Chapter 130: The Weasley Brothers' Interrogation
Chapter 130: The Weasley Brothers' Interrogation
The Niffler, a creature with an innate fascination for anything shiny and glittering, was rarely ever still. Its days were spent in relentless pursuit of treasure, always on the hunt. And so, it was unusual to find the young Niffler, not yet a month old and barely larger than a sickled, quietly resting in one spot. Likely, it had snuck out while Newt was distracted.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Back in Dorset, Kyle had noticed that Newt spent at least three hours each day searching for his wandering Nifflers. Anyone else would have likely gone crazy by now; Kyle knew he certainly would have.
But if there was only one Niffler to keep an eye on... things should still be manageable.
Not wanting to worry Newt, Kyle quickly penned a letter after leaving the case and had it delivered by Rath.
Rath took off through the open window, envelope in his beak.
"This is far too inconvenient," Kyle mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he watched Rath's retreating figure.
The wizarding world was wonderful, but their means of communication were archaic. Sending messages by owl took at least half a day, a far cry from the convenience of a simple phone call.
It was a pity. While Newt himself didn't reject these Muggle gadgets, their residence was deep in the mountains, surrounded by the Muggle-Repelling Charm, making it unlikely they'd get a phone line anytime soon.
After seeing Rath off, Kyle returned the Niffler to its case and took a shower, changing into clean clothes.
It's worth mentioning that the set of clothes Chris had sent to Dorset for him were from last year, as he'd grown quite a bit taller this year, making those clothes uncomfortable to wear. In the end, Tina helped alter them, making them barely wearable.
Before long, the Weasley brothers arrived. The moment Kyle opened the door, they barged in like bandits.
"We saw your owl and knew you must be back," Fred said, standing with his arms folded in front of Kyle, his expression serious.
"I can't believe you disappeared for half a month without a word!" George exclaimed, blocking Kyle's path.
"And to make matters worse, we didn't receive a single letter from you in all that time... Do you know how worried we were?" Fred continued, their faces intense.
However, Kyle remained unfazed by their aggressive demeanor.
Worried about him? Perhaps that would've fooled Ron, but not them.
"If I'm not mistaken, neither of you sent me any letters during this period either," Kyle said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure this was about concern for me?"
"Umm..."
Fred and George's serious facades crumbled, and they glanced at each other, communicating silently for a moment.
"You didn't write to Kyle?"
"No, I thought you did."
"Well, I thought the same."
...
In truth, the brothers had learned of Kyle's departure for Dorset from Chris on the very same day, so they had no reason to be worried. Their act was a premeditated ploy to tease Kyle, but their well-laid plan had fallen apart before it even began.
The twins' expressions became even more unnatural.
"Uh... it was just a guess. Yeah, a guess," Fred stammered, forcing a smile. "Now that we see you're alright, we're relieved."
"Oh?" Kyle drew out the word. "In that case, your guess was pretty accurate. I suggest you take Divination class this semester. You'll definitely shine there."
With his current expression, he only needed slicked-back hair to look just like a certain Potions master.
"Uh... we'll consider it," George said, turning his head awkwardly and forcibly changing the subject. "By the way, I have some good news. In the past half-month, we not only successfully created the Fat-Tongue Toffee, but we've also developed a second product in our Instant Skiving Snackbox series."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of fruit jelly from his pocket.
The orange jelly was crystal clear and looked a bit like a pea.
Fred seemed to have completely forgotten about the previous matter and blinked as he asked, "Want to guess what it does?"
Kyle took the jelly.
Having learned from the Fat-Tongue Toffee incident, Fred and George had done a good job this time, as there was no trace of any potion taste. It was obviously impossible to figure it out from that angle.
Kyle thought for a moment and guessed randomly.
"Will it make people's noses bleed?"
Hearing Kyle's words, the twins' eyes lit up at the same time.
"Nosebleed?!" Fred exclaimed excitedly. "Kyle, that's a brilliant idea!"
"How did we not think of that?" George slapped his forehead hard, as if he wanted to knock his brain out.
"There's nothing better for skipping class than a nosebleed! Kyle, you're a genius!"
"Thanks," Kyle smiled. "I have to say, you have a great eye for this."
Even though the nosebleed idea was originally theirs, it didn't stop Kyle from accepting this very apt evaluation.
"It's a pity that school is about to start," Fred suddenly sighed. "Otherwise, we could try it out right now."
"We'll have to wait until next year," George said regretfully, "or maybe during the Christmas holidays."
Seeing the two looking as if they had lost a hundred galleons, Kyle found it a bit amusing and raised the candy in his hand. "So, what does this one actually do?"
"It's a Vomiting Candy," George said with a shrug. "Eating it will make someone throw up non-stop."
"But what you're holding is only a semi-finished product," Fred continued. "After all, it's no good if someone keeps vomiting, so we're still working on its antidote."
"Do you need help?" Kyle asked.
"Not this time," Fred shook his head. "The main ingredient of the Vomiting Candy is diluted sneezewort juice. All we need are rue and daisy roots, and we're almost done perfecting it."
Kyle understood.
Using sneezewort and rue together indeed made sense.
(End of Chapter)
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