Chapter 15

"You… You actually placed a bet on Fudge," George said as he stared at the owl flying over into the distance. "That's 25 Galleons. 25. GALLEONS. That was 25 galleons."

"I trust my luck and my wand," Albert said confidently. "I will make a killing from this"

"We don't have that much money. After taking everything away for school, our family only has 80 galleons a year. And all our school items are second hand," Fred said as he looked at his twin, shaking his head. Even if they had any spare change, they wouldn't gamble any of it away. They then turned their heads to face Lee Jorden.

"Don't look at me like that. I want to save enough money for other things." Lee said as he also shook his head. He thought that Albert was crazy to bet that much money. If he had the money, he wouldn't use it to gamble and even if he did, he would bet on Dumbledore.

During the conversation, the Hogwarts Express had been constantly moving towards their destination. Currently, they were near the lush green meadows in-between the Scottish and English border. Albert was flipping through his next book 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade one'. The trio of Gryffindor were talking about the latest transfer news before the start of the Quidditch season. Albert could not join the conversation as it would be peculiar if a muggle-born wizard knows about the sport, but his ears perked up when they started this conversation.

"By the way, did you hear what happened to Gabriel Truman? I heard from father that he almost got expelled," George suddenly mentioned.

"Yeah. The Ministry caught him using magic in front of a muggle. But it turned out that the Ministry made a mistake," Fred responded to George. "Later, Uncle Nutley had to go and see Gabriel to apologise and give him compensation."

"I read about it in the Daily Prophet but my mother told me that it's probably fake." Lee Jorden chimed in. "Mother says that, that women over-exaggerates and most of it was lies."

"Most newspaper aren't factually accurate like most of Skeeter's articles, but it is very likely to hold some truth to it," Albert said as he closed and then placed the newspaper on the table.

"I've been to Gabriel's carriage earlier, and I heard him tell his friends the story. He said that he met a first year in the park who was practicing the Levitation Charm in front of his muggle sister. Then he received an owl from the Ministry that they expected him to be in front of Wizengamot the next day and his wand was going to be snapped by Uncle Nutley." Fred said as he recounted the story. "And then Uncle Nutley and Dumbledore came to confront him about what happened. He said after that, the Ministry didn't even apologise to him so he …"

Albert raised his eyebrows when he heard the story. He clearly remembered that he told Gabriel not to tell anyone. Obviously, Gabriel forgot and now he's telling everyone.

"Sorry to intrude on your pleasant conversation, but could you tell me how first years are sorted?" Albert asked, as he changed the subject of the conversation.

"I'm sorry, but we can't tell how it happens to first years. It's sort of Hogwarts' tradition," Lee said.

"I remember my brother told us that it is a fight. We told everyone that we had to fight a troll. That's we told everyone who has asked us and you should have seen some of the looks on their faces. Percy said that we can tell you that it is some sort of test," George said as he made a face towards his brother.

"How is it living as a pure-blood?" Albert asked, and waited for a response. Silence. Albert continued, "When I received my admission letter, my whole family was surprised. My mother didn't want Professor McGonagall to enter our house. My mother was worried that I wouldn't find a job after finishing Hogwarts."

"No. You'll easily find jobs. One of my brothers have finished Hogwarts and another is in their sixth year and they both have jobs."

"Bill works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts in Egypt while Charlie got a job offer from a dragon reserve in Romania."

"He gets sent books he needs to learn."

"And he gets paid for doing that."

"What about you father?" Albert asked the twins.

"Father works in the Ministry in the 'Muggle Artifact Mis-use Department'," the twins say at the same time.

"I think I'll find a job in the muggle world after graduation"

"Why???" all three Gryffindor asked at the same time.

"I came to Hogwarts mainly to learn how to control my magic and how to utilise it. Professor McGonagall said the if I don't learn how to control it, it would lead to disastrous consequences," Albert replied. "What do you guys want to do when you're older?"

"I don't know. I don't want to work at the Ministry." Fred said.

George replied, "Me too."

"We're good at Quidditch and we can ride our brooms quite well, but I think we don't have what it takes to be professional," Fred said as he looked at his brother, who was nodding at what he said.

"I haven't thought about it," Lee chimed in. "What about you?"

"I would like to find a simple and relaxing job that makes a lot of money," Albert said.

"Is there is a job like that in the Wizarding world?" George quietly said he went into a daydream.

"There should be. You just have to look hard enough," Albert said.

"If you do find it, tell me," Lee said, looking at Albert like a lost puppy.

"Do you guys mind if I take a picture of you? My family wants pictures of the Wizarding world," Albert asked as he got his camera out.

"Why doesn't the picture move?" Lee asked as he looked at the previous pictures that Albert took.

"Muggle pictures don't move," Albert explained.

"Well, what's the point of that?" the three sounded disappointed.

As it approached mid-day, the door to their carriage opened. There stood an old lady with a food cart. "Children, would you like any snacks?"

"Can I have some Bertie Botts's Every Flavoured Beans, please?" Lee Jordan asked, and the lady passed him some. Fred and George got nothing as their mother had packed them sandwiches for lunch.

"Can I have one of everything, please? No, make it two!" Albert said to the old lady. Remembering how he said 25 Galleons on a bet, the three of them weren't fazed. The lady passed him his snacks, closed the door, and left.

"I must say your family is really rich," Lee said while the twins nodded their heads.

"No. we're not that rich. We're considered middle class," Albert said as he opened his pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans. "My parents are lawyers."

"What is a lawyer?" they asked in confusion.

"They are people you call when you're in trouble with the government. They try to find a loophole in the law to get their clients off Scott-free," Albert briefly explained.

"Loophole in the law." The three of them were confused. Who in their right mind would go against the Ministry of Magic?

"Would you like some?" Albert offered the snacks to the other three people in the carriage. This is, after all, the perfect opportunity to make friends with pure-bloods.