Draco was in a good mood today.
He retraced his steps, intending to walk down the Gryffindor Tower and stroll leisurely to the Great Hall for breakfast, unaware that he was humming a soft tune to himself.
But after taking only a few steps, he was "kidnapped" by the Weasley twins, who were wearing the same jumper, who suddenly appeared from behind him.
"Give me a break! Give me some privacy!" the Fat Lady yelled behind them. "First thing in the morning! And it is Christmas! One by one, they are trying to peek at what gifts I received. Do not think I do not know! I have had enough..."
"Forget it!" Fred shouted back at her. "We know which portrait's backdrop you took the gift box from!"
"Nonsense! You are just jealous!" the Fat Lady retorted.
"Be careful we do not tell them to take these boxes away!" Fred added mischievously, finally silencing the nagging, complaining Fat Lady.
"I wager she will not stay quiet for long. She will be looking for the next person to show off to," George said, winking at a surprised Draco. "She does this every Christmas."
The three looked at each other, could not help but burst into laughter.
"Speaking of which," Fred asked with a knowing smile after a moment of laughter, "we just saw Hermione Granger, a second-year student, saying a tearful goodbye to you in front of the Fat Lady—"
"Dating at such a young age... and it is progressing so fast..." George said to his brother with a mischievous grin, "Look at him! And look at you!"
"What are you talking about? We are friends!" Draco stopped laughing, a faint blush rising on his pale face. "Why should I listen to your nonsense on Christmas morning?"
"It was just a joke, do not take it seriously." The twin brothers exchanged a knowing glance and smiled.
Draco, seeing them suppressing their laughter, felt a surge of wariness. "What are you trying to do? I am warning you, do not spread rumours about the little girl."
"Of course. Who would dare mess with Hermione Granger? Would they not be Petrified by her?" Fred shuddered, then grinned. "We just wanted to express our gratitude to you."
The two brothers pulled out two identical burgundy dragonhide bags and flashed him a big smile. "The best Christmas presents we have ever received!"
Draco knew his twins had long coveted this expandable, large-capacity storage dragonhide bag. It would help them carry their various supplies more easily.
Whilst ordinary small bags could certainly be expanded using spatial spells, they were not as malleable as dragonhide; moreover, items made of dragonhide were often quite expensive.
Despite having Draco's investment, the Weasley brothers always kept their finances strictly separate, never using the money from the joke shop for themselves. Therefore, for them at this stage, buying a miniature dragonhide storage bag was still a bit of a luxury.
The Weasley brothers might appear carefree and irreverent, but they were quite principled at heart. Draco gradually came to understand this through his interactions with them.
He appreciated this principle.
Especially given the Weasleys' limited finances—he would occasionally overhear Ron complaining to Harry about his old wand, secondhand books, and his brother's unwanted pet rat.
"You are welcome. Using it properly is the greatest thanks you can give me." Draco put his hands in his robe pockets and continued down the stairs. "By the way, your goods have been selling well lately. Even the Slytherin girls are buying Fainting Fancies."
"Yeah, I did not realise that Puking Pastilles were so popular amongst girls," Fred said.
"The customer survey you suggested we send out last time has been returned. Can you believe it? Ninety per cent of the female customers replied that they eat the 'Puking Pastilles' to lose weight," George said, spreading his hands comically.
"Weight loss? Are there side effects?" Draco asked incredulously.
"Of course! If you keep vomiting, the stomach acid will burn your oesophagus and trachea." George shook his head.
"Print some words on the packaging of Puking Pastilles—'Vomiting for weight loss, harmful to your health,'" Draco said.
"Naive!" Fred rolled his eyes.
"Draco, you know we cannot control that much. As long as there is a market for it, we cannot stop it." George looked at Draco suspiciously. "Besides, would you be so kind? Has the unscrupulous capitalist changed his ways? Moreover, those girls will not care what you say. As long as it is effective for weight loss, they will not stop."
"I really did not intend for them not to eat it," Draco said calmly. "It is just a disclaimer, you understand? We have put it in black and white here. Whether the customers listen or not is their business. In short, we are not responsible for any health problems they experience."
"Sure enough, you are still a wicked capitalist at heart," Fred said with a grin. "However, I like your frankness—it is much more interesting than those hypocritical capitalists."
"Inventions always have two sides," Draco said. "We cannot ignore their positive effects just because they have negative ones. Also, Fred, how about developing a new product? Something to relieve burns in the trachea and oesophagus? Can you do that?"
"No problem. I think I can do it," Fred said easily. "In fact, I have already started doing it."
"Great. Once it is successfully developed, let us sell it together with Puking Pastilles," Draco said.
George grinned. "That is a good idea—the witches will love it."
"That reminds me," Draco recalled that in his previous life, the Weasley brothers' joke shop had a large section specifically for female wizards.
Clearly, their products were very popular with witches.
"When the shop opens, perhaps we can consider products that witches like: acne treatment, magical make-up tools, love potions..." Draco said seriously, counting on his fingers.
"Good idea. Girls will do anything for beauty…" Fred said casually, putting his arm around Draco's shoulder. "Sometimes, I think you are really something. What twelve-year-old boy could come up with these ideas?"
Draco paused for a moment as he went down the stairs.
"Oh," he said casually, in a tone that sounded like he was talking about the weather, "perhaps doing business is my talent, just like magic tricks are yours."
"That makes sense." Fred made a face, reluctantly accepting his explanation. He pulled Draco towards the fourth floor, saying enthusiastically, "We have already checked out that shop, and it seemed pretty good—"
"It just requires some work on the renovations. I think you will have to go and see the place in person, and perhaps sign a contract with the owner whilst you are at it," George added.
"Me? How can I go?" Draco said. "That passage you mentioned last time is completely unworkable—"
"That passageway recently collapsed. But do not worry, take a look at our Christmas presents first." Fred pulled Draco past a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch and into an empty classroom to the left of the statue.
Fred cautiously peeked into the corridor, glancing left and right before alertly closing the door. Then, with exaggerated movements, he pulled something from his pocket and solemnly placed it on the table.
It was a large, blank square of parchment. Draco noticed that it was badly worn, somewhat tattered, and clearly quite old.
Draco did not act rashly. He seriously suspected that this was yet another prank by the Weasley twins.
"Draco, the secret to our success lies here," George said, stroking the parchment with affection.
"We really hate to give it to you," Fred said with a smile. "But we decided a long time ago that you need it more than we do."
"We have memorised it all anyway," George said nonchalantly. "Now we are passing it on to you formally; we do not need it any more."