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Chapter 662: Someone Else's Child
Chapter 662: Someone Else's Child
"What the hell are you two up to?"
Percy banged angrily on Fred and George's bedroom door. Those two had been acting more and more outrageously lately, with explosions frequently emanating from their room. He had no idea what they were up to in there.
"Chill out, we're not up to anything sinister," Fred said, pulling a piece of gum out of his pocket and offering it to Percy. "Want a piece?"
"No," Percy refused with distaste. He hadn't forgotten the last time he'd accepted candy from the twins; he'd been miserable for hours afterward. Those two had put Sadness Charms in the sweets.
Ever since then, Percy had been wary of any food that came from the twins, even something as innocuous as gum.
"Suit yourself," Fred said, unwrapping the gum and popping it into his mouth to prove that it was, in fact, just a regular piece of gum.
"I just saw Dad come in," George said, having just poked his head out the window. Sure enough, they could now hear Mr. Weasley's voice downstairs.
"Stop messing around with those weird things in your room all day. Are you trying to blow our house to the sky?" Percy glared at the twins before turning and stomping downstairs toward the kitchen, not noticing the disappointed expressions on Fred and George's faces.
"How's your inventing going?" Ginny asked the twins as they made their way downstairs. She knew Fred and George were working on inventing some amusing prank items.
In fact, most of the family was aware of their endeavors.
"Not too smoothly," Fred replied.
"But we've successfully modified some fireworks. They're fantastic, but we haven't produced many yet. We'll show you our results some other time," George said with a grin.
"Really?" Ginny asked, intrigued.
Just then, a burst of screams and cheers erupted from downstairs.
After the three of them hurried down, Ginny immediately asked, "What's going on?"
"Children, we've won the annual Galleon prize from the Prophet!" Mr. Weasley excitedly announced the good news to the family.
"We won! We won the grand prize!" Fred and George each grabbed one of Ron's wrists and started doing a tap dance, dragging him along in their excitement.
"Let go of me," Ron mumbled, still dazed and unable to believe their family had finally struck it rich. And it wasn't just any prize; it was the annual Galleon prize from the Daily Prophet. He never imagined it would be their family's turn for such luck.
"Stop fooling around!" Mrs. Weasley scolded the rambunctious twins. Turning to her husband, she said, "Perhaps we can use this money to go to Egypt to visit Bill, and take a family summer vacation there."
"Dad, I need a new wand. Charlie's old wand that he gave me is broken," Ron quickly interjected, seizing the opportunity.
"Of course," Mrs. Weasley said, poking Ron's chest with her finger. "But if you have to retake any more exams next semester, don't blame me..."
"I won't, I promise," Ron quickly assured her.
"This must be the surprise Albert mentioned!" They exchanged a glance and said in unison, "He must have predicted all of this."
"What surprise?" Ginny asked.
"Albert's prophecy," Fred told her. "He said we'd have a surprise this summer, and I think this must be it."
"That sounds incredible," Ron muttered. "But I've heard people say that Professor Trelawney is just a fraud, and there's never been a student in the entire school who actually understands divination."
"What does Professor Trelawney being a fraud have to do with Albert?" George countered. "And if you know she's a fraud, why would you even want to take her Divination class?"
"Why are you two taking Divination, then?" Ron asked.
"Maybe we have a talent for it, too?" Fred certainly wasn't going to admit that he'd chosen Divination because it was an easy class.
"Me too," Ron quickly agreed, then asked, "Do you think Albert could predict the winning numbers for the lottery?"
"Hell, does he even need to predict them?" George said. "That guy is just plain lucky. I bet that if he wanted to, he could easily make several times the amount of the Galleon prize by betting on the Quidditch World Cup next year."
"I bet he'll definitely find a way to make a fortune from it," Fred agreed, confident that Albert wouldn't pass up such an opportunity to make money.
"Remember to take me with you when you do," Ron whispered.
"No gambling! It'll give you all bad habits, you hear me?" Mrs. Weasley said, hands on her hips as she glared at her sons.
"Yes, Mom," they chorused.
"And no dinner if you don't speak up!" Mrs. Weasley added, clearly displeased.
"We haven't eaten yet, Mom," Fred mumbled.
"Don't talk back!" Mrs. Weasley glared at her sons.
Ginny couldn't help but cover her mouth to stifle a giggle, and she asked curiously, "Is Albert really that amazing?"
"It's said that he's never lost a bet, and now no bookie in Hogwarts is willing to take his wagers anymore." Percy was also tempted; after all, who would refuse guaranteed earnings? Even he wasn't exempt from that temptation.
He was helpless against the Weasley family's common ailment: poverty.
Now, if there was anyone in the family who wasn't poor, it would be Fred and George. Those two always had Galleons in their pockets, and no one knew why Albert was so willing to let them burn through money researching those so-called joke items.
He really wasn't afraid of losing money.
Could it be that those items were actually quite profitable?
No wonder Percy would think that way; who exactly was Albert? He was the most brilliant wizard of his generation in Hogwarts. Even with the wizard card competitions he hosted, from Percy's perspective, this card game might become hugely popular in the future. At the very least, it was already quite trendy within Hogwarts.
Moreover, given Albert's personality, he obviously wouldn't be willing to waste money on Fred and George just because of their good relationship.
There simply weren't people like that in the world.
"People are saying that Albert is actually a pure-blood wizard's descendant, and that his family gave up their wizard identity, which is why he displays such extraordinary talent. Others say that Albert inherited a large sum of Galleons from Gringotts, which is why he never lacks for money." Looking at Mr. Weasley, Ron asked, "Dad, do you know the specifics about Albert's family?"
"As far as I know, Albert often has a house-elf bring him supper." Fred opened his eyes wide and told the truth as he tried to hoodwink the others. "Yeah, and he also has his own vault in Gringotts."
"Really?"
"Of course it's true."
"Don't listen to Fred's nonsense; Albert is a Muggle-born wizard, and those are his own words." George shot Fred a disapproving look and explained, "The house-elf that brings him supper is one of the Hogwarts house-elves, and Albert has a good relationship with that house-elf. It seems he plans to recruit that house-elf after graduation."
"Would Professor Dumbledore agree to that?" Ron felt it was unbelievable; their mother had always hoped to have a house-elf help with the housework.
"He has a good relationship with Professor Dumbledore, so he might succeed." Fred replied.
"I think he has a high chance of success; he never does anything meaningless." George was full of confidence in Albert.
"Dad, when are we leaving for Egypt?" Percy steered the topic back to their vacation plans.
"Probably in two days. We still need to contact a travel agency."
"Can I invite Harry to come with us? He's probably not having a good time staying with his Muggle relatives." Ron suggested, feeling that even if Harry had to pay his own way, he would still be very willing to join them.
"No." Mr. Weasley shook his head. "Professor Dumbledore thinks it's best for Harry to stay with his relatives for a while."
"What about Albert?"
"He's busy." Fred replied without hesitation.
"How would you know?" Ron retorted.
"Mom asked us to invite Albert over to our place for a few days, but he said he had to go to France to meet an old friend." George explained.
"An old friend?" Ginny was surprised. "Does he have any acquaintances in France?"
"It's exactly as it sounds." George smiled and reminded her, "The people he knows are all old, so it's not strange to call them old friends."
Ginny opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say.
"Albert does know quite a few people. It's said that there are voices within the Ministry of Magic suggesting that once Albert comes of age, they will nominate him to become a reserve member of the Wizengamot." Mr. Weasley suddenly recalled the recent events.
"A reserve member of the Wizengamot?" Percy asked in astonishment. "Really?"
"Yes, it's true. It's said that he knows quite a few members of the Wizengamot, and during the selection of reserve members recently, quite a few people were discussing him." Mr. Weasley recalled the news he had heard, "Some even caused a bit of a ruckus over it."
"Why?" Fred asked.
"Because Albert is a Muggle-born wizard, and some stubborn old fogies think that Muggle-born wizards aren't qualified to enter the Wizengamot. I remember the last person to have that qualification was Dumbledore." Mr. Weasley reminisced, "But there are already rumors that if Albert joins the Ministry of Magic after graduation, he'll only need one or two decades to become the Minister of Magic."
"I'd rather believe that Albert isn't a Muggle-born wizard." Percy was extremely envious of Albert's good fortune. If only he could have such an opportunity as well, then he wouldn't have to worry about his career in the Ministry of Magic.
"You two should learn from him." Mrs. Weasley admonished the twins.
"We've always been learning from him." Fred and George chorused.
They were well aware that Albert actually had a strong dislike for the Ministry of Magic, and even looked down on it to some extent. Especially after Hagrid was inexplicably thrown into Azkaban Prison, Albert no longer hid his disdain.
(End of Chapter)
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