Chapter 251: The Fake Wand and Peculiar Percy
Chapter 251: The Fake Wand and Peculiar Percy
With their minds made up, the duo dropped the subject of class schedules.
After Kyle finished his meal, the group headed up to the attic, where Fred produced a book list filled with Lockhart's name.
"All of them are Lockhart's books," he said. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan of his...could be a witch like Mum."
"I can see it now..." George pretended to gaze into a tangerine as if it were a crystal ball, "This year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class is going to be a disaster."
"You don't need Divination for that."
Kyle peeled his 'crystal ball' and popped a segment into his mouth. "When has there ever been a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who wasn't a disaster?"
"Auror was decent," Fred said, glancing at Kyle unconsciously, "if he hadn't turned out to be a dark wizard..."
"You're not wrong there," Kyle shrugged.
If we're only talking about teaching quality, Auror might have been the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Hogwarts has had in the last two decades.
It's just a shame he was a dark wizard, and one with ill intentions towards me, no less...that puts a damper on things.
The mention of recent Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers dampened their spirits, and George set the book list aside. He rummaged in a box in the corner and pulled out a rubber stick.
With their research on "Instant Skiving Snackboxes" stalled, Fred and George had been tinkering with another joke product in the attic—the Trick Wand.
It was an idea that had come to George during Charms class.
The Trick Wand looked identical to a real wand, but if anyone attempted to cast a spell with it, it would randomly transform into a rubber object.
With Kyle's help, they had almost perfected it over the last few days.
The only remaining issue was maintaining the stability of the fake wand to ensure it only transformed when a spell was being cast.
Kyle hadn't offered a solution to this problem, though. After all, he couldn't take over everything; Fred and George needed something to do as well.
And when they were busy, he could enjoy some peace and quiet.
Fred and George spent the entire morning testing different methods to control the fake wand's transformation.
Meanwhile, Kyle studied the new Hogwarts map.
After two years in business, others had caught on to the money-making potential of the map and were moving in on their territory.
After all, it wasn't exactly a challenging product to replicate; even younger students could make their own versions.
The previous year, Hermione had created a similar map, and if she could do it, others certainly could as well.
Unlike their other products, the target market for the map was new students who had little to no knowledge of Hogwarts.
With identical products, it would be difficult for Kyle and his friends to maintain their advantage, even with their established reputation.
They could let go of other markets, but not Slytherin.
So, it was time for a major update to the map.
The prototype Kyle had shown to Nicole was the new and improved version of the Hogwarts map.
His current task was to simplify the production process to enable mass production, and then distribute the instructions to the others.
It didn't matter if the new version had fewer functions, as long as it was movable and could display routes in real-time; they would reclaim their dominance in the market.
The three of them worked independently but harmoniously, each absorbed in their own task.
A few minutes later, Fred, unable to concentrate any longer, stuck his head out the window and immediately spotted Ron, who was yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Would you keep it down!" he shouted.
Ron, who had been practicing with his broomstick outside, immediately froze, his eyes glazing over as he stared at Fred's face. That look on his face was as if he had just witnessed Snape performing ballet, filled with shock and disbelief.
"Mum!"
Ron came rushing back into the shack, yelling, "You have to come and see this! Percy has turned into George!"
Apparently, he had mistaken Fred and George again.
"What are you talking about? What's wrong with me?"
But at that moment, the window on the third floor of the shack suddenly opened, and Percy poked his head out, looking annoyed. "And would you please keep it down out there?"
Ron stood there, stunned. He looked at Percy, then at Fred across the way, his already confused brain completely shutting down.
"When will our little brother ever get any smarter?" Fred sighed. "But George, I think I'm starting to understand how Percy felt before."
"Yeah." George smiled. "It's hard to concentrate with all the ruckus outside."
"So, from now on..."
"Hey, don't jump to conclusions. It's Ron who's being loud. We're usually very quiet!"
"You're absolutely right!"
George shot a disdainful glance at Ron, who was still outside, and then, as if struck by a brilliant idea, he grinned mischievously.
"I just had a great idea. Do you remember what Ron's wand looks like?"
"Of course, we spent seven galleons on it." Fred raised an eyebrow. "So, you're suggesting..."
"Exactly what I'm thinking..."
"Where does he usually keep his wand..."
"...in his robe's pocket..."
"But he doesn't wear his robes when he plays Quidditch..."
"Hehe..."
The two brothers exchanged a devious smile, their eyes sparkling with mischief.
Kyle shook his head. "What about the fake wand? Isn't that a failed experiment?"
"That's why we need someone to help us test it." Fred said matter-of-factly.
"We can only improve it if we know what the problem is, right?" George added, winking.
With that in mind, the two of them dragged Kyle outside to the empty space in front of the shack.
In front of the Weasley shack, Mrs. Weasley was scolding Ron, telling him to be quiet and not disturb Percy, who was trying to study.
"I wonder what he's up to!" Fred frowned, glancing up at the closed window on the third floor. "He got twelve O.W.L.s a few days ago, but he didn't seem that proud, and he's been busier than ever since."
"That's unusual." George said thoughtfully. "And I saw that the name on his letter was written in pink ink. He explained that he ran out of ink, but something about it just feels off."
...
The group made their way to the shack.
Fred squeezed into the house under the pretext of retrieving his broomstick.
When he came out, he discreetly flashed a "mission accomplished" signal to Kyle and George.
To avoid suspicion, they didn't go back inside and instead joined Harry at a nearby Quidditch pitch for a game.
...
(End of Chapter)
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