Chapter 64
Albert believed that his ghostly spellwork would cheer up Sir Nicholas.
So, under Nick's curious gaze, Albert pulled a small incense burner, a bundle of incense sticks, and a pair of candles from his spatial bag. Finally, he took out two pieces of chocolate from his pocket.
After setting everything aside, Albert arranged the incense burner and the candles on the crate in front of him, placing the chocolates just behind the burner. Once everything was in place, he lit the two candles with his wand.
Then he picked up one of the incense sticks, lit it using the candle flame, and held it between his fingers, eyes closed in focus.
Nick had no idea what Albert was doing, but the boy's solemn expression made it clear that this was something important. Not wanting to disturb him, Nick respectfully remained silent.
For a few minutes, the storage room was completely still. The only sound was Albert's soft, melodic chanting, echoing faintly through the room. Even the footsteps of someone walking in the corridor outside, their shoes soaked from the rain, were distinctly audible.
After three or four minutes, Nick watched Albert place the smoldering incense stick into the burner. Then, Albert opened his eyes and exhaled slowly.
The incense flared brightly, burning away completely within seconds. The curling smoke drifted toward the chocolates on the table, which seemed to absorb the aromatic vapors.
After that single breath, Albert seemed to return to normal. He picked up the chocolates and held them out to Nick, saying, "Nick, have some chocolate. It'll help you feel better."
Nick reached out with a faint smile, taking one of the chocolates. "It's kind of you to try and comfort me, Albert, but you know ghosts like me—well, we can't exactly…"
He trailed off mid-sentence. His expression changed dramatically.
Nick felt something—something he hadn't experienced in over five centuries.
Among all the ghosts of Hogwarts, only Peeves, who wasn't truly a ghost, could interact with the physical world. The others couldn't touch anything at all.
Yet now, in his own palm, Nick found two translucent, milk-white pieces of chocolate. The chocolates Albert had held remained in his hand, untouched.
"Is this… real?" Nick asked, stunned.
Albert nodded. "As you know, I come from a noble bloodline. Recently, I uncovered a few spells from one of our old family grimoires. This one, in particular, uses the power of incense to allow ghosts to benefit from food."
Nick placed one of the spectral chocolates into his mouth, his face filled with wonder. Tears welled in his ghostly eyes—he hadn't tasted anything in five hundred years.
After finishing both chocolates, his melancholy seemed to melt away. He turned to Albert with deep gratitude.
"Thank you… thank you for letting me taste food again. Compared to this, being rejected by the Headless Hunt doesn't seem so painful anymore."
As he wiped away tears that weren't quite there, Nick hesitated again.
"Albert… I feel bad asking for more after everything you've done for me… but there is something…"
Albert looked up, gently curious. "Sir, is there something you wish to ask?"
"Ah, well, I was wondering… that spell you just used—was it difficult for you? You didn't even use a wand."
Albert smiled. "Not too difficult. It's part of celestial magic—similar to the wandless casting some African wizards practice. It's not as hard as it seems, though I can only create five or six ghost-edible items at a time. They last about a week if preserved properly."
"I see…" Nick said thoughtfully, his hesitation melting away. He finally voiced his request.
"This Halloween marks my 500th deathday. I'm planning a grand Deathday Banquet and have invited ghosts from across the United Kingdom. Would you be willing to prepare food for the feast?"
Before Albert could answer, Nick quickly added, "Of course, I understand it'll require a lot of time and energy. In return, I promise a generous reward. I've lived in this castle for five centuries—I know secrets that few others do."
Albert nodded. "Very well, I promise. Come find me a week before Halloween and we'll begin preparing everything in the Room of Requirement. But I'll say this now—my cooking skills are fairly average. We'll likely need someone else to help with the actual food preparation."
"No problem at all! I'll speak to the house-elves in the kitchens," Nick said happily. With Albert's help secured, he no longer worried about the menu.
The two parted ways soon after. Albert had quite a bit of planning to do—he needed to carefully experiment with recipes that would surprise every ghost at the banquet.
After watching Nick float away through the wall, Albert returned to the Gryffindor common room.
The common room was especially lively that evening. The weather had been terrible lately, and everyone preferred to stay indoors in the warmth.
At that moment, the Weasley twins were feeding a small fire lizard, trying to get it to ignite their latest batch of magical fireworks.
The lizard promptly launched the fireworks across the room. Fortunately, magical fireworks didn't set things ablaze thanks to protective enchantments. Otherwise, the flammable carpets, tapestries, and wooden furniture would've made the place a firetrap.
A moment later, Percy's voice rang out, scolding the twins. Other students cheered in the background, amused by the chaos.
Albert slipped through the crowd and handed Fred a stack of anatomical notes he'd compiled from Madam Pomfrey's lessons. The twins had mentioned wanting to develop a new line of magical sweets, and they'd asked for some biological data to help fine-tune their recipes.
Albert suspected they were working on a new type of fast-acting "Jumping Sugar" and needed dosage data for some of the more potent effects.
As Fred took the small notebook, he asked, "Hey, Albert, how'd you like to join our research?"
Before Albert could respond, Percy appeared again and said sternly, "I hope you two aren't up to anything too complicated—or I'll write to Mum."
George quickly interjected, "No, of course not! We just wanted to ask Albert about potion-making and spell theory. We saw Madam Pomfrey giving him a private lesson the other day."
"Really?" Percy asked, intrigued.
"Yes," Albert replied calmly.
Percy then launched into a lengthy monologue about the twins' behavior and expectations. It took forever for him to leave.
Once Percy moved on to scold a group of first-years being too noisy, Albert turned to the twins and said with a smile, "It'd be an honor to join your research."
Albert was genuinely curious to see what kind of wild, creative ideas the twins would come up with now that they h
ad access to more materials—and more knowledge.