That night, Albert showed his family his new Hogwartsuniform—a plain black work robe and a black pointed hat, nothing special.
If he had to say, it looked silly, especially that damned pointed hat; wearing it out would surely get him some stares, at least that's what Albert thought.
Nia, however, was quite pleased with her gifts; she draped the cloak, much too big for her, and wore the black pointed hat, posing in the living room while Herbtook photos of the two of them.
Daisy sat on the sofa, quietly flipping through Albert's History of Magic, wanting to understand more about where her son was going.
"Mom, look, it's a living chocolate frog!" Nia opened the chocolate frog package and giggled as she watched the chocolate frog hop away.
Herb, already experienced, quickly reached out and caught the chocolate frog that landed on the table, handing it to Nia.
Then, Herb opened another package, which also contained a chocolate frog. He quickly grabbed the chocolate frog and presented it to Daisy, who was carefully reading the book.
"Can this thing really be eaten?" Daisy raised an eyebrow, suspiciously examining the seemingly live chocolate frog in front of her, doubtful of its safety for consumption.
"Mom, chocolate frogs can be eaten, and they taste really good!" Nia had already bitten off the chocolate frog's head and was eating happily, some melted chocolate smudged on her face.
"Alright, wipe your face clean, you look like a little calico cat!" Albert handed his handkerchief to Nia, then turned to Tom, who was staring at the owl, picked him up, placed him by the sofa, and, scratching his chin, instructed, "Tom, don't bully it."
Albert took out some owl nuts from the package, poured some into the cage's dish, and murmured, "What should I call it?"
"Jerry."
Albert thought for a moment and named the snowy owl that.
Tom and Jerry.
Even though that cat and mouse cartoon didn't exist in this world, Albert thought the name was quite amusing.
The snowy owl seemed to sense its owner's mischievousness and didn't react to Jerry.
"Albert, your name is so ugly!" Nia reached out, picked up the owl, and rubbed her face against it, saying, "It should be called Shera, that's a good name."
"Why not Shera-bi?" Albert thought mischievously.
"Albert, the person in the picture suddenly disappeared!" Herb was surprised to find that the person in the chocolate frog card had vanished.
"Photo?" Albert looked at his father, who was holding a chocolate frog card.
"Perhaps, Wizard photos can move? If chocolate frogs can move, why can't the people in photos move?"
"That's true!" Herb accepted this explanation. He flipped the card over and read the text on the back: "Albus Dumbledore… current Hogwarts Principal, widely considered the greatest Wizard of his time."
"Oh, that's the old man who sent Albert the letter." Daisy took the chocolate frog card from her husband, wanting to see who had sent her son that invitation letter.
Unfortunately, the card was empty inside.
Daisy flipped the chocolate frog card over and continued reading the rest: "Dumbledore's widely known contributions include: defeating the Dark WizardGrindelwald in 1945, discovering the twelve uses of dragon blood, and his highly successful Alchemycollaboration with Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling."
"Dragon blood?" Daisy's eyes widened, and she said in disbelief, "There are dragons in this world? And, Nicolas Flamel, I remember he was…"
"A famous Alchemist from the 14th century," Albertadded. "He created the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which is said to turn base metals into gold and grant immortality. If he's still alive, it means the Philosopher's Stone made Nicolas Flamel immortal."
"Alright, Daisy, cheer up." Herb reached out and hugged his wife, softly comforting her, "Things aren't as bad as you think, especially when we don't understand the Wizarding World yet. It's best not to make judgments too easily, and you should trust our son; he's a genius and can show his talent no matter where he goes."
"By the way, Albert, can you use magic?" Nia pounced on Albert, grabbed his hand, and playfully shook it, her small face full of anticipation as she looked at Albert, "I want to see you do magic."
"Well… I need to study it first; I don't know how to use it yet." Albert reached out and ruffled Nia's hair.
"Mean." Nia covered her head and ran to Daisy's side to share the pumpkin pasties with her.
Albert began flipping through Miranda Goshawk's "the standard book of spells, Grade 1," then took his wandout of the box, preparing for his first attempt at casting a spell.
"No, Albert, don't try it here!" Herb's face twitched, remembering what had happened earlier in the wandshop.
"You should have some confidence in your son!" Albertraised his wand, tapped it lightly, and softly chanted, "Lumos."
The tip of the wand suddenly flashed, then extinguished.
"Just now, the tip of that wand flashed, right?" Daisysaid, unsure.
"Yes, it flashed, truly my son!" Herb's face showed unconcealed pride as he realized Albert could use magicimmediately.
"Albert, what was that just now?" Nia asked excitedly.
"Uh, that was the Lumos Charm, it should be a relatively easy spell to master. I'll try again." Albert secretly checked his panel and indeed found the Lumos Charmadded to his skill list.
The spell was still at level 0, but it had already gained 7 experience points.
Only by reaching level 1 is it considered truly mastered. It only takes 100 experience points to go from level 0 to level 1, but Albert didn't plan to use his precious stored experience to level up the Lumos Charm to level 1; even 100 experience points were quite valuable.
"I'll try again." Albert cleared his throat and recited the spell once more; the tip of his wand again emitted a pale light.
Albert attempted it five times in total before he barely mastered the spell; he only needed to concentrate a little, and the light on the wand wouldn't easily disappear.
Seeing this, the other three couldn't help but applaud. Although it was just a simple Lumos Charm, in the The Anderson Family's eyes, it was quite remarkable.
"Albert, Albert, let me try, I want to try too." Niaexcitedly pounced on her brother.
"No." Albert quickly put away his wand, "At least, not here. You know what? The last time I tried a wand, I almost blew up the counter of that wand shop."
"Stingy."
"It's not about being stingy. wands themselves are very dangerous, and I don't know anything. What if something dangerous happens?" Albert immediately put on a serious face and pulled out his trump card, "If Nia is still so willful, I won't teach you how to use magicanymore."
"Albert is right." Herb quickly said, "You should wait for him to become familiar with magic before he teaches you."
"Okay!" Nia pouted in dissatisfaction but still compromised, though she looked a little disappointed. She greatly envied Albert's ability to use magic.
"Your grandfather plans to come over these two days. However, I think we'd best go visit them together, to avoid having to make another trip." Herb left some Wizarding World candies and gifts. He knew his father might not eat them, but he would surely be happy to see these things.