A Date?

Albert put down his book, covered a yawn with his hand, and turned to look at the corner of the Common Room where a group of students were huddled together, whispering and talking about something.

What happened?

He turned to ask Lee Jordan, who had been near the bulletin board and should know what had been announced.

"The first Hogsmeade Weekend," Lee Jordan said, pointing to a notice on the bulletin board. "Mid-October."

"Great," Fred said, blinking. "We're almost out of Stink Pellets, perfect timing to go to Zonko's shop to restock."

"Why do you all always seem to be picking on Filch?" Shanna, who was pondering the translation of Ancient Runes, asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know Filch isn't popular, but there's no need for that..."

"No, no, it was Filch who started the trouble!" George interrupted.

Fred didn't intend to dwell on the matter and changed the subject, saying, "Last time, we tried to sell the Garlic Cross to Professor Quirrell, but he seemed to think we were joking. At the time, I wondered, wasn't Professor Quirrell afraid that vampires would come after him?"

"You believe whatever he says?" Albert couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Then why would he stuff garlic into his Large Scarf? The smell is awful." The Weasley family brothers still insist that the Large Scarf must have been stuffed with garlic.

"Who knows!" Albert muttered. "Maybe there's some big secret hidden inside."

"What big secret?" Fred asked curiously, suddenly having a hunch that Albert's guess might be true.

"How would I know? I'm just guessing," Albert said with a shrug.

"How about we trick Peeves into taking Professor Quirrell's Large Scarf?" George suggested, his eyes lighting up. Of course, persuading Peeves wouldn't be easy; they'd need to offer him something that would interest him.

The idea was actually proposed by Albert. The relationship between the two sides is still pretty good, but they have to spend money every time they ask Peeves to do something.

"Albert, take a look, is this what these translations mean?" Angelina interrupted their secret conversation and handed Albert the parchment she had just translated.

"Unfortunately... they're all wrong." Albert glanced at the translation on the parchment and gave the answer.

"Sigh, I really don't know why I chose this course in the first place." Angelina regretted choosing Ancient Runes, as the course wasn't very friendly to most students.

"What about mine?"

Shanna pointed to her homework, which was the answer she had just translated using 《Runic Dictionary》.

For beginners, understanding those strange and interconnected symbols can be quite difficult, even with a 《Runic Dictionary》.

This is similar to learning a foreign language; sometimes it's really hard to figure out, not to mention that this thing is even harder to learn than a foreign language.

Initially, all that was needed was to figure out what 0 through 9 represented. Later, it became necessary to translate a short passage of Runic Script using a dictionary and memorize the meanings of those words.

That's the point of this course: it teaches you what those strange symbols mean, and apparently, the exam tests these things too.

However, the most difficult part is that a Rune Symbols can often have several meanings, and it is necessary to repeatedly deduce the meaning of the sentence by connecting these runes.

That's right, this is what's called translation, a carefully crafted translation.

"There are a few words in these two sentences that are translated incorrectly," Albert pointed out the errors.

"Um."

Shanna leaned closer, glanced at the mistake Albert pointed out, and pondered the meaning of the symbols.

She didn't doubt Albert's judgment. A magic genius who could communicate with Professor Bathilda Professor Babbling in Ancient Runes and read books in Ancient Runes Runes as ordinary reading material was definitely not an exaggeration. He could even serve as Professor Bathilda Professor Babbling's Assistant Teacher without any problem.

As for the homework on Ancient Runes, it was naturally no challenge for Albert.

To be honest, Professor Bathilda Professor Babbling's class was the most boring class Albert had ever taken. The basic Ancient Runes she taught seemed to Albert as simple as someone teaching him Arabic numerals.

However, the Ancient Runes still had to be attended, and students couldn't skip it at will.

Professor Bathilda Professor Babbling was aware of Albert's level, but unfortunately, Hogwarts only allowed students to repeat a grade, not skip one. So as long as Albert didn't disrupt the class, she let him do his own thing.

Apart from the occasional time when Professor Bathilda Professor Babbling would call Albert up to the stage for a few Ancient Runes, Albert spent the rest of his time doing his own thing.

He found something amusing for himself: finding errors in books. Yes, finding errors in "《Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes》," which was basically just nitpicking.

The author isn't someone like Albert with a cheat code like a control panel; it's impossible for him to be completely error-free. With a little research, you can always find some mistakes. Albert would point out the errors and add annotations next to them.

"By the way, how's your research on that thing going?" Albert suddenly asked.

"We still have no clue." George shook his head helplessly. "We're trying to figure out where to get Bubotuber Pus."

Not long ago, the Twins heard that some students were trying to remove their acne using extreme methods, and they wondered if they could profit from it.

Fred and George weren't going to take it for granted, so they asked Albert for his opinion. Albert also believed that women like pretty things and wouldn't be stingy with their Galleon in that regard. If they could really produce this Potions, it would definitely sell like hotcakes and make a lot of money.

Actually, there is a similar beauty Potions in Diagon Alley.

Fred and George had no intention of competing with Madam Primpernelle for business; their target group was school students, and the two were researching Potions to effectively eliminate acne and pimples.

If the raw materials could be obtained, Albert would be willing to provide technical and knowledge support.

He has already asked Professor Sprout how to concoct this Potions. Once he invests some experience to upgrade and improve it, it will be ready to use.

Of course, Albert's willingness to offer support is also related to his sister, Nia, as it happens to be a birthday gift. Isobel might also need it, and could even make money from it later, so it seems like a pretty good deal no matter how you look at it.

Fred and George are eyeing the Bubotuber in the school's Greenhouse Three, planning to sneak over and get some to make Potions for Albert.

Of course, they could also buy it directly from Slug Giggs Pharmacy in Diagon Alley. However, since the school had it readily available, Fred and George didn't mind getting some themselves.

Lee Jordan doesn't pay much attention to this; he usually only focuses on Wizard Card.

Right now, this guy is chatting with someone about another piece of gossip: someone else almost got bitten by that big dog in the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area Corridor.

"You're really bold. Didn't that unfortunate guy who got bitten just come out of the School Hospital last time?"

"I heard he was a Hufflepuff student who was so frightened by the big dog that his legs went weak. Luckily, Professor Quirrell happened to be passing by and used magic to pull him out so he wouldn't get hurt."

"That's not like Hufflepuff at all," Albert said, raising an eyebrow.

If it was really just a momentary impulse, he should have gone to Gryffindor!

Albert bent down and picked up Tom, who was warming himself by the fireplace, and scratched the cat's ears. He could roughly guess what was going on.

Is it Imperius Curse?

It seems that Professor Quirrell has started looking for people to try and find a way to defeat Three-Headed Dog without having to defeat him.

How should I put it?

Students often act recklessly out of curiosity, and this isn't the first or second time. As long as they don't cause too much trouble, they generally won't attract the professors' attention; at most, they'll just lose a few more points.

Professor Quirrell did indeed deduct 10 points from the Hufflepuff student as a warning.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I wonder when I'll be able to accomplish the great feat of reading a hundred books?" Albert put Tom down and continued flipping through the book in front of him.

"A hundred books?" Shanna raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had already finished reading them."

"I've probably read about 45 books," Albert said, noting that he's been reading much less since starting second grade.

"I read a description of Hogsmeade in the book ' Wizarding Antiquities ' that you have. It's a very interesting place; it's said that the headquarters of the Goblin rebellion is there." Shanna put aside her revised Ancient Runes homework and started talking to Albert about Hogsmeade.

"The headquarters of the Goblin rebellion is in the Hog's Head Pub. It's a chaotic and filthy place. If you go, remember to bring your own cup," Albert said casually. He didn't like the Hog's Head Pub, nor did he like Aberforth. That bastard hadn't replied to him yet, although Albert didn't really expect him to.

"I heard that's the only place in Britain without Muggle." Shanna wanted to talk to Albert about this, but she didn't know that Albert and the Twins had already sneaked over there several times, and it was no longer a novelty.

"You don't seem very interested?"

"Well, it's alright!" Albert shrugged at his roommates. "Three Broomsticks and Honeydukes would be more suitable."

He glanced at his Communication Bookmark and sent a message to Isobel: Hogsmeade, wanna hang out?

Not long after, the bookmark changed color. Albert flipped it over and glanced at it. The other party only replied with one word, "Hmm! We're going to Hogsmeade next weekend. Everyone got together and talked about what to do first once we got to Hogsmeade."

"You seem to know Hogsmeade very well, remember to introduce us," Shanna said, mustering her courage after receiving a nod from the others. "Let's all go together!"

"I'm familiar with it too, I can introduce it to you!" Lee Jordan said with a grin.

"I have plans," Albert politely declined. "Let Lee Jordan introduce you."

The girls raised their eyebrows, exchanged glances, and then nodded reluctantly in agreement.