albert had actually gone on a date, but they found that the Marauder's Map had disappeared, which made them very upset.

"It's here with me, I'll give it to you later!"

Albert quickly disappeared around the corner. After returning to the Room of Requirement, he couldn't wait to open the Task Panel and check the rewards for the completed quests.

The "other purpose" from long ago has been accomplished.

Rowena Smith's secret purpose in coming to Hogwarts was likely to identify the Wildsmith Family and prepare to target their two candidates.

The only candidates are likely him and Isobel, because Katrina is also considered one of the best among her peers, but she wasn't selected, which speaks volumes.

In addition to experience, the reward also includes a random skill from Rowena Smith.

What could it be?

That guy knows quite a few spells; Albert is actually a little envious.

"May Buddha bless me, may God bless me, Merlin bless me, please let me get a useful skill!" Albert muttered as he collected the quest reward.

When I opened my skill bar, I found that I had a Cruciatus Curse.

Albert was at a loss for words.

After completing the Unforgivable task, he also learned the Imperius Curse, since he had cast the Avada Kedavra Curse in the Forbidden Forest, thus completing all Three Unforgivable Curses.

It doesn't seem to be of much use.

After all, the Unforgivable Curses cannot be used casually; if Albert really wanted to learn it, he could have done so long ago.

Now, things are much better; they've got it all under their control.

However, after mastering the Three Unforgivable Curses, a new quest was triggered.

The Rise of the Dark Lord.

At such a young age, you've already mastered Three Unforgivable Curses. It seems you have the potential to become a Dark wizard. So, use Dark Magic to bring pain to people!

0/10 Reward: 2000 experience points, gain a specified Dark Magic, and +100 Magical World Reputation.

It can even increase reputation? Don't tell me that increasing negative reputation counts as increasing reputation.

Albert couldn't help but want to complain.

To be honest, while Albert didn't shy away from using Dark Magic, he never intended to become Dark wizard.

Let's forget about the Dark Lord.

Green Water and Voldemort, the two Dark Lord, serve as the best examples of what not to do.

The appearance of this task greatly dampened Albert's good mood, and he also conveniently claimed the reward for the "wrong decision," gaining an extra Muggle Repelling Charm.

This spell is so-so, not useless, but Albert can learn it elsewhere. At most, he doesn't need to spend time and energy learning it now.

Sure enough, randomly acquiring skills is a real rip-off.

The fact that I was able to gain Potions Mastery last time was truly a miracle from Merlin.

Rowena Smith possesses a vast array of magical abilities, and if he were to randomly draw one of them, it would be even more disastrous. Albert felt he might need a lucky aura.

Fortunately, the "Exchange Blows" reward on the Task Panel was a guaranteed skill, Cruciatus Curse wasn't a complete waste. Albert decided to save this quest for last.

Speaking of the Cruciatus Curse, a new quest appears on the Task Panel, similar to the Imperius Curse's "Solid as a Rock," except this quest is called "Hard Bones."

The reward is +1 resistance to Cruciatus Curse.

Albert suspected that if he survived the Avada Kedavra Curse, he might be able to trigger a similar quest again.

Collecting all three rewards might trigger a new quest, just like in The Rise of the Dark Lord.

However, Albert quickly abandoned the idea of courting death. He wasn't Harry Potter; if he did that, he might actually die.

The next mission made Albert want to laugh; it was called "The Innocent Wolf."

It was those two unlucky Werewolf captured by Rowena Smith who triggered the quest. The reward was minimal experience, but it granted a skill called "Friend of Werewolves," which slightly increased the Werewolf ' favorability towards you.

To be honest, Albert didn't think the two Werewolf were innocent at all.

Meanwhile, Isobel triggered a quest called "The A Girl's Revenge," which required helping Isobel complete her revenge. It happened to be done at the same time as the "An eye for an eye" quest to kill Rowena Smith. The reward was pretty good: one Skill Points and +40 to Isobel's favorability.

It was Albert who suggested to Isobel that the Acromantula kill and eat Rowena Smith.

The three missions, "A Girl's Revenge," "Revenge," and "Brothers in Misfortune," directly raised Albert's favorability rating for Isobel to over 70.

Their relationship progressed further.

"An eye for an eye" is second only to Exchange Blows, providing Albert with 5000 experience points and 2 Skill Points.

Finally, it was what Albert was most looking forward to. He couldn't help but rub his hands together as he received the "Exchange Blows" mission reward.

The panel suddenly displayed Skill List, which was Rowena Smith's Skill List, even more than Albert's. It was dazzling to look at, and he didn't even know what some of the skill names were for.

Which one should he choose? Half an hour later, Albert picked out a few skills that he thought would be useful: Duel, Charm Mastery, and Finkelsh's Curse Method.

It's a pity that Felix Felicis is no longer available, otherwise I could have chosen based on my intuition.

After considering it, Albert decided to choose Charm Mastery.

A duel might make you stronger, but with Potions Mastery as a prerequisite, Charm Mastery might bring unexpected surprises.

As for Finkelsh's Curse Method, Albert wasn't considering them for the time being. He felt that Professor Broad might also know them, and he might have the opportunity to learn from him.