On the first floor of the castle, not far from the Great Hall, there was a door that led toward the Hufflepuff common room and the Hogwarts kitchens.
Albert spent a while wandering around the Hall, discovering two doors beside the marble staircase — and, unsurprisingly, Filch's office nearby.
Filch's cat was sitting by the door, staring at him with its wide, unblinking eyes.
"What's its name?" Albert asked lightly.
Filch didn't answer. He simply scooped up the cat and disappeared into his office, slamming the door behind him.
"He must be jealous," Albert muttered under his breath.
If he remembered correctly, Filch was a Squib.
Honestly, Albert thought, a Squib should probably live among Muggles, not stay in the wizarding world tormenting himself — and everyone else — with bitterness.
Well, at least the annoying fellow was gone.
Now then… which door should he pick?
"Where could the kitchens be?" he murmured. Pulling a coin from his pocket, he flicked it into the air. It clattered to the ground — heads up. "Left it is."
Behind the door lay another stone staircase leading down into a broad, torch-lit corridor. As Albert stepped forward, the torches along the walls flared to life one by one, bathing the passage in warm light.
The walls were lined with paintings of food — steaming roasts, glistening puddings, and baskets of fruit.
"Looks promising," Albert said to himself, following the corridor until he came across a large painting of a shining silver bowl filled with fruit.
It was said that the entrance to the kitchens was hidden right behind this painting — and the secret lay in the pear.
Albert reached out and gently tickled the big, emerald-green pear. It gave a little wiggle, let out a giggle, and transformed into a large green door handle.
"Bingo," Albert grinned. "Looks like my luck's holding up."
After finding the Room of Requirement, he had now discovered the kitchens too. His exploration progress was going quite well.
He grasped the handle and pulled the door open.
The kitchen was enormous — almost a mirror of the Great Hall above. Rows of cupboards lined the walls, crammed with gleaming pots and pans. Four long wooden tables stood in the same arrangement as the four House tables overhead. On them were platters of food already prepared for breakfast.
When mealtime came, the House-elves would send it all up with magic.
"Sir, is there anything you need?" squeaked a nearby House-elf, hurrying toward him.
"The Great Hall isn't open yet, so I thought I'd come see the kitchens," Albert said, smiling politely.
"Please, this way, sir!" The elf eagerly grabbed his hand and led him to a table. Within moments, half a dozen others appeared, carrying a silver tray laden with a pot of milk, slices of ham, fried eggs, toast, salad, and pumpkin porridge.
"Thank you, little fellows," Albert said warmly, pouring himself half a cup of milk.
He hadn't been much of a milk drinker in his previous life, but the habit he'd formed here had done wonders — he was far stronger now than he'd ever been before.
"It is our pleasure, sir!" chirped the elves. Being thanked seemed to make them almost giddy; they beamed and bowed to him repeatedly.
Albert ate a portion of ham and eggs, two slices of toast, and a small bowl of pumpkin porridge. By the time he finished his fruit salad, he was comfortably full.
As he leaned back, he noticed the elves' "uniforms" — or rather, their lack thereof. They were wrapped in tea towels embroidered with the Hogwarts crest.
"I think I should get going," Albert said, glancing at his panel — his exploration progress had reached 7.3%. "Thanks for breakfast."
"It is our duty, sir," they replied in their squeaky voices.
Before he left, a group of elves crowded around, insisting he take some pastries with him.
"That's enough, thank you. Goodbye, little fellows," Albert said, slipping four small pies into a brown paper bag and tucking it into his robe. Those would make nice gifts for George and the twins.
The elves all gathered at the doorway, waving as he left. Their delighted faces said everything — it had been a long time since anyone had thanked them sincerely.
Following the same route as the day before, Albert made his way back to the common room in just a few minutes.
It was still empty; even the ghostly lady who floated there at night had vanished.
When Albert entered his dormitory, the twins were still sound asleep, snoring in sync. Only Lee Jordan was awake, blinking in surprise as Albert appeared in the doorway.
"Where have you been?" Lee asked.
"For a walk," Albert said cheerfully. "And breakfast! I brought you all something."
"What kind of something?" asked the twin on the right — probably George — yawning and scratching his head.
"I thought you lot were still asleep," Lee said, stretching. "So, what'd you bring?"
"Pies." Albert took the brown paper bag from his pocket, pulled out a warm pie, took a bite, and handed the bag to Lee. "One each."
"Where did you get them?" Fred asked, instantly awake.
"The kitchens," Albert said simply.
"Wait, you actually found the kitchens?"
"Yeah, and you didn't even call us!" Fred grumbled, sitting up.
It was nearly impossible to tell the twins apart at this hour; only their voices gave them away.
"Aren't you going to brush your teeth first?" Albert teased.
"Oh, right," George muttered, setting his pie aside before asking curiously, "So how did you find them?"
"I was wandering around and stumbled onto the right door," Albert said with a shrug. He told them about his early-morning encounter with Filch and his cat.
"Mrs. Norris is sharp," Lee said. "She probably went to call her master."
"Still, I bet Filch looked miserable when he realized it was morning," Fred snorted.
George laughed. "He must've been furious!"
Hogwarts Castle really was full of surprises.
After washing up and getting dressed, the three of them headed down to the common room. It was still empty, the fire cold. Albert lit it with a quick flick of his wand and settled onto a sofa.
The rain outside had finally stopped.
"Bill and Charlie said there are loads of secret passages in the castle," Fred said through a mouthful of pie.
"Yeah, but they won't tell us where any of them are," George complained.
"Maybe they want you to discover them yourselves," Albert said, recalling Sir Nicholas's advice. "That's half the fun."
"I think so too," Lee agreed.
"Oh, that reminds me." Albert walked to the entrance. While the common room was still empty, he took a few photographs — including one of the Fat Lady.
"You're taking pictures again?" Fred asked.
"I'm sending a letter home," Albert said, checking his camera. "For Muggles, everything here looks like something out of a dream."
He'd even gained a new skill in photography, though he wasn't entirely sure how it worked yet.
"I heard Charlie say Filch likes to torment students," George added once he'd finished eating. "He wants to hang troublemakers from the ceiling and whip them."
"Yeah, and he knows every secret passage in this place," Fred said darkly. "That's how he always shows up out of nowhere."
"Most students who wander around at night end up caught by Filch," Lee said.
"And then," Fred added with a grin, "they lose points and get detention."
Albert laughed softly. "Then it's settled — if we ever explore at night, we'll just have to be better than Filch."