Chapter 16. Fred and George's Plan
"How about we split this money evenly between us?" Fred pushed the wooden chest full of coins forward.
"We'll give you a cut later when we make money."
"No need."
Duncan shook his head in refusal, pushed himself up from the ground, patted the grass off his clothes, temporarily set the dream aside, and said with a smile, "Give it all to you.
Take it as my investment.
From now on I'm your boss, so show me some respect."
Fred and George exchanged a look.
At the same time they straightened their backs, lifted their chins, and, imitating the saluting etiquette of Muggle soldiers they'd learnt as children in the Muggle world, raised their hands and gave Duncan a clumsy salute.
They said respectfully, "Yes, boss!"
Duncan eyed the two of them in distaste.
"Your salute looks too strange.
Don't do that again.
It's far too embarrassing…"
"No, it isn't!" Fred said.
"That's exactly what those Muggle soldiers do.
It looks very imposing!"
"Have you ever considered one question…" Duncan paused, running his eyes up and down over Fred and George.
"People differ in height and looks.
Have you taken that into account?"
George's eyes narrowed slightly.
A few seconds later he understood what Duncan meant, and at once he called Fred to pounce on Duncan with him.
"Fred, this fellow's saying the two of us are ugly.
Teach him a lesson!"
"Stop it, I'm your boss!" Duncan shouted, moving quickly to try to dodge their grab.
But clearly Fred and George had far richer experience in grabbing people and were far more seasoned.
After a few rounds of forcing him back they drove Duncan into a dead end where he could no longer escape.
They rubbed their fists together and advanced with feral grins.
"You two are forcing me…" Duncan took a deep breath and tilted his head back slightly to look at them as they closed in.
"What?" Fred's eyebrow twitched.
"You still want to resist?"
Duncan rolled his shoulders.
When Fred and George were within two steps, he decisively chose to surrender with his hands over his head.
"My dear elder brothers, I already know I was wrong.
Please forgive my earlier ignorance!"
"Hmph, only admitting fault now—too late!"
Ignoring Duncan's pleas, the two stepped forward and put him in a hold.
The scene was so brutal that even a small bird on a nearby branch couldn't bear to watch, chirped, and flew off into the distance.
"Pro, hurry and help me thrash them!"
After struggling for a while and realising he was no match for the two of them, Duncan hurriedly called to Pro, who had slipped over to the bulging tree root nearby earlier.
But the moment Pro saw the dangerous look in Fred and George's eyes, it quickly turned around and covered its eyes with its paws.
As if so long as it didn't see, nothing behind it was happening.
"Coward!" Duncan yelled up at the sky, and Pro hurriedly shuffled a little farther away.
Not until Duncan was lying on the ground almost twitching did Fred and George finally stop the cruel torture they were inflicting on him—tickling.
Panting hard, Fred gulped for breath.
Just holding Duncan down had taken most of his strength, as exhausting as playing a Quidditch match.
Looking down at Duncan, he said, "How did you train?
The two of us almost weren't your match!"
Flat on his back, Duncan swept the two of them with a contemptuous gaze.
Even after being thoroughly taught a lesson, he was still stubborn-mouthed.
"Just you two?
At home I usually wrestle with big fellows like fire dragons.
You're far off.
If I weren't afraid of hurting you, I'd already have…"
"And you'd already have what?" George looked at the boastful Duncan with a gentle smile on his face and asked.
Duncan sprang up at once and answered stoutly, "I'd already… admitted my mistake to you, to save you the trouble of working so hard."
Seeing Fred and George nod in satisfaction and pull back the hands they'd stretched out, Duncan let out a breath of relief, then, while they turned away, quickly and under his breath grumbled twice.
At the same time, Pro carefully ran to Duncan's feet and tugged at his trouser leg, as if begging him not to be angry about what had just happened.
"Be braver next time.
If we team up, we can definitely give them a good thrashing!" Duncan bent down, grabbed Pro, and said.
Hearing Duncan's words, Pro nodded rapidly.
"Mm-mm, next time we'll go together!"
Satisfied with the reply, Duncan put Pro into his pocket and looked up.
At some point the sun had already dropped, secretly laying a golden blanket across the sky.
"It's getting late," Duncan said.
"Get the chest and let's head back.
If we wait any longer, Mrs Weasley will be standing at the door shouting for us, and then you'll be in for another scolding."
"Wait, wait."
Fred grabbed Duncan, who was about to take a step.
"What is it?"
Duncan stopped and looked back, a little puzzled.
"Put the chest into your space pouch first.
Give it back to us once we're home," George said.
Duncan blinked, then understood what they meant.
If they went back openly carrying the wooden chest, Mrs Weasley would surely strip it clean of every last coin.
If she left them even a single Galleon, it would be out of great mercy.
Which would mean the day's work had been for nothing…
However…
The corner of Duncan's mouth lifted in the tiniest arc as he put on a baffled expression.
"Huh?
What did you say?
What pouch?"
Knowing Duncan was taking the chance to get his own back, Fred and George exhaled and, able to bend and stretch, said respectfully, "Boss, would you please help us put the chest away and give it back to us when we're home?
Much obliged!"
"That's more like it."
Duncan nodded slightly, assuming the airs of a boss.
"That's the attitude when you're asking someone to do something…"
Duncan took from his belt the space pouch Tina had given him and handed it to Fred and George.
After they loaded the chest, the three of them strolled home unhurriedly.
"What are you planning to do with this money?" Duncan asked.
"First, enough to buy some materials so we can make more of the gadgets we've developed so far," Fred replied.
"While term has just started and everyone still has money, we'll sell a bit more."
"As for the rest…" George continued, "we're going to use it to research a new, fun gadget!"
"What gadget?" Duncan asked.
"Heh-heh, you're going to school this term anyway.
You'll know when the time comes."
Mystery filled Fred and George's faces, their tone unable to suppress their excitement.
"It'll be absolutely brilliant!"
A bad feeling rose in Duncan's heart.
He decided on the spot that once term started, he must stay far away from these two, or he was very likely to get caught in the crossfire…
Back at the Burrow, Fred shoved the door open hard, and he and George squeezed in left and right.
"Mum, we're back!"
At the sound, Mrs Weasley came out of the kitchen, carefully scrutinised the two at the door, and spoke in a ringing voice.
"Where did you two run off to this afternoon?
Did you go out and make trouble again?"
"How could we?" Fred said, shaking his head.
He pulled Duncan in front of him.
"We've been with your well-behaved darling all afternoon!"
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