15 Chapter 15: Wizards Have Strange Tastes

"Do you... Do you really bet?" George Weasley swallowed nervously. "That's 25 Galleons, what if... what if..."

He couldn't bring himself to say the words, afraid of what might happen if he did.

"I believe in my luck and intuition," Albert calmly replied. "You guys should give it a try. If you guess correctly, you can make some money."

"We don't have money." The twins exchanged glances and shook their heads. The Weasley family was relatively poor, and even if the twins had some savings, they wouldn't waste it on betting.

"Don't look at me. I want to save some money to buy other things," Lee Jordan shook his head repeatedly. He thought Albert's actions were crazy, and even if he had that kind of money, he would never use it like this.

As the four of them chatted, the train had left London and was speeding through meadows and fields.

Albert flipped through the newspaper while listening to the three casually discussing Quidditch. In this regard, he had no input whatsoever. Even if he knew the rules, he had to pretend to be clueless.

After all, Albert came from the Muggle world, so he theoretically couldn't know anything about Quidditch.

"Oh, have you heard about Truman?" George suddenly brought up a recent incident.

"Nathalie was nearly expelled from the Ministry of Magic," Fred whispered, "but then she personally went to apologize to Truman, and that settled the matter."

"I heard about it too. But Mom said that Rita Skeeter's articles can't be trusted," Lee Jordan said, "that woman likes to exaggerate."

"Most newspapers are like that, but there's always some truth in the content," Albert said, closing the newspaper. As one of the culprits behind everything, he naturally knew what had happened.

"I went to Dumbledore's office earlier, and overheard him talking to someone about it. He said that during the summer break, he encountered a new Hogwarts student practicing magic, and then he received a letter out of the blue, saying he was expelled from Hogwarts," Fred suddenly said. "At that time, Dumbledore and a Ministry of Magic official came to his house, and the Ministry official had a terrible attitude. They didn't even offer an apology, so he..."

Albert raised an eyebrow at the remark. He could only say that Westerners tended to be more outspoken. He had reminded Dumbledore to keep it a secret, but apparently, he had forgotten. However, Albert didn't disclose his involvement in the matter.

Albert's soul, being from the East, still retained the qualities of humility and reserve, and he didn't like to show off.

"By the way, do you guys know how the school sorts students into houses?" Albert changed the subject.

"I don't know, my family didn't tell me," Lee Jordan shook his head.

"Percy said there's some sort of test involved," George said with a hint of annoyance. "They never want to tell us, thinking it's something fun."

"Is the life of a wizard really interesting?" Albert pondered for a moment and then said, "When I received my letter, they were all surprised. My mother wasn't even that welcoming of Professor McGonagall; she was worried I wouldn't find a job after graduation."

"That won't be a problem. Our older brother graduated," the twins said in unison.

"Bill is working for Gringotts in Africa."

"What about your father?" Albert asked, knowing the answer already.

"He works at the Ministry of Magic." The twins exchanged glances and said simultaneously.

"I think I'll probably stay in the Muggle world after graduation."

"Why?" the three of them asked, puzzled. To them, it seemed like an unimaginable choice.

"I came to Hogwarts mainly to learn magic, to understand how to use it. Professor McGonagall said that if I didn't learn magic, it could lead to uncontrollable magic."

"But in the Muggle world, we can't use magic freely, and we can't let Muggles know about the existence of magic, otherwise, it would bring trouble upon ourselves."

"By the way, what do you guys want to do in the future?"

"I don't want to work at the Ministry of Magic."

"Me neither." The twins looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

"Becoming a Quidditch player wouldn't be bad. Charlie became the Gryffindor Quidditch captain this year, but we have to wait until second year to join Quidditch," George said regretfully.

"I haven't really decided," Lee Jordan said.

"What about you?" They all looked at Albert.

"As for me? I want to find a job that's simple, easy, and can make money."

"Is there really such a job?" The three of them couldn't help but exchange glances again. If there was such a job, they would want it too!

"There should be. I'm looking for one," Albert said with a smile. He was curious when the twins came up with the idea of opening a joke shop.

"If you find one, remember to let me know," Lee Jordan patted Albert's shoulder seriously and couldn't help but laugh.

"You don't mind if I take a picture of you guys, do you?" Albert took out his camera.

"A photograph?"

"Yeah, my family wants to know about the wizarding world," Albert said, motioning for the three of them to sit together. He lifted the camera and took a few pictures of them.

"Why don't the photographs move?" Lee Jordan raised his hand and poked at the picture, as if trying to make them come alive.

"Muggle photographs don't move," Albert explained, taking a look at the pictures and being quite satisfied. "It seems like my skills have improved."

"What's the point of non-moving pictures?" The three of them quickly lost interest in the photographs.

As lunchtime approached, the aisle of the train became noisy.

After a moment, a witch pushed open the compartment door and poked her head in, asking, "Would you like to buy some snacks, dear?"

"I'll have a package of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans," Lee Jordan said. He had brought his own food. The twins had also brought sandwiches, but they didn't have much money, so they didn't buy anything.

"I'll have a bit of everything," Albert said to the friendly-faced witch.

After witnessing Albert's extravagant gambling earlier, the three of them had become numb to his lavish spending habits.

As a result, Albert parted with a Galleon and bought a pile of items on the table.

"I bet your family must be quite wealthy," Lee Jordan muttered.

"They're not that wealthy," Albert opened the package of Every Flavour Beans and ate one with a bean sprout flavor. "They're all lawyers."

"What's that?" The three of them didn't understand Muggle professions.

"People who represent others in legal cases, you can think of them as people who exploit legal loopholes," Albert thought for a moment and explained.

"Exploit legal loopholes," the three of them were a bit puzzled. What did it mean to exploit legal loopholes legally? This was quite a mind-boggling concept.

"Please tell me what these foods are," Albert made a gesture of invitation. He didn't want to eat something strange. Wizarding tastes were a bit peculiar. And, this was an opportunity. Friendship, when you got down to it, still required cultivation and maintenance.

(End of this chapter)