The first day of Hogwarts, a weekend, was a pleasant surprise for most students.
In the morning, Albert opened his eyes and got out of bed. It was still raining heavily outside. He stifled a yawn and looked at his roommates, who were still lingering in bed, unwilling to get up.
It's always particularly hard to get out of bed when it's raining.
Albert changed his clothes, preparing to go to the Great Hall for a meal. Before leaving, he took out two brick-thick books from his trunk.
These two books were borrowed by Albert from the Library before the summer holidays, and naturally needed to be returned after school started. By the way, Albert had already read 17 books out of the task of reading a hundred books.
Passing through the common room, Albert witnessed a surprising scene.
The armchairs in the common room were already occupied, and many Gryffindor students were actually… actually diligently doing their homework.
Was the sun going to rise from the west?
No, it was still raining outside.
"Good morning," Sanna came down another staircase and greeted Albert, who was also standing at the staircase entrance. Looking at the people in the common room, she asked in surprise, "Are everyone doing… summer homework?"
"Yeah, catching up on summer homework," Albertreplied and walked towards the common room entrance.
Sanna glanced at the students in the common room and followed Albert out.
Along the way, they both chatted about the Duplication Charm.
"Items duplicated with the Duplication Charm usually have no added value," Albert told Sanna after giving directions to a lost first-year. "If you use the Duplication Charm to duplicate a silver spoon, the duplicate itself only has the use of a spoon, without the effect of the precious metal silver."
Sanna nodded, indicating her understanding.
Before reaching the Great Hall, they met Charlie and Wood in the Entrance Hall, who were discussing Quidditch tryouts.
It was well known that Wood would be the successor to the next Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
There was no other way; after Charlie graduated, Woodwould be the oldest and longest-serving member of the entire team.
Albert went forward, greeted them, and prepared to enter the Great Hall for his meal.
"Albert," Charlie suddenly called out to Albert.
"What is it?" Albert's heart skipped a beat, and he turned to ask.
"Quidditch tryouts are next Wednesday, don't be late," Charlie reminded him.
"Wednesday? I'm not sure when Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Club starts," Alberthesitated for a moment and said, "How about you just give me a reserve player spot?"
"Don't make excuses," Charlie narrowed his eyes and said, "Order your Flying Broom early; your position is Seeker."
Albert was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion, "What about you?"
"I can handle the Chaser position," Charlie's tone was flat. "So, don't make excuses for yourself. I'll allow you to occasionally miss Quidditch practice."
"That doesn't sound right," Albert twitched his lips.
"There's nothing wrong with it. A Seeker doesn't really need to cooperate with others. You just need to catch the golden snitch for us," Charlie waved his hand impatiently, signaling that Albert could leave.
After Albert and Sanna entered the Great Hall, Woodlooked at Charlie and asked, "Is this really okay?"
"You know the Quidditch level of those Gryffindors," Charlie scoffed and curled his lip. "Besides, it's not like I didn't give them a chance. If they're not good enough, who can they blame?"
After speaking, Charlie patted Wood's shoulder and continued, "You need to know that Chasers and Beaters are relatively easy to find, but Seekers are not. That's why I want to leave you with a formidable Seeker. Otherwise, when you take over the Gryffindor team next year and don't have a qualified Seeker, you'll be in trouble and will definitely lose miserably."
"Albert is perfectly qualified as a Seeker; you saw his last match."
"I'm just worried…" Wood hesitated, but still didn't voice his concerns.
"What's there to worry about? George and Fred are Albert's good friends, Angelina has a good relationship with Albert, and everyone else knows him. It doesn't matter if he occasionally doesn't come," Charliereminded him meaningfully, "A Seeker's task is to find the golden snitch."
Albert was unaware of Charlie and Wood's conversation, and even less aware that the original Quidditch players had already been internally selected.
He was currently teaching Sanna how to use the Duplication Charm.
It was basically impossible to succeed on the first try. So, Sanna, who was practicing with a spoon, failed as expected.
Just as the two were chatting about the Precautions of the Duplication Charm, Albert's attention was drawn by a white owl.
Shera still delivered the letter on time, even in such stormy weather.
"Good job!" Albert pulled out some owl nuts from his pocket and placed them in front of Shera.
"What's in the letter?" Sanna asked curiously. A crisp metallic sound echoed when the letter landed on the table.
"A piece of gold," Albert said without thinking. He didn't plan to open the letter in the Great Hall, but instead stuffed the envelope back into his pocket.
As for how to deal with the golden card, Albert had already thought about it and planned to hide it in the Room of Requirement.
Yes, right next to ravenclaw's diadem.
Next time, when Albert handed the diadem to Dumbledore, he would have an excuse to deflect Dumbledore: I just hid the golden card nearby, and that's when I found this thing.
"A piece of gold?" Sanna repeated, looking at Albertsuspiciously. When this guy spoke, he mixed truth and falsehood, making it impossible to tell if he was telling the truth or lying.
"I was just kidding. Actually, it's a metal membership card inside," Albert said in a joking tone, not giving Sanna time to ask further questions.
After breakfast, Albert greeted Sanna and then got up and left. As for Shera, after eating the nuts, it had already flown back to the owlery to catch up on sleep.
"Gold, membership card? What strange things are these?" Sanna shook her head as she watched Albert's retreating figure.
It was truly difficult for ordinary people to connect gold with a membership card.
Well, unless one had actually seen it, it would be very difficult to connect the two.
Albert hurried to the Eighth Floor, and when no one was around, he slipped into the Room of Requirementand placed the envelope containing the golden card near ravenclaw's diadem.
Whether Hertok would retrieve his golden card through other means, Albert couldn't be sure; perhaps he would ask Dumbledore for help.
Keeping the golden card on him would make it easy for the other party to take it back; hiding it was the best option.
As for whether the other party would apply for another membership card?
Of course they could, but a replacement would not be a golden card, nor would it have the effects of a golden card.
There was no other way; the golden card was unique, and the Extraordinary Potioneers Association would not issue a replacement. After all, no one had ever heard of someone losing a trophy or medal and then asking the organizer to replace it.
Unless Hertok gave up himself, he would have to resolve the trouble he caused if he wanted to get the golden card back.
The probability of Hertok abandoning the golden card was low.
Albert walked, pondering this matter, and by the time he came back to his senses, he was already standing in front of the Fat Lady's portrait.
Answering the password, passing through the passage, and returning to the dormitory, Lee Jordan was already awake and checking his summer homework.
He had just arrived in the common room and was startled by the sight there.
"How is it?" Albert asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Didn't miss any holiday homework," Lee Jordan made an OK gesture and then asked, "When do we start making wizard cards?"
"According to the plan, we'll start with cards for Hogwarts students and Professors," Albert took out his notebook, flipped a few pages, and said, "Collectively called the Hogwarts Card Set."
"I thought you'd group them by house."
"Initially, of course, they'll be separate; that's more conducive to promotion," Albert took out a piece of parchment, drew a rough sketch of the card's structure, and continued, "However, all these cards will belong to the Hogwarts Card Set. We need to divide factions, and each faction needs its own gameplay to increase the fun of the game."
"Makes sense," Fred said.
"Not sleeping anymore?"
"No," Fred stifled a yawn and began to get up and get dressed.
"What is this for?" George asked, pointing to a large blank space on the parchment.
"For portraits," Albert picked up his wand, cut out the image on the parchment, then duplicated several copies using the Duplication Charm, and then picked up his quill to start making cards: "Fred Weasley. Attack 1, Health 1. Requires 1 action point. Effect: When Georgeis not on the field, immediately summon George from the deck to the field. When the Weasley Twins are both on the field, both players' attack power +1."
"Our attack power is only 1 point?" Fred and Georgecouldn't help but protest.
"I think your card's effect is good," Lee Jordan pointed to his own card.
"Lee Jordan. Attack 1, Health 1. Requires 1 action point. Effect: As one of the four founders of the wizard card, you can draw one card for free."
"What about your card?" The three looked at Albertcuriously.
"My card," Albert picked up a blank piece of parchment and filled in his information.
"Albert Anderson. Attack 3, Health 2. Requires 2 action points. Effect: When this card enters the field, gain one Shield Charm and one Expelliarmus from your deck."
"Why is your card effect better than ours?" The three couldn't help but protest.
"Because I'm better than you, and I actually know how to use both of those spells," Albert comforted them. "These cards aren't fixed. Later, we can apply Transfiguration Charm to the cards to solve the card update problem."
"Hurry up and make them, I can't wait to play a game," Lee Jordan urged.
"Add Charlie and Percy too. Oh, and don't forget the Gryffindor Quidditch players," Fred continued. "Also, add all the Professors from the school."
"By the way, how many cards do we need to make a deck?" George asked.
"For now, thirty," Albert thought for a moment and replied, "A deck cannot have more than three duplicate cards."