A Little Panicked

"I didn't expect things to actually turn out just as you said."

After Transfiguration Class, Fred's expression was complicated. He had personally learned from Professor McGonagall that Professor Trelawney, who Divination class, liked to use Death Omen to welcome new students, which finally put Fred at ease with his Death Omen. To be honest, Death Omen were quite frightening.

"Professor McGonagall seems to think that Professor Trelawney has no Prophecy abilities," George muttered under his breath after glancing around to make sure no one was watching.

"Divination is one of the least accurate subjects in magic. Very few people can truly foresee the future, and Professor Trelawney..."

Although Professor McGonagall didn't finish her sentence, it was easy to guess what she was going to say; Professor Trelawney didn't have the talent for Prophecy.

"Some people say that Professor Trelawney is a fraud."

"Who said that?" Fred suddenly asked.

"That's what Albert meant." George blamed his roommate without thinking, believing that was exactly what Albert meant.

"What are you thinking about?" Lee Jordan couldn't help but ask when Albert remained silent.

"Think about what you learned in the Transfiguration Class, how to become an Animagus." Albert glanced at George. "Don't think I didn't hear you framing me."

"You want to become an Animagus?" George quickly changed the subject.

"Yes, it's a pity it's difficult. According to Professor McGonagall, it takes several years to become an Animagus." Albert remembered having such a quest on his Task Panel. If only he could unlock the Animagus Skill Points on his Skill Panel...

After the Animagus panel quest appeared, Albert had already read the relevant books, but the skill just didn't appear on the panel. He needed to figure out how to get his hands on the Animagus, and leveling up became a secondary thing.

"I think you should be able to learn it very quickly!" Fred said with certainty.

"I had no idea you had so much faith in me?" Albert said, glancing at Fred.

"Of course! If you ever become an Animagus, remember to teach us. It would be amazing to be able to become an animal like Professor McGonagall." Fred patted Albert on the shoulder encouragingly.

"What confidence you're talking about is just empty talk; that's your real purpose, isn't it?" Albert couldn't help but retort.

"Albert might actually become an Animagus, but as for you, don't even think about it. Professor McGonagall seems to have said Animagus no more than..." Lee Jordan raised his hands and gestured a couple of times. Hmm, he'd forgotten the exact number, but it seemed to be no more than ten.

"Only seven Animagus individuals were registered in the 20th century," Albert sighed, finishing Lee Jordan's sentence for him. "Of course, it's hard to say whether there were actually only seven."

"Why?"

"This refers to registered Animagus. That means there are unregistered Animagus. Although it is illegal for any Animagus not to register with the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Magic Office, it is not illegal as long as the Ministry of Magic does not know that you are Animagus."

"What you're saying makes sense," Fred muttered under his breath. "If I were an Animagus, I certainly wouldn't want to register with the Ministry of Magic either."

"Why?" Lee Jordan asked, puzzled. "If the Ministry of Magic finds out, we'll definitely be fined a huge amount of Galleon."

"Of course, it's to avoid being monitored by the Ministry of Magic!" Albert scoffed. "The Ministry of Magic wants Animagus to register with the Misuse of Magic Office, saying that this way others won't hurt you... That's pure nonsense. They just want to monitor you."

The three looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing this. They had just passed through the Entrance Hall and joined the others in a noisy procession into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Animagus is suited for espionage and stealing information, which is why the Ministry of Magic requires Animagus to register with the Ministry of Magic. I dare say Professor McGonagall must have done something similar before." Albert said with a smirk, "If you turned into a beetle, a dog, or a rat, you could easily hide yourself and eavesdrop on other people's secrets, because no one would be wary of a beetle; they wouldn't even notice your presence."

"Yes, that's true."

The three nodded in unison, all agreeing that Albert had a profound understanding of the Ministry of Magic... well, of the nature of certain things, something they themselves had never truly considered.

However, upon closer reflection, it does make sense. Indeed, geniuses think differently from them.

Albert was eating a potato with the skin on, while Fred took out his timetable from his bag to check the upcoming classes.

"We have Care of Magical Creatures and Potions Class this afternoon." After finishing a sausage, George pointed to the date for Defence Against the Dark Arts on the schedule and said with some disappointment, "Sigh, Defense Against the Dark Arts isn't until Thursday afternoon."

"Don't get your hopes up too high for Defence Against the Dark Arts." Lee Jordan returned with a gloomy face after having just inquired about the situation.

"What's wrong?"

"I just asked some upperclassmen who have taken Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they said Professor Quirrell's class was practically a joke," Lee Jordan said dejectedly. "His classroom also had a strange smell."

Defense Against the Dark Arts is a course that many students look forward to, especially since the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor in the first two semesters were particularly reliable and taught everyone a lot of useful things.

"Professor Quirrell doesn't seem very reliable. To be honest, I never expected him to teach this course well," Albert said, shaking his head. Perhaps Quirrell could indeed do it, but he disguises himself with cowardice, so it would be strange to expect him to teach students properly under such circumstances.

"When are we going to the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area?" George asked in a low voice.

"It's the weekend, I still have a ton of things to do." Albert wondered if he should use the Time-Turner to give himself some rest later. He also needed to go back to the dorm to check on Tom; he couldn't let his cat go hungry, and he wanted to see what it was up to.

"Well, it would be best to take Tom to the kitchen to say hello to the House-elf. If possible, we could also ask Kara to help look after Tom."

At that moment, a brief commotion broke out in the Great Hall. Even without looking, Albert could guess what was going on: Harry Potter had Great Hall.

Ron led Harry to sit opposite Fred and George, and began to complain to them about what had happened that morning.

"You mean Filch?" George winked at Ron and said, "He's the school administrator who likes to cause trouble for students. As long as he doesn't find any fault with us, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"He's causing you trouble, it's definitely not because of us. Well, definitely not, Filch has never caused trouble for Charlie and Percy because of us," Fred stated firmly, indicating that they were not to be blamed.

"You guys probably haven't taken Potions Class yet. When you meet Snape, you'll find that he's even more unreasonable than Filch," George said seriously. "Don't try to argue with Snape; it will only make you worse off."

"And Snape never gave extra points to students outside of Slytherin," Lee Jordan added.

Ron opened his mouth, but suddenly didn't know what to say.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask Albert. He often adds points to Gryffindor, but he has never gotten a single point from Snape!" George gestured toward Albert and said, "As far as I know, this has been the case for the past few years."

"Weasley, talking badly about others behind their backs is no good habit. Twenty points deducted from Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan said in a low voice, mimicking Snape's tone.

A burst of laughter immediately erupted around them.

"Ahem!" Albert coughed twice, and the laughter stopped abruptly. Lee Jordan looked around warily, and after confirming that the voice had come from Albert, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.

"Potter, here's a suggestion!" Albert said, looking at Harry who was having a meal. "Take a good look at the book ' Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi '."

Harry was a little confused and didn't understand what Albert meant.

"Albert means Snape will ask you questions," Fred explained casually, turning to Albert. "I remember in our year, Snape asked you a question in the very first Potions Class, right?"

"However, I remember that Albert seemed to have answered them all correctly."

"Yes, you got it right, but he still didn't give Gryffindor any extra points. He just said: 'It was copied verbatim from the book, but it's basically correct.'"

"Why do you still remember what Snape said back then?!"

All three of them were shocked.

"Every time I was called on to ask a question, he would basically say this after I answered correctly." Albert finished the last piece of potato on his plate.

"Why me? I mean, Professor Snape is going to ask me a question?" Harry was even more confused.

"Because you are Gryffindor student, and you are the famous Harry Potter!" Albert said without hesitation. "Snape will definitely ask you questions, use you as an example to deter the other Gryffindor students."

Harry Potter suddenly didn't know what to say. He didn't want to be famous, and besides, wasn't it too unfair for Snape to target him alone?

"Don't worry, Potter. Professor Snape is a professor at the school. Okay, I admit Professor Snape does have a slight bias towards Slytherin students, but he won't target you on purpose." Percy sat down next to Albert, glaring at the group of guys making fun of the professor. He lowered his voice and warned, "Be careful Snape doesn't hear you; he'll definitely deduct Gryffindor if he finds out."

"Don't worry about Percy, Albert can afford to deduct points. He gave Gryffindor twenty points in today's Divination class," Fred said nonchalantly.

Albert got up, cleared away the dishes, and said goodbye to Fred and the other two, "I need to go back to the dorm, lest Tom go hungry and tear down our room."

"The first period this afternoon is Care of Magical Creatures, so remember not to be late."

"I'll be back soon. Go to the library and save me a spot. We'd better start writing our papers for the Transfiguration Class today, so we don't have a ton of homework piled up later." Albert said and walked away.

"He's right. If you don't do your homework now, you'll find that you have a ton of homework that you can't finish." Percy said to the Twins as he watched Albert walk away. "After third grade, there will be a lot more homework every day."

"Hey Ron, push that dish of condiments over over there." Fred didn't take Percy's words seriously; if they really couldn't finish, they wouldn't have asked someone for help.

You should know that Albert has to take all the courses.

"Harry, I suggest you take Albert's advice; he's always right," George said after finishing his sausage. "Snape will most likely cause you trouble."

What on earth is going on? Harry felt a little panicked!