9 Chapter 9: Unjustified Disaster

Luke somehow managed to calm Nia down and help the temperamental granddaughter recover.

In the following days, Herbert and Daisy went back to work, while Albert and Nia stayed on Charles Street for the summer vacation.

Albert shared the contents of magical history and other books with the elderly couple. He performed the magic he had mastered in front of them. He also spent a Galleon to order a set of Wizard's Chess from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and started studying how to play chess with Luke.

At first, Nia was startled by Wizard's Chess, but she quickly grew to enjoy the game.

Of course, the result was that no one wanted to play chess with Albert anymore because his chess skills had clearly surpassed everyone else's.

Wizard's Chess is actually similar to regular chess, but the pieces are alive. You usually need verbal commands to control the pieces, as if commanding an army in battle.

If you reach out to touch them, the chess pieces will use their weapons to poke your hand.

Of course, ordinary people can also play, but they can't command the pieces well. The pieces seem to have a sense of self-awareness and are always chattering, saying things like, "Do you even know how to play chess? Don't send me there. Send a pawn, sacrificing it doesn't matter."

Albert made rapid progress in learning magic. During this period, he also completed the task "Luke's Regret" and gained 1,500 experience points.

The experience pool accumulated back to thirty thousand, but in reality, experience was not very useful at all.

The higher the skill level, the more difficult it became to improve the skill. In the later stages, one could only consume experience from the pool or skill points to level up.

"Albert, are you sure this leaf will float?" Nia had been staring at the leaf, but it still didn't react.

"I think I made a mistake with the gesture," Albert felt a little frustrated. When casting a spell, the movement of the wrist was also crucial. Sometimes a wrong movement or an inaccurate incantation could lead to magic failure, which was a common mistake for beginners.

"In the absence of anyone teaching him, he could only slowly explore on his own or use the experience from the experience pool to raise the skill to level 1 and master it directly.

Albert would choose the former unless he really couldn't grasp it, but a levitation spell wasn't something he was too concerned about. Mastering such a spell wasn't too difficult to learn.

"So, magic isn't as easy to learn as I thought," Nia admired Albert's patience a bit. At least she didn't have that much patience to dedicate to it.

"Of course, it's like learning math, you have to take it step by step," Albert pushed his sister on the swing and casually reassured her, "Don't give up until the end."

"Ugh, I'm tired of hearing those comforting words," Nia pouted, but she was still happy.

In fact, Nia suspected that she might really lack the innate talent to become a wizard. After talking to her grandfather last time, she didn't care as much about it anymore.

When there were not many people in the park, Albert tried the levitation spell again. This time, he succeeded. After chanting "Wingardium Leviosa," the leaf successfully floated into the air.

At that moment, Albert noticed someone watching them. He put away his wand and followed his instincts to look in the direction of the person staring at them—a slightly older boy who was walking towards them.

"Do you need something?" Albert raised an eyebrow and asked the boy who was approaching.

To be honest, Albert wasn't afraid of the boy causing trouble. His karate skill was at level 2, and even without using a wand, he could take down ordinary people.

Albert learned karate when he was eight, specifically to deal with troublesome kids, especially after he made three kids cry at school last time. Everyone in the school knew that Albert Anderson knew karate and was very formidable.

Because of that incident, Daisy was called to the school and scolded by the teachers, but she stood firmly on Albert's side and even called her husband over.

The couple used their lawyer skills to silence everyone.

There was no way around it. The three kids were older than Albert. How could you cry and run to the teacher when you couldn't beat him?

In the end, the matter was dropped.

It was also during that time that Albert was officially accepted into this family.

"Are you... a new student at Hogwarts? Don't try magic in a place like this. You'll be discovered, and regular people fear the power of magic," the boy observed the floating leaf with surprise. He didn't expect to encounter a new student who was just about to enter Hogwarts and could actually make a leaf float.

"Thank you, I'll be careful," Albert felt that the boy meant no harm, so he thanked him and prepared to leave with his sister.

"I'm Gabriel, Gabriel Truman, a student from Hufflepuff House, and I live nearby," Gabriel Truman shook hands with Albert in a friendly manner and introduced himself. "You're a first-year student, right? I hope you'll come to Hufflepuff House."

"Hufflepuff?" Albert pretended to be puzzled and asked.

"Oh, right, you're not familiar with the four houses and the Sorting Ceremony," Truman was about to explain when he noticed an owl flying towards them and dropping a letter at his feet.

"Why would there be an owl at this time?" Truman picked up the letter, opened it in front of Albert, and froze. His expression stiffened, and his face turned grim.

Nia also sensed the change in atmosphere and quickly hid behind Albert.

"What's wrong?" Albert also felt that something was off and asked tentatively.

"On trial... expulsion... How could... Why is this happening?" Truman's face was filled with confusion and bewilderment. He couldn't understand why the Ministry of Magic would send a letter stating that he had violated the Restriction of Underage Sorcery by using a levitation spell in front of Muggles, and that he needed to stand trial at the Ministry and faced the risk of expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Yes, it's you, it must be you." Truman saw Albert and suddenly understood what was happening. He lunged at the new student in front of him as if going insane, but he suddenly felt dizzy and found himself being taken down by a kid even younger than him.

The next moment, Truman felt a sharp pain in his wrist and couldn't help but scream in agony.

"Calm down. It's not as bad as you think," Albert had already guessed the reason from Truman's words. This unfortunate guy might be facing the risk of expulsion from school.

"I didn't even use the levitation spell!" Truman roared angrily. "I didn't even have my wand with me."

"I know. I used that spell," Albert calmly reminded him. "Maybe we should write a letter to the school and explain the situation. If necessary, I'll testify for you. Don't worry, they won't easily expel you. We'd better write the letters now, one each, explaining the current situation to the Headmaster. Do you have an owl?"

"No," Truman felt a bit frustrated. He realized that he wasn't as composed as the other boy.

"Brother, it's Shira," Nia pointed to the owl flying towards them.

"It seems like Shira knows we need her. Owls are truly amazing creatures," Albert couldn't help but marvel.

The concept of the silk thread on the wand is derived from the Harry Potter fanfiction.

(End of this chapter)