"You… you really gambled?" George Weasley swallowed hard. "That's twenty-five Galleons! What if… what if…"
He didn't dare to finish the sentence — saying guessed wrong felt like tempting fate.
"I trust my luck and intuition," Albert said calmly. "If you never try, how will you ever win? What if you guess right? You could make a fortune."
"We don't have that kind of money," the twins said together after exchanging uneasy glances. The Weasley family wasn't well-off, and even if the twins had a few savings, they wouldn't risk them on a wild guess.
"Don't look at me," Lee Jordan said, shaking his head. "I'm saving for other things. I think you're mad, Albert. Even if I had that much money, I'd never spend it like that."
As the four talked, the train had already pulled away from London, racing past open fields and rolling green hills.
Albert leaned back and flipped through a newspaper, half-listening to the others chatting about Quidditch. In that subject, he couldn't really join in — even if he knew the rules, he had to pretend otherwise. After all, he was supposed to be a Muggle-born.
"Oh, by the way, have you heard about Gabriel Truman?" George suddenly asked.
"Nataly almost got expelled by the Ministry of Magic," Fred whispered. "Later, he went to apologize to Truman personally, and that's how the whole thing blew over."
"I heard about that too," Lee Jordan added. "But my mum says you can't trust anything Rita Skeeter writes. That witch loves to exaggerate."
"Most newspapers do," Albert said, folding his paper neatly. "Still, there's always a grain of truth hidden somewhere in the lies."
As one of the people actually involved in the incident, he knew perfectly well what had happened.
"I passed by Truman's compartment earlier," Fred said, lowering his voice. "He was telling someone that over the summer he saw a Hogwarts student practicing magic. Then, out of nowhere, he got a letter saying he'd been expelled. Apparently Dumbledore himself showed up at his door, along with some Ministry official who was rude and never apologized, so Truman—"
Albert raised an eyebrow. Westerners really do love attention, he thought. He had warned Truman to keep quiet, but the boy clearly hadn't listened. At least he hadn't mentioned Albert's name.
Albert's soul was still Eastern at heart — quiet, reserved, and uncomfortable with boasting.
"Anyway," Albert said, smoothly changing the topic, "do you know how the school sorts new students?"
"No idea. My family refuses to tell me," Lee Jordan sighed.
"Percy says there's a test," George muttered irritably. "They won't tell us anything — they think it's funny."
"What's a wizard's life like, anyway?" Albert asked after a pause. "When I got my letter, my parents were shocked. My mum didn't even want to let Professor McGonagall in. She was worried I wouldn't find a proper job after graduation."
"That's nonsense," Fred said quickly. "Our eldest brother already graduated."
"Bill works for Gringotts in Africa," George added.
"What about your dad?" Albert asked, pretending not to know.
"He works at the Ministry of Magic," the twins answered in unison.
"I think I'll probably stay in the Muggle world after I graduate," Albert said thoughtfully.
"Why?" all three asked at once, puzzled. To them, the idea was absurd.
"I mainly came to Hogwarts to learn how to control my magic," Albert explained. "Professor McGonagall said that if I don't, it might become unstable someday."
"But in the Muggle world, we can't use magic freely," Fred pointed out. "And we can't let Muggles find out, or we'll get in trouble."
"True," Albert nodded. "By the way, what do you all want to do after you graduate?"
"I'm definitely not working for the Ministry," said George.
"Same here," Fred agreed, and both of them laughed.
"Being a Quidditch player would be great," George said wistfully. "Charlie became Gryffindor's captain this year, but first-years can't join yet. Such a shame."
"I haven't decided," Lee Jordan admitted.
"What about you?" the three asked, turning to Albert.
"Me? Something simple, easy, and well-paid," he said with a grin.
"Does a job like that even exist?" Fred asked skeptically.
"There has to be one," Albert chuckled. "I'm still looking." He was genuinely curious when the twins would come up with the idea of opening a joke shop.
"If you find it, tell me first," Lee Jordan said, clapping Albert on the shoulder with a laugh.
"Mind if I take a picture of you guys?" Albert asked, pulling out his camera.
"A photo?"
"Yeah. My family wants to see what the wizarding world looks like."
The three boys huddled together, grinning awkwardly as Albert raised the camera and clicked a few shots.
"Why aren't the photos moving?" Lee Jordan asked, poking at the print curiously.
"Muggle photos don't move," Albert explained, examining his handiwork. "Not bad — my photography's getting better."
"What's the point of photos that don't move?" Fred said, losing interest instantly.
As noon approached, a commotion rose in the corridor. A moment later, a kindly witch poked her head into the compartment.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked brightly.
"I'll take a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans," said Lee Jordan. He had brought his own food, while the twins had sandwiches — they didn't have much to spare.
"I'll take one of everything," Albert said casually.
The three boys stared. After seeing him gamble away twenty-five Galleons earlier, they were already numb to his spending habits.
Albert handed over a Galleon and received a small mountain of snacks in return.
"I bet your family's rich," Lee Jordan muttered.
"Not that rich," Albert said, opening a box of Every Flavor Beans and popping one into his mouth — bean sprout flavor. "Both my parents are lawyers."
"What's that?" the twins asked in unison, curious.
"People who represent others in court," Albert explained after a moment's thought. "You could say they make a living by legally exploiting loopholes."
"Legally… exploiting loopholes?" Fred repeated, frowning. "How can exploiting loopholes be legal?"
George snorted. "That sounds like a contradiction."
Albert laughed. "It's complicated. Anyway, how about you help me with these?" He gestured toward the snacks piled on the table. "You know more about wizarding food than I do. I don't want to end up eating something that breathes fire."
The three eagerly joined in, and the compartment soon filled with laughter and the sound of wrappers tearing open — the beginning of a friendship that would last for years.