Chapter 28

Hogwarts trophy is stacked. There were many trophies here. Albert found a trophy for the Triwizard Cup, International under 18 Wizarding Chess Championship Cup, and a Salem Witch Institute's Special Award for Potions. He found a shield for the Cairo International Alchemy tournament won by Albus Dumbledore and a Special contribution Award for Meritorious Service awarded to a Tom Marvolo Riddle. If Albert remembers correctly, that was the name of Lord Voldemort before he became Lord Voldemort.

"If only I could get a trophy with my name on it... It would be a dream come true," Lee Jorden said as he looked at the names on the trophies in envy.

"Well mate, out of us four, Albert is the most likely to earn himself a trophy," George said as he crushed Lee Jorden's dream.

"Cheer up, I'm sure you could create a trophy and win it, then place it here," Fred said as he patted Lee's back.

"Stop crushing his dream," Albert said as he continued to look through the trophy room. "We don't know what the future holds. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a Mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the Present.'. We don't know what the future entails, so don't get your hopes up. And if you wanted a trophy, you could ask Dumbledore for Special contribution Award for Meritorious Service in exchange for donating something like five thousand Galleons."

When the other three boys heard what Albert said, it left them in shock. You could get a trophy for donating money towards the school, but it left them dilapidated when they heard the amount. For Lee, it was equivalent to just under two years of his family's business profits and for the twins, almost seven years of family savings. The twins themself only had two Galleons after saving for a long time and that money was going to be for their joke shop in the future.

Lee Jorden broke a few from Fred's grasp and fell to the floor. "What couldn't I do with that money? Albert? You're rich right? Could you, like, spare some change for us instead of getting a trophy?"

Albert shook his head after he heard that. "Actually, I'm more curious of the benefits I would receive from Dumbledore for donating that much."

Albert was thinking about doing that, but when he thought of the potential benefits and drawbacks, it stumped him. The cons outweighed the pros. Now that he thought of it, he was more sure not to donate. In muggle society, with enough money you can do whatever you want and the same for the wizarding world. With enough money, he could make people forget about blood status when it came to him.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just telling you the best way to earn yourself a trophy," Albert coughed as he headed toward the exit. "Let's check this floor."

"If we had the money to do that, we wouldn't right, brother?" said Fred.

"We could spend all the money experimenting on prank ideas," George said as he followed the other out of the room.

The four searched the whole fifth floor and found the 'Defence against the Dark Arts' classroom.

"Look at that," Albert said as he pointed to a mirror. "I'm pretty sure thanks a secret pathway."

The four boys rushed to the mirror and pulled it open to reveal a stone staircase leading down.

"What are you doing here?" said a low, gruff voice.

The four boys turned around. It was Professor Snape, the potion teacher and the head of Slytherin. Everyone knew of his dislike toward Gryffindor. The boys froze in fear as Snape strode towards them.

"We... we were looking for the... bathroom," said George meekly.

"Yeah, we were looking for the bathroom," said Fred confidently.

But they did not fool Snape. "Tell me what you are doing here or else you'll spend the rest of this term cleaning cauldrons under my supervision."

Albert took a step forward and took a deep breath. He avoided looking Snape in the eye as he was a master Legimancer. "We were looking for a secret passageway and we found one here."

"I can see that," Snape said. He stepped forward before being interrupted.

Albert got his camera out of his robe and stood next to Professor Snape. "By the way, Professor, can I take a picture of this, please?"

The three Gryffindor boys were stunned. Snape turned to give the smiling Albert a 'death stare'.

Ignoring the stare, Albert asked again. "Sir, can I or can I not?"

"If you have the time to partake in these silly activities, then..." Snape said before they cut him off.

"No sir, these aren't silly activities," Albert said as he snapped a photo of the stone staircase. "The prefect said that this is a rare opportunity. He suggested for us to familiarise with Hogwarts layout. Hogwarts is massive, and He promised us we will get lost. He also said that the professor doesn't take too well for students being late for lessons, so we came to see where all of our classrooms were."

"And how do you know which classroom you are going to use?" Snape asked.

"Professor McGonagall gave us the timetable earlier. She said to put them on the notice board in our common room." Albert said as he got out the timetable and showed it to Snape.

This time, Snape was as stunned as the three Gryffindor boys behind him. He couldn't believe someone could speak up against him, but the boy made some valid point. He had no reason to argue. Hogwarts was a labyrinth, and the school did not hand out any maps.

Snape lips trembled slightly and then stared at Albert. "Once you have found all your classrooms, I expect you to be in your common room, library or in the Great Hall, not dilly dallying around Hogwarts looking for secret passageways. There is a reason they are called secret passages. After that, I want you to study every textbook at least once and if you have done that you are to go to the library and look for a book called 'Guide to the Art of Potion Making for Beginners' and read it. I will ask you a question in my lesson. Do you understand?" Snape said as he waited for the boys to nod. "Good, now begone. I do not want to see you again today, otherwise it will be detention for the rest of this month and don't be late."

"Bye sir, we'll see you on Friday," Albert said as he waved to Snape and left with the others.

"Wow, I can't believe you did that in front of Snape," Lee Jordan said.

"And you interrupted him twice. Twice!" Fred said.

"Don't you know? He's famous in the Gryffindor house," George said.

"I did nothing wrong. I just stated the facts," Albert said as the others looked at him. "Why is he famous?"

"He never gives House point to any other House a part from Slytherin and is quick to take away points from Gryffindor," Fred said.

"I wish I could see the look on his face," George said.

"I don't care about that. Where do you think that passage leads to?" Lee asked.

"Don't know. I guess we'll find out in the afternoon," Albert said as he heard a chime in his head. The system generated a new quest. The prompt floated in front of him and read:

{I won't go Speechless:

Professor Snape is one of Hogwarts' most famous and hated Professor to teach at Hogwarts according to non-Slytherins. He is famous for showing no emotions. You have bumped paths with him before, so why not do it again? Your mission? Simple. Leave him speechless four more times. Your reward will be based on your performance.

Completion Rate: 1/5

Rewards: Variable

Rewards Archived: 2000 Experience points }

"What are we going to do?" George said.

"About what?" Fred replied.

"About the book, you idiot," George said as he hit his brother's back.

"It's just a question. You don't need to worry about it." Lee said.

"It's just a question," George said, mimicking Lee Jorden.

"Do you know who that man is?" Fred said.

"Guys, it doesn't matter. We'll got the book from the library and study it. At least that way, we'll be ahead of everyone else." Albert said as he walked forward. "Anyway, I can't wait till potions on Friday."

The three of them stared at Alberts' back as he walked away. They remembered he had an excellent memory and was likely to learn it, so he was fine. But them? They will have to work their socks off for it so they don't earn the ire of Snape on their first lesson.