Chapter 123: The Treacherous Nature of the Magical World
Chapter 123: The Treacherous Nature of the Magical World
In the days that followed, Fred and George continued to work on perfecting the first product in their Skiving Snackbox range—the U-No-Poo Treacle Sucker.
However, Kyle found the process rather boring and chose to stay in his room to read instead of helping them.
This behavior left Fred and George speechless, as they saw traces of Percy in Kyle's actions.
Yet, they could not say anything about it.
After all, what could they do? Kyle was now their landlord and an important business partner. It was only here that they could freely work on their inventions without worry.
Of course, they wouldn't just keep quiet forever.
After one too many rejections, George drawled, "Fred, I think we should order a batch of Filibuster Fireworks to celebrate Kyle becoming a prefect early."
"That's a four-year celebration then," Fred replied in the same tone. "After all, you have to be in your fifth year at Hogwarts to become a prefect, and he's only in his second."
"Oh right, it could also be six years," George said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't forget about the student council president position."
"Yes, indeed... Wow, six years' worth of Filibuster Fireworks would be quite the expense."
The two continued to banter, their tone and demeanor mimicking that of a certain Potions master. If one didn't know any better, they might have thought they were standing at the door listening to two Snape clones.
Kyle didn't say anything in response. He silently flipped them off and then returned his attention to his desk.
There, stacked on his desk, was a pile of parchment filled with writing.
The parchment contained transcriptions from a book he had borrowed from the Restricted Section.
Kyle recalled that it was a book related to alchemy, titled Magical Products: Transformation and Fusion.
Initially, he hadn't been very interested in the book, and after transcribing it, he had left it untouched for quite some time.
But now things were different.
Helping the Weasley brothers with their Skiving Snackboxes was merely a post-homework diversion. What he truly wanted to understand was Horcruxes.
Kyle flipped through the parchments one by one, paying extra attention to the section about infusing magic into ordinary objects.
After all, this was the only information he could find that had even a vague connection to Horcruxes.
Although the connection was tenuous, and Kyle wasn't sure if Horcruxes had anything to do with alchemy, it certainly wouldn't hurt to learn more.
Since they were both related to fusion, there might be some transferable knowledge.
Souls and magic were quite different, but it wasn't impossible that there could be some overlap.
...
He hadn't noticed it before, but as Kyle delved deeper into the book, he found its content extremely abstruse.
Determined to understand it thoroughly, Kyle ordered numerous books on alchemy from Diagon Alley via owl post and began to teach himself from the basics.
Alchemy was certainly an expensive endeavor. Even the most fundamental books cost no less than ten Galleons each, more expensive than a Lockhart book. Kyle spent a small fortune just on this endeavor.
This went on for nearly a month.
One evening, about a month later, Kyle sat at his desk as usual, but this time, instead of poring over books, he took out his wand and focused his attention on the Treacle Sucker in front of him, causing it to slowly float into the air.
Additionally, he was using the witch's wand that he had picked up, not his own.
After finding this wand, he had tucked it into his robe pocket without turning it in to Professor McGonagall or the Ministry.
Although the Hit Wizards had questioned him about the wand, it seemed more like a formality, and Kyle had simply brushed them off, saying he hadn't seen it. They left it at that.
Perhaps, in their eyes, losing a wand in the vast Forbidden Forest was commonplace, and it could have easily been carried off by some creature.
In the end, the wand became Kyle's trophy.
However, using it felt awkward, like trying to eat noodles with a spoon.
But one couldn't be too picky about a free find.
Under Kyle's manipulation, the treacle sucker began to slowly unwrap, layer by layer, and after about five minutes, the whole candy was transformed into thin, wafer-like "wrappers."
The wrappers were so thin that upon closer inspection, one could see unique patterns on each piece.
Kyle took out a small vial containing pale blue Swelling Solution and, with another wave of his wand, released two drops into the air.
The drops stretched, split, and multiplied into countless fine, nearly invisible threads that adhered perfectly to the patterns on the wrappers.
Then, the new wrappers began to merge towards the center, forming a complete treacle sucker once more.
This was Kyle's achievement after a month of work—altering the physical form of objects and merging them together.
It was somewhat reminiscent of the enchanting process in games.
But unlike traditional alchemy, where enchanted gems were simply embedded into weapons, Kyle's method involved crushing the gems and re-forging them into the weapon itself.
The complexity of this process was geometrically higher, which explained why the book was in the Restricted Section.
Kyle picked up the treacle sucker and examined it under the light... It looked no different from an ordinary piece of candy.
Breaking it open revealed no issues, and it seemed like a perfectly normal treacle sucker.
"I wonder if I should find someone to test its effects," Kyle muttered to himself.
This was his first attempt at creating such a thing, and he felt uncertain about its success. The best way to find out was to test it on someone.
Kyle considered potential candidates for this test.
Fred and George would be the most suitable choices, and they would likely be eager to try it. Yet, Kyle immediately dismissed them.
He hadn't learned this for the sake of perfecting the twins' products.
Moreover, if they knew he could flawlessly merge the treacle sucker with Swelling Solution, his summer would be spent catering to their every demand.
Ron would be a good choice... obedient, gullible, easily manipulated, and convenient for shifting blame.
This year's newcomer, the savior Potter, was another option. He had spent years in his comfort zone and was naive about the treacherous nature of the wizarding world. It would be a good opportunity to teach him a lesson—a thoughtful gesture on Kyle's part.
Both candidates were ideal, but whom should he choose?
Kyle was conflicted.
...
(End of Chapter)
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