Albert's Art of Bluffing

Sunday's weather was rather poor, and it was still raining outside the castle.

At seven in the morning, with dawn barely breaking, Albert had just washed up when his excited dormmates hauled him off to the Great Hall for breakfast as he stifled a yawn.

"I really don't get what's so exciting about this." Albert shook free of the Twins' hands and straightened his robes.

"That's Hogsmeade, the most fun place in all of Britain," Lee Jordan said exaggeratedly.

"All of Britain?" Albert sighed softly. He felt as though he and the three beside him weren't on the same wavelength at all.

On the way to the Great Hall, the Twins practiced the Lumos Charm as they walked. Unfortunately, Filch caught them.

Then poor George was seized by Filch and taken to the Administrator's Office.

Filch happily pulled out a large roll of Parchment from his desk drawer and spread it before him. Then he picked up a long black Quill, dipped it in an Ink bottle, and wrote: Name... George Weasley.

Offense... Recklessly casting spells in the corridor.

Recommendation... Suggested punishment...

"Ahem, it was only because it was too dark to see, so I used the Lumos Charm. You know, it's still very early, and the corridor..." George lied with his eyes wide open. The corridor they had just passed had quite a few torches.

"...Cleaning the School Hospital's chamber pots." Filch gave George a glance, a malicious smile curling around his lips. "Perfect. The School Hospital's chamber pots haven't been washed all Summer vacation."

George's expression froze.

"You may go. And you'd better not let me catch you using magic in the corridors again." Filch wore the smile of a victor as he drove George out of the Administrator's Office.

"Pfft!" After hearing George's story, Albert could not help laughing. He patted George's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry. I can teach you a very simple Scouring Charm. Cleaning chamber pots and the like can be dealt with quickly. Besides, Filch can only recommend punishments. In truth, he can't punish you directly."

"That guy is awful." George glanced at the door to Filch's office, looking thoroughly miserable. No one wanted to wash chamber pots.

"Don't brood over it. I'll buy you a Butterbeer later." Albert nearly laughed again and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, what did you see in Filch's office?"

"What did I see? There were lots of drawers, and things like handcuffs and shackles hanging on the wall behind his desk." After thinking carefully, George complained, "That old man—no, that old pervert—must have some sort of weird fetish."

Actually, Albert thought the nickname Hagrid had given him, Old Bucket, suited Filch better. As a Squib, he really was about as useful as a bucket at Hogwarts.

Ordinary people ought to stay in the ordinary world and enjoy ordinary happiness.

Still, he did not say it aloud. Giving people such insulting nicknames was not very nice.

"What else?" Albert asked. "He must have confiscated quite a lot of things, right?"

"Yes, I did see a filing cabinet drawer labeled: Confiscated Goods, Highly Dangerous."

"I reckon all the things he confiscates are kept in there." Fred's eyes lit up, clearly interested in whatever was inside the drawer.

"If they were truly highly dangerous, they wouldn't be kept in a place like that." Albert remembered something useful—the Marauder's Map of Hogwarts should have been kept in there.

"Exactly, that's what we thought too." The Twins looked at each other and could not help laughing.

"You aren't thinking of... Don't let yourselves get caught." Albert warned them. "Otherwise, you'll definitely be in trouble."

The Twins protested in unison, "That's slander! Why would we do something like that?"

Breakfast in Britain was always plentiful. Albert served himself a bowl of milk oatmeal, then added a fried egg, two slices of bacon, two pieces of toast, a sausage, and a small helping of vegetable salad to his plate.

"Hi, good morning!" As a boy passed by, he greeted the Twins.

"I remember you're from Hufflepuff..." Lee Jordan could not recall the boy's name for the moment and looked to Albert for help.

"Cedric Diggory," the boy introduced himself.

"Hello, Cedric." The Twins greeted their neighbor. "We didn't expect you to get into Hufflepuff."

"I don't think Hufflepuff is bad." Cedric did not like hearing people speak ill of Hufflepuff.

"We didn't say it was bad."

"It's just that Gryffindor is better."

The Weasley Twins spoke one after the other.

"Long time no see, Albert." Another person walked over and greeted Albert. "I didn't expect you to get into Gryffindor. It really gave me a shock."

"Long time no see, Gabriel." Albert smiled as he greeted his pen pal.

"You know each other?" Cedric Diggory asked in confusion. He had a fairly good relationship with this older student.

"Of course we do. We met during Summer vacation." Gabriel gave Diggory a mysterious smile. "The one I told you about..."

Cedric Diggory looked Albert over with great surprise. He had heard Gabriel mention that matter himself, but Gabriel had never told him the person's name.

After Gabriel walked away, the Twins looked at each other and said in unison, "Could it be..."

"Could what be?" Lee Jordan had not caught on yet.

The Twins looked at each other and said, "That thing!"

"Which thing?" He still had not caught on.

"Ahem, it's enough that you know. Remember to keep it secret!" Albert said with a light cough. Otherwise, he would not send them Christmas Gifts during Winter Break.

"We'll keep it secret," the Twins said meaningfully, crossing their index fingers over their lips to show that they would keep it strictly confidential.

"Hey, don't leave me out, you three bastards." Lee Jordan was very unhappy, feeling that he had been excluded from their little circle.

"Ahem, the newspaper. Remember that thing we talked about on the train when we were coming to Hogwarts?" Fred reminded him.

"Fifty Galleons," George added.

"Wow, that thing!" Lee Jordan immediately understood what they meant. "How did you manage to..."

"I don't want the whole school finding out about it." Albert raised a finger to his lips, telling the three of them to be quiet.

"Fine, but you really are amazing!" The Weasley Twins still greatly admired Albert's methods. If only they could easily earn twenty-five Galleons too.

"No wonder you were willing to bet all the Galleons you earned," Lee Jordan said sourly.

"It's not like I was certain to lose." Albert curled his lip and continued bluffing. "Do you know why wands made from Redwood are popular among wizards?"

"They bring good luck?" George said uncertainly.

"Right." Albert continued to bluff. "At the time, I had a feeling that if I made the bet, I might make a fortune, so I did."