Holidays are always a joy for body and mind—especially for students.
Even with dreaded homework looming, Albert's mood remained bright. He had already finished all his assignments at the fastest possible speed the day before Christmas break. A holiday without homework was, in his view, the only true holiday.
During the Christmas break, Albert indulged in simple pleasures: sleeping late, watching television on the sofa after meals, teasing the cat when bored, listening to music, chatting and playing chess with Nia, or curling up with a book by the fireplace.
But right after Christmas, he found something new to occupy his time. Once the town library reopened, Albert went searching for records on runic writing.
This interest had been sparked by his recent purchase of An Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes. He had struggled through the book, but no skill related to Ancient Runes appeared on his panel.
Albert suspected this was similar to Alchemy: he needed deeper study before the skill would manifest. Waiting until third year to take Ancient Runes at Hogwarts was out of the question. He was a man with a panel—once the skill appeared, mastering it would be simple.
The library held few records, but Albert uncovered references in Germanic mythology.
Runic writing, also called runic script, originated in Germanic myth and was linked to Odin, the Allfather, who, legend says, sacrificed an eye for knowledge of the runes.
Runes belonged to the Germanic language family. Thinking of Germanic peoples, Albert immediately thought of the Germans—their language evolved from Germanic roots.
But there was a problem.
Albert recalled that the author of Harry Potter had used Latin extensively when designing spells. Latin and Germanic were distinct languages.
Albert wasn't an archaeologist or linguist; he didn't intend to solve these puzzles. He simply recorded his doubts, hoping that as he mastered more knowledge of runes, the answers would reveal themselves.
Later, he discovered a connection: after runic writing disappeared, Germanic languages adopted Latin letters. This explained why Britain and Germany used Latin letters yet were classified as Germanic languages.
It took Albert several days to grasp why Hogwarts offered Ancient Runes as an elective.
Germanic mythology originated in Scandinavia—modern-day Sweden. Languages of Denmark, Norway, and Iceland evolved from North Germanic. Old English, meanwhile, came from Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, a West Germanic runic script.
Religious influence later introduced Latin letters across Europe, contributing to the disappearance of runes.
Still, one fact remained: runic writing carried magic. Ancient magical items were often carved with runes to enhance their power.
Albert believed this practice originated with runestones, which in his previous life were famous in the Wizarding World.
Though much of his research was speculative, Albert remained enthusiastic. He explored ancient texts, learned to identify runes, and sought to understand them.
Muggle records were limited, so Albert wrote to Truman. On his advice, Albert purchased The Magical Syllabary and The Runes Dictionary from Flourish and Blotts. The Wizarding World, unsurprisingly, had deeper knowledge of runes.
For the rest of the holiday, Albert devoted himself to deciphering runes. It was difficult, but his persistence paid off. A skill called "Runes" finally appeared on his panel. Though not exactly what he had imagined, Albert immediately invested experience points to raise it to level 1.
Soon, he could barely understand runic writing. The feeling was strange—he could vaguely sense the magical charm of Ancient Runes.
Investing more experience, Albert raised "Runes" to level 2. Now he could interpret most runes without relying on The Magical Syllabary or The Runes Dictionary, and even read them aloud.
This was fascinating. The runes Albert mastered through the panel were undoubtedly correct. Re-examining the books, he spotted errors. Words cannot always be perfectly translated into other words; mistakes were inevitable.
Religious runic steles were especially prone to misinterpretation. Symbolic meaning, magical application, functional spectrum, and divinatory interpretation could all differ. Confusing these aspects led to skewed results.
Albert became keen on identifying mistranslations and recording them.
Later, he began experimenting with the magical uses of runes. The amulet project he had once abandoned became his latest research. But before he could finish inscribing the runes, the holiday ended.
Albert boarded the express train back to Hogwarts the day before term began.
As expected, Fred and George hadn't made garlic crosses. Instead, they had smuggled strings of garlic from home. Lee Jordan had done the same.
Albert's eyelids twitched at the pile of garlic. He had thought they'd forgotten.
"Finished your holiday homework?" Albert asked, changing the subject. He had no desire to discuss garlic.
"Oh, still a little bit," Lee Jordan admitted, munching a pumpkin pasty. "I'll go to the library later to find information and catch up quickly."
"We're fine," the twins said in unison.
"Copying each other?" Albert asked dryly.
"No, that's called referencing," Fred corrected with a grin.
Lee Jordan snorted disdainfully and buried his head back in his food.