Summer vacation always passes by incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the end of August, not long before Hogwarts started.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't looking forward to going to Hogwarts, although Albert would have preferred to stay home and slack off for a while longer.
However, time waits for no one.
In terms of magic, unilaterally fumbling around is definitely not a good idea, much like a blind person using a cane to explore; no one knows what lies ahead.
Albert still had a rudimentary understanding of magic, even though he had already read all the books once.
He maintained a pen pal relationship with Truman, exchanging letters every three days.
This Hufflepuff student's grades were only average, and the little knowledge he had was quickly exhausted by Albert within a few days.
Truman believed Albert would likely be sorted into Ravenclaw because he showed great interest in magical knowledge, and he even felt a bit regretful about it.
Albert didn't care which House he was sorted into. As long as he didn't go into Slytherin, it would be fine, as Muggle-born wizards weren't welcome there. However, given Albert's status as a Muggle-born wizard, he probably wouldn't get into Slytherin anyway.
"You've worked hard, get some good rest." Albertstroked the Owl's head and placed some food in the birdcage.
Albert was quite satisfied with this Owl; at least after his repeated requests, Shera no longer brought back prey.
He believed Daisy wouldn't appreciate finding dead mice while cleaning the house.
Shera let out a tired hoot, entered the birdcage to eat, and prepared to rest, completely unfazed by Tom's bared teeth beside her.
"Stop it, Tom." Albert picked up the short-haired cat and went downstairs for breakfast.
Today, Herb was home; he had recently taken a liking to The Daily Prophet and showed great interest in the moving newspaper.
Daisy would also join in reading The Daily Prophet, hoping to learn more about the Wizarding World.
"This morning, I specially made corn chowder." Daisysmiled as she ladled a large bowl of chowder for her son; she knew Albert liked this soup.
"Then I don't have to drink milk, do I?" Nia looked very happy; she hated drinking milk every day.
"Of course, you still have to drink it." Daisy placed a glass of milk in front of her daughter.
"Did Albert learn new magic again?" Nia glanced at the milk, subtly changing the subject.
She learned this trick from Albert; the girl planned to pour the milk into Tom's cat bowl when her mother wasn't looking.
"Nia." Daisy appeared behind her daughter at some point, hands on her hips, watching everything intently.
"Mom, I'm preparing breakfast for Tom, he likes milk." Nia quickly argued.
"It's okay, Nia, I have more here." Daisy poured another glass of milk and placed it in front of her daughter, not forgetting to instruct, "Remember to drink it all."
"I hate drinking milk every day." Nia couldn't help but complain.
"Doesn't Albert drink it every day too?" Daisy reminded her, "He never complains."
"It's not the same, I've never seen Albert dislike anything since he was little." Nia was a bit frustrated; her family always liked to use Albert to shut her up, "You can't always compare him to me, he's an exception."
"Oh, he does. Your brother used to dislike cheese." Daisyraised an eyebrow and said, "However, he eats cheese now too."
"Liar." Nia didn't believe it at all, because Albert's potato pancakes had a generous amount of cheese and ham.
"It's true, there are some cheeses Albert rejects, especially the strong-flavored ones; he won't eat those." Herb also found it amusing; thinking about it now, his son really wasn't a picky eater, even eating foods that children usually hate.
"Children who aren't picky eaters grow taller." Albertsaid without hesitation.
"What do I need to grow that tall for?" Nia retorted.
"Being taller makes you prettier." Albert reminded her, "Mom is an example."
Daisy clearly liked this statement and smiled even more happily.
"Flatterer." Nia mumbled, and under Daisy's "loving" gaze, she reluctantly finished her milk.
However, she shared half a glass with Albert, reasoning that drinking more milk would help Albert grow taller and as handsome as his father.
Daisy and Herb were both relatively tall types, and due to their professions, they usually paid attention to their appearance and maintained good figures. More importantly, they were still very young.
Originally, Herb had planned to take the family to the zoo today since he was free. With school starting soon and Albert going to Hogwarts, there likely wouldn't be another chance for a family outing this year.
However, after Albert expressed he didn't want to go, Nia also said the zoo was boring, so the family changed their original plan and stayed in the living room chatting and watching TV.
Nia wanted to ride the toy broomstick, but Herb strictly refused, as she had almost crashed into the TV with the broomstick last time.
The living room wasn't big enough, and riding a broomstick outside wasn't appropriate; it would be hard to explain if someone saw them.
Thus, the toy broomstick Luke had just bought for Niawas locked in the closet by Herb.
Actually, Albert had also ridden a toy broomstick once, which gave him the illusion that he might be experiencing chuunibyo. The toy broomstick didn't fly high, and he found it boring, so he never tried it again.
However, for Nia, who didn't know what chuunibyo was, the idea of flying freely on a broomstick was clearly very tempting.
After watching TV for a while, Daisy went to the Kitchento prepare black tea and cake. The family of four, plus one cat, read "the tales of beedle the bard" in the living room.
This storybook contained fairy tales from the Wizarding World.
The fairy tales inside were a bit different from the stories they had heard before, such as Sleeping Beauty.
The story was about a medieval banshee who, out of jealousy for the local king's daughter's beauty, coated a spindle with Aconite Potion (literally: Living Hell Potion). She lured the young princess to touch the spindle, causing her to fall into an eternal sleep.
Later, a Male Wizard applied a Invigoration Draught to his lips and kissed the princess, waking her up.
Well, the magical version of Sleeping Beauty certainly lacked a bit of romance. However, the family listened with great interest, even though they had no idea what Aconite Potion (literally: Living Hell Potion) and Invigoration Draught were.
At this moment, The Anderson Family was reading the story of the three brothers, with each person taking turns to read a paragraph, making the process very interesting.
"Are there really stones that can bring people back to life?" Nia asked curiously.
The magical world is full of infinite possibilities. Since the Alchemist Nicolas LeMay might have lived for centuries using the legendary Philosopher's Stone, it seemed not impossible for there to be a stone that could revive people.
"Nia, there's no such thing in the world." Herb reminded her, "And you should have heard that the second of the three brothers' lover was not truly revived."
"This is a fairy tale, and there's a saying that fairy tales are all lies." Albert said with a smile.
"Albert is so annoying, can't you let me have some hope?" Nia couldn't help but complain. Of course, she knew that things in fairy tales were all fictional.