"You... you actually bet?" George Weasley gulped. "That was 25 Galleons! What if... what if..."
He didn't dare finish the sentence.
"I trust my luck and my intuition," Albert said calmly. "You should try. If you guess right, you could make a lot of money."
"We don't have the money," the twins said in unison, shaking their heads. The Weasleys were poor; even if they had savings, they wouldn't waste it on a bet.
"Don't look at me," Lee Jordan said, shaking his head. "I want to save my money for other things." He thought Albert's move was insane. If he had that much money, he definitely wouldn't use it like that.
As the four chatted, the train left London, speeding past fields and meadows.
Albert glanced at the newspaper while listening to the other three chat about Quidditch. He couldn't join in. Even if he knew the rules, he had to pretend not to. After all, as a Muggle-born, he wasn't supposed to know anything about it.
"By the way, did you guys hear about that Gabriel Truman thing?" George suddenly asked.
"Nately almost got fired from the Ministry," Fred whispered. "He had to personally apologize to Truman to make it all go away."
"I heard about that too. But my mum says you can't trust anything Rita Skeeter writes," said Lee. "That woman loves to exaggerate."
"Most newspapers are like that. But there's always a grain of truth," Albert said, closing the paper. As one of the main culprits, he knew exactly what happened.
"I went by Truman's compartment earlier," Fred said. "He was telling some other kids about it. Said he ran into a new first-year who was practicing magic, and suddenly he got a letter saying he was expelled. He said Dumbledore and a Ministry guy showed up, but the Ministry guy had a bad attitude and wouldn't even apologize, so he..."
Albert raised an eyebrow. He'd told Truman to keep quiet, but clearly, he'd forgotten. At least he hadn't used Albert's name.
Albert's soul was, after all, Eastern. That innate humility and reservation hadn't disappeared, and he didn't like to show off.
"Anyway, do you guys know how the school sorts us?" Albert changed the subject.
"No idea. My family won't tell me," Lee said.
"Percy says it's some kind of test," George said, annoyed. "They won't tell us. They think it's funny."
"What's wizarding life like? Is it interesting?" Albert asked. "When I got my letter, my family was shocked. My mother wasn't happy to see Professor McGonagall at all. She was worried I wouldn't be able to find a job after graduation."
"Oh, you'll be fine. Our big brother already graduated," the twins said together.
"Bill works for Gringotts in Africa."
"What about your father?" Albert asked, though he already knew.
"He works at the Ministry of Magic," they said in unison.
"I think I'll probably stay in the Muggle world after I graduate."
"Why?" the three asked, baffled.
"I'm mainly here to learn how to control magic. Professor McGonagall said it could... get out of control... if I didn't," Albert explained. "But we can't use magic in the Muggle world, and we can't let Muggles know about it, or we'll get in trouble."
"What do you all want to do in the future?"
"I don't want to work at the Ministry."
"Me neither," the twins said, looking at each other and laughing.
"Being a Quidditch player would be cool," George said. "Our brother Charlie just became Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain. It's a shame you have to be a second-year to join the team."
"I haven't really thought about it," Lee said.
"What about you?" all three looked at Albert.
"Me? Find a simple, easy job that makes a lot of money."
"Does a job like that even exist?" The three of them stared at each other. If it did, they wanted in!
"Probably. I'm looking," Albert smiled. He wondered when the twins would get the idea for their joke shop.
"You don't mind if I take your picture, do you?" Albert asked, pulling out his camera.
"A picture?"
"Yeah, my family wants to know about the magical world." Albert had the three of them sit together and snapped a few photos.
"Why isn't it moving?" Lee asked, poking the photo.
"Muggle photos don't move," Albert explained. He looked at the print, satisfied. "Looks like my skills have improved a bit."
"What's the point of a photo that doesn't move?" The three quickly lost interest.
Around noon, a rattling sound came from the corridor. A moment later, a smiling witch slid open their compartment door. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
"I'll have a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans," said Lee. He and the twins had brought sandwiches from home, and the twins didn't have any money for extras.
"I'll take... a bit of everything, please," Albert said to the witch.
After seeing his 25-Galleon bet, the other three were already numb to his free-spending habits. Albert paid a Galleon and, in return, got a huge pile of snacks.
"I bet your family is rich," Lee muttered.
"Not that rich," Albert said, popping a bean. "Sprout flavour. They're just lawyers."
"What's that?" the three asked, unfamiliar with the Muggle term.
"They argue for people in court," Albert said, thinking. "You could also say they're paid to... legally exploit loopholes."
"Legally exploit loopholes?" The three were baffled. How could exploiting a loophole be legal? What kind of bizarre move was that?
"So, walk me through this. What is all this stuff?" Albert gestured to the pile. He really didn't want to eat something nasty. Wizards had strange tastes. Besides, this was a good opportunity. Friendships, after all, needed to be maintained.