As noon approached, Hogwarts Castle, which had been silent all night, was revitalized.
Albert occasionally encountered other students in the hallways or corridors. It's fair to say that sleeping in is in most people's nature, especially on weekends, when most people prefer to sleep a little longer if they don't need to get up early.
A light rain was still falling outside the castle. Most students stayed in the auditorium chatting, while a very few unlucky ones who hadn't finished their homework on time were busy copying their summer assignments.
During their exploration of the castle, the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan couldn't hold on any longer and were the first to run away.
However, Albert still spent the morning touring the entire castle and taking many interesting photos. After finishing his tour and returning to the Great Hall, he felt a slight pain in his calves.
The trip was quite fruitful; Albert managed to draw a rough map of the castle based on his memory.
Although he had heard from others that the location of some staircases in Hogwarts Castle would change every Friday, Albert didn't care because that was the following Friday; he figured a solution would come by then.
It's worth mentioning that the quest to explore Hogwarts Castle has reached 26.7% progress.
"Why are you alone? Where are your friends?" Angelina and another girl walked over, sat down in the chair opposite Albert, and greeted him.
"They slipped away halfway through the castle tour." Albert picked up a slice of bread from his plate, intending to make himself a sandwich. "Those three guys must have found something interesting. They handed me some blueberry jam over there. Thanks."
"How's your castle map coming along? Can I take a look?" Angelina pushed the blueberry jam jar over to her right and pointed to the parchment on Albert's left.
"I still think you should explore the castle on your own; it's one of the joys of being a new student." Albert casually handed the parchment to the girl opposite him and grabbed the jar of blueberry jam.
"What's that?" Aria leaned closer, staring at the simple sketch, her brows furrowing slightly. She was having some difficulty seeing it, but she could still make out some markings for secret passages and classrooms, and which stairs required climbing which step.
"By the way, here is our class schedule." Albert copied two more class schedules and handed them to the two people opposite him.
"What kind of magic is that?" Angelina asked curiously.
"The Copy Charm can turn one item into two." Arya, who was born into a wizarding family, recognized the spell Albert used at a glance.
Not all wizarding families adopt a laissez-faire approach like the Weasleys. Arya received a good wizarding education from a young age, giving her a higher starting point than most students.
"A very useful little trick, isn't it?" Albert winked at the two of them and continued, "With this, you don't need to take notes anymore; you can just 'borrow' a copy from someone else."
Arya looked at Albert with a strange expression, feeling that this guy's thought process was different from others.
"Could you get me a copy? That way I won't have to worry about not finding a classroom."
"Aren't you worried that the map will be drawn wrong?" Albert countered.
"Of course I'll check it myself," Aria said matter-of-factly.
"Do you want it?" Albert asked Angelina.
"Thank you," Angelina said with a smile.
Hogwarts Castle is indeed quite large, and freshmen can easily get lost. With Albert's map, at least they know where to go.
Being late on the first day of school is not a good sign.
"By the way, I remember you're from a Muggle family, right?" Arya put away the map and asked, "How do you know so many spells? I bet most freshmen don't know as many spells as you do."
"I learned these spells while practicing magic before school started. Most of them are quite simple." Albert spread blueberry jam on a slice of bread, took a big bite, and although it tasted pretty good, he couldn't stand eating these things all day long.
"Simple?" The two looked at each other and suddenly felt an inexplicable pressure.
After receiving their own wands, most freshmen would try to use the magic from the books. Angelina and Arya were no exception; they both learned some simple spells, but it was by no means as easy as Albert made it sound, as if learning magic was as effortless as eating a piece of bread.
After finishing the slice of bread covered in blueberry jam, Albert made himself a sandwich.
British lunches are never very satisfying, and Hogwarts is no exception; bread and potatoes are always the staple food there.
This lunch includes bread slices, boiled potatoes, fresh vegetable salad, and bacon. Of course, there's also a large pot of milk tea or pumpkin juice.
After finishing his ham sandwich, Albert put two potatoes with the skin on his plate. He had been wandering around the castle all morning, and his stomach was growling with hunger.
Speaking of which, during mealtime, the three of them were nowhere to be seen; who knows where they've gone off to fool around.
"I really miss rice and noodles," Albert muttered to himself, continuing to devour the potatoes with skin on his plate.
Potatoes are a staple food for the British, and he has eaten them almost every day for years. People in this country can even make a hundred different dishes with potatoes.
Although potatoes are not bad, it's really hard to eat them every meal.
"The pasta is delicious," Angelina agreed. "I've had it several times, and the taste is something I really miss."
"British food is always disappointing, and the variety is too good. The chefs here never seem to bother to figure out how to cook properly." Albert poured himself a cup of milk tea, took a sip, and complained, "I remember having a plate of whole fish baked in sea salt and herb bread crust a while ago."
The two men looked at each other, listening with great interest as Albert complained about all sorts of bizarre British foods, such as his father's favorite chips sandwiches and the fact that his family only had maize sauce that his grandmother liked...
Albert remembers the first time he tasted Marmite sauce; it was...the taste of hell, a taste he would never forget.
If I had to describe it, it would be a strong soy sauce smell mixed with various body odors.
From then on, Albert kept his distance from Marmite.
"If any of you are interested, I'll send her a bottle as a Christmas gift."
"Cough cough." Aria immediately lost her appetite. "No, thank you, but I still want to eat some normal food so that I won't feel nauseous at the sight of jam in the future."
After finishing the milk tea, lunch was over.
Albert sat at the dining table looking at the photos he had taken earlier: knight's armor, castle scenery, a portrait, or a rather exaggerated sculpture... These photos revealed a corner of Hogwarts.
However, seeing Albert selecting photos, Angelina really wanted to say something like, "You're not a student here to study at all; you're more like a tourist visiting Hogwarts Castle."