Chapter 130: The Twins
In the corridor, Fred and George flanked Shawn, trading lines and raising identical eyebrows at him.
"What do you need, Fred?" Shawn asked calmly, following their lead.
"I am not Fred. I am George," said the red‑haired Weasley on the left.
"To be fair, that is not your fault. Very few people can tell us apart," he added.
"Right, Fred," Shawn said quietly.
"Merlin—"
The twins exchanged a look. In a flash, they boxed Shawn in, circling him twice for good measure.
"I am?" the one on the left said, folding his arms and blinking.
"Fred," Shawn answered.
"Oh!" The red‑haired boy lit up.
"Not a Knut charged! All you have to do is tell us how you can tell!" he said.
"How about a trade?" said the red‑haired boy on the right, also folding his arms. Both of them crouched a little – third‑years were too tall otherwise – until they were looking straight into Shawn's unruffled green eyes.
"The first one to speak is always you, Fred," Shawn explained.
"Even Mum does not know that," Fred breathed. Two seconds later, he clapped a hand over his mouth and swept an arm in a theatrical "after you" gesture.
"Even Mum does not know that," George echoed, blinking.
"Utterly astonishing," Fred said, taking his turn.
A spark of mischief flickered in both sets of eyes.
"For that monumental discovery – and, er, your name is?" Fred stalled, then shrugged it off and looked at Shawn expectantly.
"Shawn Green."
Shawn noticed then the odd assortment of things in their hands: a quill, a biscuit, a little cage holding a toad…
In truth, telling the twins apart was simple. When Weasley twin trouble was brewing, Fred usually led the charge.
In Harry's second year, when the twins and Ron rescued him from Privet Drive, it had been Fred at the wheel of the flying Ford Anglia.
Even the smaller pranks tended to be his idea.
It was Fred who "rescued" a Fire Salamander from Care of Magical Creatures so they could try feeding it Filibuster's Fireworks.
It was Fred who "accidentally" dropped a Ton‑Tongue Toffee in front of Dudley.
It was Fred who suggested (though it failed) that they take Ageing Potion so they could put their names into the Goblet of Fire, and he was the first to step over the Age Line.
And it was Fred who back‑chatted Umbridge and masterminded their final, glorious flight from Hogwarts.
"Magnificent Green!" George declaimed, voice full of mock drama.
Shawn blinked. That was not the sort of thing one ought to say lightly.
The last person tied to "making wizards great again" was Grindelwald, for the "greater good."
The most recent was Tom, who wanted to make pure‑bloods great again.
What did they all have in common?
"Magnificent Green!" George repeated, noticing Shawn's faint change of expression and hamming it up.
"For your outstanding contribution, Mr Magnificent Green, we have decided to share with you this magnificent knowledge—" Fred said in a grand, lecturing tone that suddenly made the air feel oddly solemn.
His booming voice, combined with the way his tie was trembling at his throat, ruined the effect somewhat.
"Perpetual Charms, Amplifying Charms…" Shawn murmured, trying to work it out.
"I knew he had to be a genius," George exclaimed. "Go on, show him that one."
"So then, Green, what do you think Alchemy is?" Fred asked, whipping off his tie and adopting a serious tone.
"Does it begin with Ancient Runes… those marvellous, elegant, vast characters Professor Bathsheba Babbling raves about? Oh, sorry, forgot you are only a first‑year—"
"He has finished them, Fred," George cut in.
"I know, George. Still—"
Fred suddenly popped the biscuit into the toad's mouth. After a strange bout of swelling and shrinking, the toad burst into golden feathers and became a canary.
"Canary Cream. One of our masterpieces," George said proudly.
"A few little charms, applied in just the right place, and the effect is second to none.
"Have a look at this as well. You will feel this one," Fred said, handing Shawn a quill. At first glance, it looked like any other Quick‑Quotes Quill, except for a revealing charm that made the runes embedded within it glow faintly.
As Shawn took it, he saw for the first time how Runes worked in practice – just a few Levitation Charms and some low‑strength Legilimency,
And you had a Quick‑Quotes Quill that had been a bestseller in the wizarding world for centuries.
He could feel the magic moving inside the quill, sense how each spell took effect and how they wove together in intricate, mysterious ways to produce a lasting enchantment.
[You have fully examined an alchemical artefact. Magic sub‑discipline Alchemy unlocked]
[Unlock conditions: Proficient‑level Potions title (not met), Proficient‑level Charms title (met), Proficient‑level Transfiguration title (met)]
"Merlin, I bet you felt it," Fred said, eyes crinkling as he watched Shawn stare.
"If you can make a self‑floating quill on your own—"
"Just follow the steps in our notes. It is not that hard. Took us only half a term," George added.
"Then we will introduce you to Professor Tyra," Fred called over his shoulder as they turned to go.
"Now she is a big name. Getting a meeting with her is no easy feat," George said, raising an eyebrow.
"But we always find a way," they finished together.
…
In the Hope Room,
The tidy table was cluttered with the strangest assortment of things.
Bottles of ink, a helmet, a Homework Planner, and more besides.
For a long while, Shawn sat deep in thought.
The conditions for unlocking Alchemy were the most demanding he had seen.
They reminded him of something Fred had said:
"You know, to take Alchemy as an elective, you need Outstanding in Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, and Charms at O.W.L. level. They think Acceptable in Potions is enough – anyone who believes that is going to get a big fat T – for Troll – in Alchemy."
Shawn's experience told him that the harsher the requirements, the greater the rewards.
Facing the quill in his hand and the various tools the Weasleys had supplied, he did not rush to follow the steps in their notes.
He opened the twins' notebook first and began to read.