Late

Late

"Here early?" Albert looked around the Great Hall but did not spot George and the other two. He reached into his pocket, took out his pocket watch, and checked the time: 4:10.

Just right, perfectly on time.

"But then again..."

Albert suddenly thought of something and could not help sighing. George and the other two were only eleven-year-old children; he could not expect them to have much sense of time.

Besides, they did not have pocket watches!

"Hope they don't keep me waiting too long," he murmured.

With nothing else to do, Albert took out his wand and wiped the fingerprints off it with a handkerchief while recalling the relevant knowledge about the Summoning Charm from Transfiguration Theory.

"Chrysanthemum Blooms," he murmured.

Well, nothing happened.

Albert immediately checked his Skill List, only to suddenly notice someone sitting beside him.

Not one of the Twins, obviously. If it had been the three of them, they would not have been this quiet.

Albert glanced over his skills and did not find the Summoning Charm. As expected, he would still need to borrow a Fifth Year book and look it up.

"Need something?" Albert asked, looking at Shanna.

"Um... could you..." Shanna hesitated, but before she could finish, someone interrupted her.

"Albert, over here..." The Twins were waving at him from the entrance to the Great Hall.

"I have to go." Albert looked at Shanna and asked, "What did you want to say just now?"

"Nothing." Shanna looked a little disappointed.

"If you wanted me to teach you Transfiguration, I'm afraid I can't right now. I have plans later." Remembering some of the problems he had encountered when first learning magic, Albert comforted her, "Don't rush. Getting started is the hardest part. It took me a long time to learn Transfiguration too."

"Oh, thank you." Shanna thought for a moment and said, "Tonight, could you spare some time..."

"If I have time, I suppose it's possible... Well then... see you tonight!" Albert strode quickly out of the Great Hall.

"See you tonight." Shanna watched Albert's departing back and murmured softly, "Why is the gap so big?"

"What were you talking about just now?" Fred asked curiously.

"Talking about where you lot had gone," Albert said irritably. "The time you agreed on with Charlie is almost here."

"You know, we don't have pocket watches." The three of them looked somewhat embarrassed. Naturally, they knew they had been late.

"I'm not blaming you. I knew you'd be late." Albert looked up at the sky. The afternoon weather was still a little stifling.

"Say, will your brother really let us try flying on his broom?" Lee Jordan stiffly changed the subject.

When it came to flying on a broomstick, Lee Jordan was still a little nervous. After all, he had never truly ridden a Flying Broom. His family had bought him a toy broom before, but it could not fly very high or very fast, and he certainly could not fly it in front of Muggles.

"He will. If he's a qualified captain, he won't mind spending some time seeing whether there are any promising new fliers among the freshmen. Even if first-years can't join the team, they can still be reserve players until Next Semester," Albert reassured him casually.

"Albert's right." George reached out and patted Lee Jordan on the shoulder, scaring him. "I think what you need to worry about most is not falling off the broom."

"You're the one who'll fall out of the sky." Lee Jordan glared at George irritably.

"Albert, have you ever ridden a broom before?" Fred suddenly asked.

"I was born into a Muggle family. What do you think?" Albert rolled his eyes at Fred and bent down to pick up a small stone from the ground.

"What are you picking up that useless stone for?" George asked, puzzled.

"You'll find out later." Albert tossed the little stone in his hand without directly answering George's question.

The four of them made their way to the Quidditch Pitch amid laughter and horseplay. Sure enough, Charlie had not arrived yet. Their agreed time was 4:30 in the afternoon.

"I reckon your brother might show up a little later." Albert arrived at the entrance to the Quidditch Pitch, where the gate was locked. But that could not stop them. Albert used Alohomora to easily open the iron gate.

Below the Quidditch Pitch was a stretch of soft grass, while the middle section was sandy ground to reduce injuries when players fell onto it during matches.

Hundreds of chairs were arranged in the surrounding stands. At each end of the pitch stood three poles, each Fifty Feet tall, topped with large hoops. They looked a little like the small plastic wands children used to blow soap bubbles.

"Charlie's definitely late." Fred looked a little annoyed.

"What do we do now? We should've come later." George regretted arriving early too, and they did not even have brooms of their own. That was undoubtedly terrible.

"You can practice spells." Albert sat beneath the shade on the grass and kindly reminded the three of them, "Practice the Lumos Charm. You're idle anyway, so find something to do."

"All right, you're right." The three of them were a little disgruntled, but they had to admit Albert was right. Since they had nothing to do anyway, they might as well find something to occupy themselves. That would make time pass faster.

Albert also drew his wand and began practicing the Disillusionment Charm on the stone he had picked up.

"Now I know why you can learn spells so quickly." Lee Jordan stared at his flickering wand, feeling a little depressed.

If anyone practiced this hard, unless they were truly stupid, there was no reason they would fail to learn. Of course, if they knew Albert had a cheat, they might not think that way.

It was nearly five when Charlie Weasley finally hurried over, bringing his broom with him... a Cleansweep Five.

Of course, the Twins had specifically introduced it to Albert, so he learned its name. Apparently, it was a rather old broom model.

"How did you get in? I remember this place was supposed to be locked." Charlie looked at the four walking toward him in confusion.

"Of course, we used the Unlocking Charm," the Twins said as if it were only natural.

"Ahem, don't use that tone. You make it sound like you can use the Unlocking Charm," Lee Jordan could not help snarking.

"Anyway, you weren't the one who opened it." George rolled his eyes at Lee Jordan and said irritably.

"All right, the test later is very simple. You only need to ride my broom and fly one lap around the Quidditch Pitch!" Charlie looked at Albert and Lee Jordan and asked, "Have you ridden a Flying Broom before?"

"No." Albert answered without hesitation.

"I've only ridden a toy broom," Lee Jordan muttered quietly.

"After those two have flown, you two should give it a try as well!" Charlie did not reject the friends the Twins had brought. He then turned to the twin brothers fighting over the broom and warned, "You two, behave yourselves and fly one lap around the Quidditch Pitch. If I catch you pulling any little tricks... Hmph!"