Since meeting McDougal, Albert could hardly believe that his campus life had undergone such a dramatic change.
Delving too deeply into the secrets of the runes has put a considerable burden on Albert's brain, which is directly reflected in the fact that Albert has been somewhat listless lately.
However, this high-load situation does have some advantages.
Albert's rune skill experience increased at an incredible speed, rising by nearly 1,000 points in less than half a month.
Most importantly, Albert felt he was about to get his hands on what he wanted: the real way to use ancient runes that McDougal had mentioned.
If he could upgrade the rune skill to level 3, he might be able to master that part of the knowledge in a short time, but Albert would rather spend more time on it. Even if he upgraded the skill directly to level 3, the knowledge he gained would still take a long time to digest.
Moreover, using too much experience at once to upgrade skill levels would be a huge burden on the experience pool, and Albert wouldn't risk doing so.
For him, upgrading a skill directly to level 2 is within his current budget, and he would only do so if the skill is practical.
The experience pool is not only reserved for upgrading the economy and finance, but also Albert's biggest backup plan and guarantee.
If there is only outflow and no inflow, it is undoubtedly not a good thing.
"What's wrong with you lately? You look really tired," George said.
"It's nothing, just a bit busy. Could you please push that orange marmalade over there to me?" Albert was putting two sausages, a fried egg, and half a diced fried tomato onto his plate.
"Here you go." George glanced at Albert suspiciously, but didn't ask any further questions.
Taking the marmalade from George, Albert spread a thick layer on the bread, took a big bite, and casually pulled out his diary from his pocket, starting to flip through his old entries to see if he had forgotten anything.
Albert does have a great memory, but when he gets focused on something, he tends to forget about other things.
"Looking at your notebook again?" Fred said with a smile. "By the way, there's an Apparition class this afternoon, do you want to go?"
"I remember in the last Apparition class, one of the boys from Hufflepuff was dismembered," Li Jordan said with a laugh, recounting the amusing incident from the Apparition class.
"It's 'dismemberment,' not 'dismemberment.'" Angelina across from him glanced at Li Jordan with disdain and corrected him, "Don't use such a terrible word in the wrong place."
"I think that guy's name was Figo," Li Jordan said.
"It's Figo." Albert took a bite of his fried egg and weakly corrected the other person's mistake.
"How did you know?" Li Qiaodan asked, somewhat unconvinced. "I remember..."
"Last time, I met a Hufflepuff friend in the library… cough cough." Albert took a big gulp of pumpkin juice, glanced at the fried egg on his fork, and put it aside for the time being, intending to eat it later.
"You have Hufflepuff friends?" Arya was curious that Albert knew Hufflepuff students; this guy had a wide circle of friends!
"Who doesn't have a few friends?" Albert disagreed.
"I remember it was... that tough guy who punched the Ravenclaw prefect down last time, I think his name was..."
"Call him Truman," Fred said, offering a reminder. "I've noticed your memory is really bad."
"Who would bother to remember these things?" Li Qiaodan argued.
When Truman was mentioned, the Weasley brothers suddenly looked at Albert and asked in a low voice, "Last time, was it you who suggested that to Truman?"
Albert didn't answer, pretending not to hear, and continued flipping through his notebook. His gaze fell on a record, and he looked up at George, asking, "I couldn't repair that copy of 'Yurik's Biography' from last time. But it seems you took the book; have you repaired it and returned it?"
"It wasn't fixed, but it's been returned. Mrs. Pince didn't notice." George's face looked a little unnatural.
"At the time, we made a bold decision," Fred explained. "We tore that page out completely, so that as long as you didn't turn to that page, it wouldn't be discovered."
"You're in luck." Albert was speechless. He thought the twins would fix the book and return it, but he didn't expect it to turn out like this. Anyway, as long as Mrs. Pince doesn't find out, it's fine.
"I wonder which unlucky guy will take the blame for you."
"Ahem, that's none of our business." The twins both looked a little embarrassed.
George quickly changed the subject: "By the way, are you going to watch the Apparition class this afternoon?"
"Go ahead, it wouldn't hurt to attend a class; you can always learn something," Albert nodded, wanting to see if he could make his skill list appear in the form of phantoms through this method.
Basically, every time Vicky Tykroth came to Hogwarts to teach Apparition, Albert would go to watch and take notes on the knowledge he needed to acquire. His little notebook contained the three "D"s that Tykroth had mentioned.
It would be great if I could try it myself.
Unfortunately, first-year students cannot enroll; otherwise, they could practice apparition under guidance, which would undoubtedly greatly improve the safety and learning efficiency of apparition.
"What are you thinking about?" Shanna interrupted.
"He's probably upset again about why lower-grade students can't sign up for the Apparition course." George had a look on his face that said, "I can see right through Albert."
"This kind of opportunity is rare. However, Apparition is still too difficult for lower-grade students. We don't have enough magical power to support ourselves in completing this spell." Although Albert said this, he was actually quite frustrated. Unlike others, he didn't have this problem. As long as he could master the skill, he could immediately master Apparition by adding experience points.
"You can use the Disillusionment Charm!" Fred whispered.
"Don't be silly, you think that thing can fool Professor McGonagall?" Albert rolled his eyes at Fred.
"Even if you learn it, you can't use it. Magic isn't allowed during summer vacation," George said seriously.
"Why?" Shanna asked, puzzled.
"That's just how the Ministry of Magic stipulates. It's said that the first time you'll get a stern warning, and the second time you might get expelled. Even if you're lucky enough not to get expelled, you'll still be fined a hefty amount of Galleons," George solemnly reminded him.
"How did you know?" Shanna asked, frowning. "I used it at home during the Christmas holidays and didn't receive any warnings?"
"That's because you haven't received official notification yet." Percy sat down next to George and answered Shanna's question for him. "Once you receive official notification from the Ministry of Magic during the summer vacation, you can't use it anymore unless you turn 17."
"As far as I know, using magic in a wizard-rich area like Diagon Alley won't get you a warning, and a pure-blood wizard should be fine using it at home," Albert said softly. "The Ministry of Magic can't figure out who used it."
"How did you know?" Shanna stared at Albert curiously, while Percy beside her looked a little embarrassed.
"Ever since that unlucky Truman almost got expelled for this nonsense," Albert said dismissively, "I've been paying special attention to this issue. I even asked some upperclassmen and learned that the Ministry of Magic uses something called 'trace silk' to locate and monitor our surroundings. If you use magic in Muggle territory, the Ministry can send you a warning letter in no time."
"If magic is used in Diagon Alley or in a wizarding community, the Ministry of Magic won't be able to figure out who used it?" Shanna asked tentatively.
"Yes, that's it," Albert nodded.
"That's so unfair!" Shanna said indignantly.
"Wizard families need to rely on the self-discipline of family members," Percy explained with a dry cough.
"If self-confidence were truly useful, why would the Ministry of Magic need to enact so many laws?" Shanna sneered.
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"I like what you said." Albert couldn't help but laugh. "How philosophical! Don't you all think so?"