Courting Death

Albert opened his eyes to a murmur of whispers and found his three roommates, who often slept in, chatting animatedly.

"What are you guys up to?"

Albert closed his eyes, covered a yawn with his hand, and groggily reached for the Silver Pocket Watch on the bedside table.

"It's only 7:30," he asked, puzzled. "You don't need to go to Hogsmeade this early, do you? Or are you too excited to sleep?"

"Aren't you really not coming to Hogsmeade with us today?" Lee Jordan reminded him again. "The girls are counting on you to introduce them to Hogsmeade."

"Isn't this what you're here for?" Albert sat on the edge of the bed, slipped on his slippers, and prepared to go to the bathroom to wash up. "I won't go and join the fun. Also, don't provoke Tom, or he might scratch you with his claws."

"Who did you meet?" Fred asked happily, counting his Galleon, while George beside him was noting down the items they needed to buy.

"A beautiful girl, are you satisfied now?" Albert said irritably.

"Who, who is that beautiful girl?"

"Take your time and guess!"

While Albert was brushing his teeth, he suddenly heard Lee Jordan screaming from the dormitory. Apparently, he had angered Tom, who was sleeping, and as a result, Tom got scratched by the cat.

"If you don't court death, you won't die. Why don't you understand?" Albert shook his head slightly, wrung out a towel and washed his face vigorously. The cold water washed away the lingering sleepiness in his mind, making Albert completely awake.

Back in the room, they saw Lee Jordan cursing and examining the scratches on his arm, while Fred and George gloated and made jokes from time to time.

Tom had left his old den and was now lying on the upgraded Cat Climbing Frame that Albert had built for him, yawning with his mouth wide open and glancing sideways at the three goofballs below.

"Your cat is so fat, how can it be so agile?" Lee Jordan muttered. "This is not normal at all!"

"No matter how fat a cat is, it's still a predator." Albert opened the window, and a cold wind blew in, making everyone in the room shiver.

"It's going to rain!" he said.

"If you hadn't said anything, it wouldn't have rained. And close the windows," Fred couldn't help but complain. He felt that if it really started raining, it would definitely be Albert's fault.

"Stop talking nonsense. Maybe a breeze will help clear your heads." Albert bent down and began preparing breakfast for Tom.

Despite the rationing, Tom still seems to be gaining weight. The only thing that comforts Albert is that Tom is much stronger than before.

It stopped gaining weight and started gaining muscle.

Albert stroked Tom's smooth fur, comforting himself in this way.

"If I don't come back this afternoon, Kara will come over later to prepare lunch for you. Also, you're not allowed to steal food or run around in the castle. If I see you all dirty, I'll take away a month's worth of dried fish." Albert nagged on and on. Now Tom's food is all rationed, and every meal is measured with Brass Scales. His three roommates had laughed at him for this.

"Meow!"

Tom stared at the Brass Scales, his eyes filled with hostility. He had tried to destroy this annoying thing that restricted his food rations, but had failed, and his daily food was still strictly controlled.

"Remember not to wander around!" Albert reminded him again before following his roommate downstairs to the Common Room.

Tom could practically walk sideways in the Gryffindor Common Room. Everyone knew this fat cat was Albert's pet, and Tom himself was very cute, making him a favorite among the girls.

Albert once suspected that Tom had become fat because the Gryffindor girls were feeding him, even though he had once told the girls not to do so.

On their way to the restaurant, they encountered Professor Quirrell again.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor always wanders around the fourth floor like a ghost, and everyone says that Professor Quirrell is trying to prevent students from entering the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area.

Albert scoffed at this; he knew why the other man was always loitering on the fourth floor.

Upon seeing Albert, Professor Quirrell quickly turned a corner, distancing himself from Albert, the human questioning machine. He was fed up with the endless stream of tricky questions.

"Professor Quirrell doesn't seem to want to see you!" Fred said with a grin, patting Albert on the shoulder.

"That's not true."

Stop deceiving yourself.

"He definitely doesn't want you to ask any more questions."

"If you asked me this every day, I would also take a detour when I saw you."

The group went downstairs laughing and joking, but their smiles disappeared once Entrance Hall.

There's no way around it; anyone who encounters the gloomy-faced Mr. Filch holding a cat will instinctively suppress their smile and keep their distance.

Filch was in a bad mood. He disliked Hogwarts students going to Hogsmeade because every time they returned, the school would be filled with a bunch of annoying kids who liked to Dungbombs, which would increase his daily workload and bring him a lot of trouble.

Just as I was about to eat breakfast, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky above.

This kind of weather is quite common during the rainy season in October, but the terrible weather ruined everyone's good mood for going to Hogsmeade.

After all, you can't properly explore Hogsmeade after it rains.

"By the way, which girl did you meet up with? Even we didn't know you already had a girlfriend?"

The topic circled back to Albert.

Lee Jordan wasn't saying he envied Albert for finding a girlfriend; he was just curious and wanted to tease Albert about it.

The girls nearby put down their food, turned their heads to look over, and were equally curious about the matter.

"Katrina?" Fred guessed.

Katrina turned her head, probably because she heard someone calling her name.

Frankly speaking, most students at their age are still clueless about what love is. They may have a crush on a girl, but they don't have any real understanding of love.

"No, eat your bread." Albert glanced at Katrina, then turned to look at Lee Jordan, who was particularly fond of gossip. Seeing that he wasn't going to shut up, he handed him a piece of bread.

Lee Jordan obediently shut his mouth and continued eating his breakfast, lest Albert have to shut him up.

The girls were all disappointed and wanted to know who Albert's girlfriend would be.

Are you really not coming with us?

After finishing his meal, Fred asked again before leaving.

"I'm waiting for someone, you guys go ahead!" Albert politely declined.

"See? I told you he must have found a girlfriend behind our backs. Hmph, don't think he can hide it from us. We'll definitely find out who that pretty girl is eventually..." Lee Jordan suddenly shut up, his tongue stuck to his palate, unable to speak. He was then dragged away by Fred and George.

As for the girls, they don't need Lee Jordan to introduce them to Hogsmeade.

Filch and his cat were standing by the oak door in the Entrance Hall, having Hogwarts students sign in as they prepared to leave the school.

In a short time, the Mr. Filch also caught two younger students trying to follow them to Hogsmeade.

After most of the students had left, the Mr. Filch rolled up a long parchment, tapped it lightly on his right palm, and glared at Albert with displeasure. Then, he coughed loudly, as if signaling Albert to hurry up and sign and get lost.

Albert pretended not to hear.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

At 8:30, Isobel appeared in the Entrance Hall on time. This beautiful young woman seemed to have taken some time to dress up, sporting a princess-style hairstyle, and looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Perfect timing!" Albert pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time. "Very punctual."

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Albert smiled and said, "Then... shall we go?"

They signed with Filch and walked together toward the school gate.