First Taste of Magic

That night, Albert showed his family his new Hogwarts school uniform: an ordinary plain black robe and a black Pointed Hat, nothing distinctive.

If he had to say something about it, it was that it looked stupid, especially that damned Pointed Hat. Wearing it out for a stroll would definitely earn plenty of stares—or so Albert believed.

Nia, on the other hand, was quite pleased with her gift. Wrapped in a cloak far too large for her and wearing the black Pointed Hat, she struck poses in the living room while Herb took pictures of the two of them.

Daisy sat on the sofa, silently leafing through Albert's History of Magic. She wanted to learn more about the place her son was about to go.

"Mom, look, it's a living Chocolate Frog!" Nia opened the Chocolate Frog box and burst into giggles when she saw the Chocolate Frog hop away.

Herb had already gained some experience with them. He quickly reached out, caught the Chocolate Frog that had landed on the table, and handed it to Nia.

Then Herb opened another box, which also contained a Chocolate Frog. He swiftly caught it and held it out before Daisy, who was carefully reading her book.

"Can this thing really be eaten?" Daisy raised an eyebrow, suspiciously examining the lifelike Chocolate Frog before her, clearly doubtful that it was safe to eat.

"Mom, Chocolate Frogs are edible, and they taste great!" Nia had already bitten off the Chocolate Frog's head and was eating it happily, with melted chocolate smeared across her face.

"All right, wipe your face clean. You look like a little tabby cat!" Albert handed Nia his handkerchief, then turned to Tom, who was confronting the owl. He picked the cat up, set him beside the sofa, scratched under his chin, and warned him, "Tom, don't bully it."

Albert took out some Owl nuts from the parcel and poured them into the dish in the cage. "What should I call you?" he muttered.

"Jerry."

After thinking it over, Albert gave the Snowy Owl that name.

Tom and Jerry.

Even though this world did not have that cat-and-mouse cartoon, Albert found the name rather amusing.

The Snowy Owl seemed to sense its owner's ill intent and showed no reaction to the name Jerry.

"Albert, the name you picked is awful!" Nia reached out and picked up the owl, rubbing her cheek against it. "It should be called Shera. That's a much better name."

Why not call it Celebi? Albert thought mischievously.

"Albert, the person in the picture suddenly disappeared!" Herb was astonished to discover that the person on the Chocolate Frog Card had vanished.

"A picture?" Albert looked at his father, who was holding a Chocolate Frog Card.

"Maybe wizard photographs move naturally? Chocolate Frogs can move, so why can't the people in pictures move too?"

"That makes sense!" Herb accepted the explanation. He flipped the card over and read the text on the back. "Albus Dumbledore... current Headmaster of Hogwarts, widely recognized as the greatest wizard of modern times."

"Oh, that's the old man who sent Albert the letter." Daisy took the Chocolate Frog Card from her husband, wanting to see who had sent her son that invitation letter.

Unfortunately, the card was empty.

Daisy turned the Chocolate Frog Card over and continued reading. "Dumbledore's well-known contributions include: defeating the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, discovering the twelve uses of Dragon Blood, and his outstanding work in alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling."

"Dragon Blood?" Daisy's eyes widened as she said in disbelief, "There are dragons in this world? And Nicolas Flamel, I remember he was..."

"A famous alchemist from the fourteenth century," Albert added. "He created the legendary Philosopher's Stone. It is said that the Philosopher's Stone can turn stone into gold and grant immortality. If he is still alive, then the Philosopher's Stone must have made Nicolas Flamel immortal."

"All right, Daisy, cheer up." Herb put an arm around his wife and comforted her softly. "Things are not as bad as you think. Especially when we know so little about the wizarding world, it's best not to make judgments too quickly. Besides, you should trust our son. He's a genius. No matter where he goes, he'll be able to show his talents."

"By the way, Albert, can you use magic?" Nia pounced on Albert, grabbed his hand, and shook it gently in a spoiled manner, her little face full of anticipation. "I want to see you do magic."

"Well... I'll need to study it first. I can't use it yet." Albert reached out and ruffled Nia's hair.

"You're awful." Nia covered her head and ran to Daisy's side to share a Pumpkin Pie with her.

Albert began reading Miranda Goshawk's Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, then took his wand out of its box, preparing for his first attempt at casting a spell.

"No, Albert, don't try it here!" Herb's face twitched as he recalled what had happened at the wand shop earlier.

"You should have a little faith in your son!" Albert raised his wand, gave it a light flick, and softly chanted, "Lumos."

The tip of the wand suddenly flashed, then went out again.

"Just now, the tip of that wand flashed, didn't it?" Daisy said uncertainly.

"Yes, it flashed! As expected of my son!" Herb saw that Albert could actually use magic right away, and the pride on his face was impossible to hide.

"Albert, what was that just now?" Nia asked excitedly.

"Uh, it was the Lumos Charm. It should be a relatively easy spell to master. Let me try again." Albert secretly checked his panel and, sure enough, found that the Lumos Charm had appeared on the Skill List.

The spell was still at level 0, but it had already gained 7 experience points.

Only reaching level 1 counted as truly mastering it. Going from level 0 to level 1 required only 100 experience points, but Albert had no intention of using his precious stored experience to raise the Lumos Charm to level 1. Even 100 experience points were quite valuable.

"Let me try again." Albert cleared his throat and recited the spell once more. Pale light shone from the tip of his wand again.

Albert tried a total of five times before he barely got the hang of the spell. As long as he concentrated a little, the light on his wand would no longer disappear so easily.

At the sight, the other three could not help applauding. Though it was only a simple Lumos Charm, it seemed quite remarkable in the eyes of the Anderson family.

"Albert, Albert, let me try! I want to try too." Nia excitedly pounced on her brother.

"No." Albert quickly put away his wand. "At the very least, you can't play with it here. Do you know that when I tried a wand last time, I nearly blew up the counter in that wand shop?"

"Cheapskate."

"This isn't about being cheap. Wands are dangerous by themselves, and I don't understand anything yet. What if something dangerous happens?" Albert immediately put on a stern face and played his trump card. "If Nia keeps being so willful, I won't teach you magic in the future."

"Albert is right," Herb quickly said. "You should wait until he is familiar with magic before asking him to teach you."

"Fine!" Nia pouted unhappily, but she still yielded. She just looked a little disappointed. She envied Albert for being able to use magic.

"Your Grandfather plans to come over in the next couple of days. But I think we'd better go visit them together, so we won't have to make another trip." Herb set aside some wizarding sweets and gifts. He knew his father might not eat them, but he would certainly be happy to see them.