Late at night, on Tibbet Avenue, residence 19, the light in the second floor window was still on.
Albert was quickly reading the contents of the book, and also upgraded Quick Memory to level 2 along the way, his memory became much stronger. Ordinary people don't have this ability, and Albert was definitely superior to them in terms of memory.
Just now, Albert found himself with another unfamiliar skill: Wizard Bloodline, level 0.
Ordinary experience could not upgrade this skill, it could only be upgraded through skill points.
This was the first time he had seen this happen, and Albert hesitated for a moment before raising his Wizard Bloodline to level 1.
After upgrading the skill, Albert found that his efficiency in learning magic became higher, or rather, his magic power became stronger, his mastery of the illumination spell had increased. After only a dozen minutes of practice, he had upgraded the skill to level 1.
It represented that Albert had an initial grasp of the spell, and can easily use it without having to deliberately concentrate on it.
Should he invest all his skill points?
Albert hesitated, skill points were hard to come by and he needed to reserve some for a rainy day.
However, after further hesitation, he decided to invest the remaining two skill points, only to find that it could only be levelled up once?
What a rip-off!
Albert didn't feel any changes after raising his Wizard Bloodline to level 2.
Could it be a passive skill?
Albert was a bit depressed, but he didn't regret it. He walked out of the room and began to try the unlocking charm.
He held the wand in one hand and opened the book «Standard Spells - Elementaries» in the other. He followed the instructions in the book and waved the wand gently back and forth, a bit like an inverted S shape, which felt a bit awkward.
After a few more attempts, Albert locked the door with his free hand and gave his own doorknob an Alohomora.
Albert tried twisting the knob a few times, but the lock didn't open.
It had failed.
Although the failure was expected, there was still good news. The panel had added the unlocking charm, but this time he had no experience.
"Albert, what are you doing?" The girl's voice came from behind, and Nia, in her pyjamas, appeared at the end of the corridor.
Albert turned his head and looked at his younger sister. He knew how she must be feeling, as if he had caught him red-handed stealing a snack.
"Why aren't you in bed?" Albert asked.
"I can't sleep!" Nia complained, "You're so sneaky. You're secretly practising magic."
Albert was a little embarrassed, but it was true, it was a bit like being caught red-handed.
"I want to play too!" Nia stared at Albert's wand.
"It's not a toy!" Albert shook his head. He would never let his younger sister use the wand.
Children don't know how to exercise restraint and do things according to their whims. Who knows what trouble she would get herself into.
Of course, that presupposes that Nia is also a wizard.
After all, Albert is a wizard, and the chances are pretty good that Nia is a wizard as well, so he won't let her try out the wand lightly, at least not at the moment.
"You're so sneaky. You're secretly playing with it yourself." Nia complained, as if she had been robbed of her toy.
"Are you not going back to bed?" Albert changed the subject.
"No, I can't sleep."
"Then I'll tell you a story!" Albert took out the key and reopened the door.
"Albert is so mean!" Nia muttered to herself, but she picked up Tom and carried him into Albert's room.
As soon as Tom was in the room, he sniffed the air, seemingly in search of an owl, and was very displeased with the birdcage by the window.
"It's okay, Tom. Sheila's gone out to look for food!" Albert picked up the short-haired cat, petted its tummy, and then made sure to put the wand in the drawer and lock it. He put the key in his pocket, as if he were guarding against thieves. Albert knew his younger sister's personality too well.
"Oh, no! Do you really need to be so paranoid?" Nia pouted in dissatisfaction.
"Don't I know you?" Albert rolled his eyes at Nia: "If you get hold of the wand, you'll blow up our house!"
"I won't?" Nia said stubbornly.
"How would you know? Don't forget how you got those scratches on your arm." Albert didn't want to take any chances. "Don't lie to me. I don't want you to lose an arm or, even worse, your life one day."
"No way." Nia was a little wary.
It was a similar situation when Tom first came to their house. She remembered Albert scolding for being rough with Tom when she got scratched.
That was the first time Nia had seen Albert angry.
"Don't forget the lesson," Albert asked in return, "Do you still want to hear the story?"
"Okay!" Nia leaned back on the cushion, stroked Tom's fur and listened quietly to Albert's fairy tale. He was already quite skilful, having previously used them to practise his speaking and improve his English in the process. After all, he was not a native English speaker. Although he has been exposed to it since crossing over, he still has a bit of a disparity in this area.
It is worth mentioning that he has also mastered a foreign language in the process. His French has also been upgraded by experience to level 1. Albert is considered a genius for a reason.
"Albert, do you think I'll be able to use magic in the future?" Nia suddenly asked.
"Probably. I can use magic, so Nia should be able to as well." Albert reassured her.
"That's because you're a genius and learn everything quickly."
"It has nothing to do with being a genius!" Albert was speechless. "We're brother and sister. I can do it, and you should be able to do it too."
"But Grandfather couldn't, he said all his family could, just not him," Nia mumbled. "And Dad couldn't either."
Somehow, he was the one who got blamed.
"Even if you can't use magic, you can do other things." Albert comforted her.
"It's just too mean to say something like that, to comfort someone, when you can already use magic. Tom, hit him." Nia grabbed Tom's paw and placed it on Albert's face.
As it got later, Nia fell asleep without realising.
The door was pushed open and Daisy and Herb, both in their pyjamas, walked into the room. They looked at their sleeping daughter with a helpless expression on their faces.
"She's finally fallen asleep." Herb picked up Nia and carried her back to her room.
"Good night Albert, get some rest and don't stay up too late, the book can wait until tomorrow." Daisy kissed Albert on the cheek and whispered, "Neither your father nor I oppose your decision."
"Good night." Albert covered a yawn and nudged Tom, who just rolled over lazily, as if he had no intention of moving.
"Forget it. Good night, Tom." Albert pushed the cat aside, reached for the pillow and found a comfortable position to lie down and rest. He was very tired.
But then again, magic is a truly amazing thing.