In the corridor, Fred and George traded lines, eyebrows arched at Sean.
"What do you need, Prefect Fred?"
Sean followed their lead and eased into it.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the red-haired Weasley on the left. "Honestly, not your fault—hardly anyone can tell us apart."
"Alright, Prefect Fred," Sean said softly.
"Merlin—" The red-haired Weasley on the left glanced at the red-haired Weasley on the right; the pair circled Sean, penning him in, spinning a few times.
"I am…?" The left Weasley folded his arms and blinked.
"Prefect Fred," Sean said.
"Oh!" The red-haired prefect lit up. "Not a Galleon to charge—if you tell us how you tell us apart—"
"How about a trade?" The red-haired Weasley on the right also folded his arms. Both crouched a bit—their third-year height was a bit much—so they were eye-to-eye with Sean's calm green gaze.
"The first to speak is always you, Prefect Fred," Sean explained.
"Even Mum doesn't know that!" Fred gasped—then clapped a hand over his mouth and made a "pray continue" gesture.
George blinked. "Even Mum doesn't know that!"
"Remarkable!" Now it was Fred's turn to pick up the line. Mischief gleamed in both pairs of eyes.
"For your outstanding contribution—er, and you are?" Fred stalled for a second, then looked at Sean eagerly, unbothered.
"Sean Green."
Sean now noticed the odd assortment in their hands: a quill, a biscuit, and a little cage with a toad…
In truth, telling the twins apart was simple: whenever the Weasley twins did something especially cheeky, Fred usually led the charge. In Harry's second year, when the twins and Ron rescued him from Privet Drive, it was Fred driving the flying Ford Anglia. Even the small pranks—Fred was usually the mastermind.
It was Fred who "rescued" the fire lizard from Care of Magical Creatures—so they could try feeding it Fizzing Whizzbees. Fred who "accidentally" dropped a Ton-Tongue Toffee in front of Dudley. And Fred who suggested (unsuccessfully) taking Aging Potion to sneak their names into the Goblet of Fire—and who first tried stepping over the age line. Fred, too, was the twin who mouthed off to Umbridge and led their last great flight from Hogwarts.
"Great Green!" George declaimed, voice rising and falling.
Sean blinked. That was… not something to say lightly—last "greatness" tried to "Make Wizards Great Again" (for the "greater good")—Grindelwald. The most recent wanted to "Make Pure-blood Great Again"—Tom.
And what do they have in common?
"Great Green!" George noticed Sean's slight change of expression and hammed it up. "In honor of your great insight, Mr. Great Green, we'll share some great knowledge—"
Fred's tone shifted to mock-solemn, suddenly making the air feel formal. His resonant voice… and that wobbly tie at his throat.
"A Sustaining Charm, and a Loudness Charm…" Sean was already analyzing.
"Knew it! He's a genius!" George burst out. "Go on—teach him that!"
"So—Green, what do you think alchemy is?" Fred slipped off his tie and asked seriously. "Is it all Ancient Runes—the marvelous, vast script Professor Bathsheda Babbling drones on about?—oh, sorry, forgot you're a first-year—"
"He's finished them, Fred."
"Alright, I know, George… even so—"
Fred suddenly popped a biscuit into the toad's mouth. After a rapid swell-and-shrink, the toad became a canary.
"Canary Creams—our masterpiece!" George said proudly.
"A few small charms, in very small places, and the effect is unmatched!—And this—feel it!" Fred handed Sean a quill. It looked like any Quick-Quotes Quill, except for a reveal-enchantment that made the runes inside glow faintly.
Sean took it—and for the first time felt how runes did their work. Just some Levitation woven with a light touch of Legilimency… and you get a shorthand quill that's been a bestseller for centuries.
He could feel magic coursing through the quill, sense how each charm took hold, how they interlocked—complex and mysterious—continuously sustaining the effect.
[You fully observed an alchemical construct. Magic branch "Alchemy" unlocked.]
[Unlock requirements: Adept Potions title (not met), Adept Charms title (met), Adept Transfiguration title (met).]
"Merlin, you felt it, didn't you? If you can make a floating quill on your own—" Fred beamed at Sean's thoughtful stare.
"Just follow our notes. It's not hard—we only spent half a term on it!" George added.
"Then we'll introduce you to Professor Tayra!" Fred called as they turned to go.
"She's a big deal—hard to get an audience," George arched a brow.
"But we always find a way!" they said in unison.
…
In the Hope Nook.
The tidy table was strewn with oddities: bottles of ink, a helmet, a homework planner…
For a long while, Sean sat thinking.
Alchemy's unlock conditions were the harshest he'd seen—and reminded him of Fred's warning:
"You should know, the Alchemy elective demands Outstanding O.W.L.s in Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, and Charms. They think a Potions E is fine—but anyone who believes that will earn a great big T (Troll) in Alchemy!"
Experience told Sean: the stricter the gate, the richer the reward.
Facing the quill in hand and the tools the Weasleys had supplied, he didn't rush into the recipes. He read the twins' notes first.