Little Tricks of Clever People

Time flies by in the midst of busyness. After entering the third grade, the homework becomes more and more numerous, more and more difficult, and the requirements become more and more demanding.

However, for Albert, a Time Thief, the heavy workload did not bring him pressure; on the contrary, he lived a very comfortable life.

With an extra few hours each day, it's important to manage your time effectively; otherwise, you're prone to staying up late and feeling extremely tired.

It's best not to exceed five hours a day, this is Isobel's advice to Albert.

However, Albert didn't care much. For him, going back to the past through the Time-Turner and sleeping in the Room of Requirement when necessary was not a bad idea.

In short, although he had more classes than others every day, Albert's day also lasted more than 24 hours, and he had more time to rest and do homework than others.

The only minor issue was that his lifespan would be about six months shorter than originally estimated, but Albert didn't seem to care much about such a small matter.

After all, most wizards live much longer than Muggle. Dumbledore is a prime example, having lived for a century. Albert believed he could outlive Dumbledore, barring any unexplained illness.

After all, that old man lost his life shortly after Albert graduated from Hogwarts.

This is a truly sad story.

Having just traveled back an hour using the Time-Turner, Albert was about to take his cat to the kitchen to say hello to the House-elf and ask them to look after Tom if they had time.

As soon as Albert came down from the Boys' Dormitory, he was cornered by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan.

"Albert."

"Your Prophecy has come true."

"It's unbelievable that your words have actually come true."

"Harry Potter really became the Seeker for the House team."

The three of them talked back and forth, giving Albert a real headache.

Fred and George, with their strange gait, surrounded Albert, and Tom, who had been following Albert downstairs, quickly hid to the side.

Then, one person took one arm of Albert and lifted him up to start spinning him around.

Come to think of it, those two guys are really strong. How did they manage to lift him off the ground like that? "Stop, stop! You guys are making me dizzy."

Albert felt nauseous; this was the first time he tried Apparition, and it was terrible.

When he came to his senses and realized that his feet were off the ground, he looked in a certain direction and glared at Lee Jordan, who had secretly cast Levitation Charm on him. He thought to himself, how could Fred and George lift him up so easily?

"That's enough, I'm about to throw up from all the spinning." Albert struggled to break free from the Twins ' arms.

"Guess how Harry got into the team?" Fred said with a laugh, releasing Albert's arm.

"Guess whether I'll guess or not."

Albert felt a little nauseous. He reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a packet of dried fish, and then stuffed it back in.

"Here, have some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!" Lee Jordan pulled a bottle of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from his pocket and handed it to Albert.

"Thank you, but I don't want to eat anything else that seems out of place." Albert politely declined, then took out a box of chocolates from his leather bag, unwrapped it, and scooped out a piece. He had bought the chocolates with the leftover pounds from the last family dinner; he had a few boxes left, and they weren't expensive.

Wow! Wow! Wow! The three of them immediately gathered around and reached into the box to take chocolates.

Lee Jordan tore open the package, took a bite, and muttered as he chewed, "Muggle World chocolate isn't so bad after all!"

Albert took a big bite, glared at the three of them, and complained, "You guys are really something!"

Give me another one.

"I want one too."

"Give me one too."

"Okay, if you like it, this will be your Christmas present," Albert suddenly said to the three of them.

"OK!"

"As expected of Albert."

Unbeknownst to the three of them, Albert had already planned to give each of them a piece of extremely bitter dark chocolate.

"The Transfiguration Lizard's skin bag is a really good thing!" Fred exclaimed as he chewed on his chocolate and watched Albert put the box away again.

"Fred, don't change the subject." George pushed Fred away impatiently. "Albert hasn't said anything yet about that question."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"What else could it be!" Albert looked around, searching for Tom, and said, "It must have been approved by Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore."

"However, I guess it's the former." Albert bent down and picked up the reluctant Tom, walking towards the entrance of the Common Room. Before leaving, he turned back to the three of them and said, "Professor McGonagall used to be a Quidditch enthusiast too."

Wow! Wow! Wow! Three more exclamations of surprise.

"As expected of Albert, he even guessed this!" Lee Jordan exclaimed.

"You didn't see Wood's expression when he told us that." George couldn't help but laugh as he recalled the captain's reaction. "It was like he'd found a huge bag of Galleon on the street."

"Wood said that the first time Harry rode Flying Broom, he could swoop down fifty feet and grab the Remembrall." Fred followed the others out of the Common Room, and after secretly observing Albert's reaction, he said, "Not even a scratch?"

"He thinks Harry might be more talented than you." Before Lee Jordan could finish speaking, Fred and George patted him hard on the back.

"I'm not that petty, and I don't care about these things. I knew a long time ago that Harry Potter could replace me, and it's really thanks to him that I was able to escape Wood's clutches." Albert shook his head with a smile and said, "For me, flying on a broomstick is more about enjoying the fun of flying. When I get tired of riding a broomstick, I might get a flying motorcycle, bicycle, or Flying Carpet."

"Forget about it, the Flying Carpet has been banned." Fred interrupted. "Our grandfather had an Axminster Rug that could seat twelve people. I remember riding Flying Carpet around my grandfather's house when I was little."

"If you don't say anything, no one will think you're mute." Albert glared at Fred. Of course, he wouldn't bother with some kind of Flying Carpet; that thing was too obvious. At most, he would get a motorcycle or bicycle and modify it.

Imagine the day a bicycle rides over your head—that's pretty cool.

Okay, let's call it the Sea-Land-Air Tri-Use Integrated Bicycle.

"Are we going to say hello to Harry and come along?"

"No, I'm going to take Tom to the kitchen so he can meet the House-elf. If Tom gets lost wandering around the castle one day, I'll feel more at ease having the House-elf watching over him," Albert said, explaining his purpose for going to the kitchen.

"Don't you have enough faith in your own cat?" Lee Jordan couldn't help but complain, as he always felt that Albert was just a decoration.

"That can't be helped," Albert said nonchalantly. "Muggle house cats are usually pampered and not very smart."

"You're still fat enough, aren't you!"

"By the way, I've discovered a new secret passage that leads outside the school," Lee Jordan suddenly said. "Want to go check it out? We can try using that passage next time it's necessary."

"I bet we already discovered that one," Fred and George grinned. "We can bet on it."

"Let's bet." Lee Jordan shamelessly used the chocolate he'd swindled from Albert as the stake.

"If that's the case, then we'll use these." Fred and George exchanged glances and pulled out a few toffee candies from their pockets.

"Could it be that one from last time?" Lee Jordan thought of the toffee he had eaten on the train after seeing it.

"No. Does Albert want to come along?"

"No, see you later." Albert told Tom to follow behind him. Ever since he was summoned back by the Summoning Charm after running around, Tom hadn't dared to run around outside the Common Room.

However, Tom the fat cat couldn't run very far; his stamina was really poor.

On the way to the kitchen, many students saw Albert walking the cat. Although they all found it amusing, geniuses always have something special about them.

That said, ever since Albert took Tom out for a walk, some girls would take the opportunity to chat with Albert, and Lee Jordan even envied the number of women Tom brought to Albert.

Few students at Hogwarts keep cats; they usually keep owls. It's understandable, as most students don't really know how to take care of their pets. Owls are the easiest to care for, and they can also help deliver letters and things, making them the best companions for young wizards.

When Albert got down to the fourth floor, he found that his Tom was too tired to walk any further and had to be carried by Albert. Perhaps walking such a distance was a strenuous exercise for a fat cat.

Of course, carrying a fat cat into the kitchen was also a challenge for Albert.

The man and the cat rested for a while in the secret passage before continuing their journey. When they arrived at the picture of the large fruit bowl in front of the kitchen, Tom was already exhausted and collapsed on the ground.

Albert stretched out his index finger and scratched the Emerald Green Pear.

After the pear quickly turned into a green doorknob, he opened the door, scooped up Tom, who was lying on the floor, and went into the kitchen.

"Sir! Mr. Albert Mr. Anderson!"

"Long time no see, Kara," Albert greeted the House-elf.

"Yes, sir, it's been a long time. Would you like something to eat?" Kara asked expectantly.

"If you have Pumpkin Pie, please give me one."

"It's a shame, sir, that we didn't make Pumpkin Pie today," Kara said sharply, her voice sounding a little disappointed at not being able to help.

"It's okay, I didn't come here to eat."

As he spoke, Albert took out the gift he had prepared for the House-elf from his leather bag.

"Is this for me?" Kara said in disbelief.

"Yes, this is for you. I'm sorry to have bothered you last semester. This is a gift I bought, but I'm not sure what your House-elf would like. I hope you'll like it."

"Sir, you are so kind, so kind!" Kara cried out, then bowed deeply to Albert, her eyes filled with tears again.

"Why don't you open it and taste it?" Albert said to the other House-elf. "Come on over, it won't take you long."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're so kind."

The House-elf chattered with words of gratitude.

"This is my pet cat, Tom."

Albert pointed to the fat cat and said, "It's a very silly house cat that often gets lost. I'm worried that one day it will wander around the castle and get lost. If you see it in trouble in the future, please be sure to lend a hand. If it doesn't return to the Gryffindor Common Room late at night, please help take it back."

As he spoke, Albert bowed slightly to the House-elf in a gesture of request.

"Oh, of course!" the House-elf chimed in.

The House-elf at Hogwarts had a good impression of Albert, after all, Albert respected the House-elf and never treated them as slaves.

Perhaps most House-elf have never eaten chocolate, at least not the kind of chocolate given by wizards.

Seeing that the box of chocolates had been completely devoured, and that some House-elf hadn't had any, Albert took out another box, opened it, and handed it to the House-elf who hadn't tried it yet.

The House-elf burst into tears on the spot.

"You two take your time eating, I won't disturb you any longer."

Albert and Tom got up to leave, and several House-elf enthusiastically brought out freshly baked pies for Albert to take some back with him.